August News from Neighbourhood Watch

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Petty Crime, Neighbourhood Link and Bike Crime

General Crime
Residents are warned that across the U.K., crimes such as pick pocketing, theft of garden furniture and thefts from garden sheds has risen.  There has also been an increase of opportunist crime, with thieves targeting mobile phones and similar valuable electronic items, jackets and hand bags left unattended in offices, pubs, gyms and restaurants.  Theft of metal has also increased.  At all times, please do all possible to safeguard your own property.

Neighbourhood Link Community Messaging Service
The Metropolitan Police would like encourage residents in the Hounslow area to sign up to ‘Neighbourhood Link’, the Metropolitan Police’s own community messaging service. At present approximately 800 Hounslow residents have signed up to receive regular information about local crime/crime prevention, plus major incidents affecting the area. Hounslow Police wish to see this figure increased. Important messages from this service are repeated on BrentfordTW8.com

To register, please visit www.neighbourhoodlink.met.police.uk/ and follow the simple instructions.

Bike Crime
The insurance company, Liverpool Victoria (LV), have recently undertaken a nationwide survey regarding bicycle crime.  The survey indicates that approximately 114,000 bicycles are stolen each year in the U.K., with more than half the thefts taking place within the first year of the bike’s purchase, while one in five bicycles are stolen within 6 month of purchase.  MOST of the thefts take place outside owner’s homes.  The survey also indicates that nearly a third of the thefts go unreported to the police

The Metropolitan Police strongly recommend that owners safeguard their bicycles against theft at all times, using a strong lock and attaching the locked bicycle to a solid object like a tree, post, wall or fence.  The Metropolitan Police also recommend that bike owners register their bicycles on the police’s own website, www.bikeregister.com.  If you are unfortunate enough to have your own bike stolen, you stand a far better chance of being reunited with it should it be located.
 

August 9, 2012