Neighbourhood News - Summer 2007 - Issue 32

SUMMER NEWSLETTER

Firstly, I would like to apologise to all those who attended or who unfortunately missed the Neighbourhood Watch AGM in March because of the late notice change in location. This was due to the fact that the first hall could not accommodate those wishing to attend and a different venue had to be found.
The last time I wrote in the Newsletter I was telling you what was going to happen in the months ahead. Well, we are now there and I am pleased, and a bit relieved, to say that we are on course with our predictions and at the start of a very exciting period in the development of Safer Neighbourhood Policing. Our teams from across the Borough have been set out in Fareham Today, a website is being finalised with details of the teams, contact numbers, areas, priorities and community engagement meetings are in the pipeline. We now have five separate Neighbourhood teams across the Borough, led from West to East by PS David Spacey (Park Gate West), PS Phil Mills (Park Gate East), PS Nigel Burt (Fareham West) , PS Simon Martin (Fareham East) and PS Pat Dawson (Portchester) changing to PS Sam Dunlop (17th May). Additionally, we have successfully secured three Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's) for each team area, who have greatly enhanced our visibility and effectiveness in dealing with local issues. PCSO's have similar policing powers to regular officers but limited powers of arrest. Their primary role is to provide visible public reassurance patrols, spending 80% of their time out and about engaging with the public. There has already been positive feedback about their presence in our community which is very encouraging at such an early stage. At the end of March this year, PC Sam Couchman operated our first mobile "Neighbourhood Surgery" in Fareham town centre. The surgery was a large Transit type van equipped with seating where the public could discuss issues of concern with local officers and PCSO's. This was an immediate success, delivering community policing to the community and addressing local priorities. As a direct consequence of this success the surgery will be advertised and rolled out to other areas of the Borough over the coming months on a regular basis, so look out for the posters.
Coming up, on the 1 st June is the introduction of a Borough-wide alcohol control area aimed at tackling street drinking and antisocial behaviour, reducing drink-fuelled criminal damage and violence. Later, on July 1st, comes the smoking ban in enclosed public places which will have a major impact on our night time economy pubs and clubs. Both events will be publicised in the local press prior to their introduction. It's going to be a busy summer with new measures in place to reduce antisocial behaviour and mobile surgeries to tell us if we've got it right or wrong. I am banking on the former and hope to be reporting on that in the next newsletter.

Inspector Dave Hunter Fareham Sector

GONE IN SECONDS: YOUR PLATES, YOUR IDENTITY WHO IS USING YOUR NUMBER? Stop number plate theft! Hundreds of number plates are stolen in Fareham each year and, according to police data, 33,000 number plates were stolen in 2004 throughout the UK and there is evidence to suggest that this is on the increase. Many number plates are only attached with double sided tape which makes them easy to pull off. Stolen plates are used for serious criminal activity to:- Disguise stolen vehicles Conceal the identity of vehicles used in ram raiding or theft of petrol from garage forecourts. Sell a stolen vehicle as a legitimate one Evade traffic related fines including parking tickets, speeding fines and congestion charges. Organise crime involving violence and even terrorism. To combat the problem the DVLA has worked with number plate manufacturers and others to produce a voluntary standard for theft resistant number plates. They are designed so that they cannot be removed from a vehicle within 3 minutes or, if removed, will be in such a condition that they cannot be used on another vehicle. lf your number plates are stolen you could receive fines and charges that belong to someone else. It makes sense to protect your number plates. Why not ask your motor dealer or number plate supplier about theft resistant number plates ? Further information available on www .direct.gov.uklmotoringIvehiclecrime. There is a possibility that in the future these new plates will be fitted to new cars as an optional extra -an option worth considering. It is possible to fit the plates later but this is not a DIY job and must be done by a professional. A cheaper alternative would be to fit number plates with security screws. These screws which you insert with a normal screwdriver are difficult to remove. They are available to buy at car accessory shops or locksmiths. The theft resistant plates are currently available at Yeomans Garage Wickham Road Fareham. Many thanks to Crime Reduction Officer CRO Tony Walters for statistics, and help and advice throughout the year.

Spring Clean for your NHW STREET SIGNS Dilapidated NHW signs are often said to indicate an inactive scheme but the cost (approx £25) for new ones is prohibitive in many cases. Self-adhesive plastic overlays to cover faded paint with an expected life of about 7 years, are now available. These overlays cost £2.50 at the moment (with a small subsidy from FBC). So, if you want to smarten up your signs very inexpensively, let us know in the office by calling 0845 045 4545 ext 641267 and leave a clear message and contact details on the answerphone and someone will get back to you. Have you got a good telephone manner ? Volunteers are needed for one hour in the evening to relay police messages to NHW Scheme coordinators about crimes in their areas. If you could manage one evening a week (Monday to Friday) at the NHW office in Fareham Police station, please call 0845 045 45 45 extension 641267 and leave a clear message and contact details. Someone will get back to you Police vetting will be necessary, and full training will be given

Capital Security Systems Ltd Your Local NSI/NACOSS Gold Alarm Installer Local Office 02392 673737 Capital Security offer a full range of audible-only and monitored intruder alarm systems with competitive packages especially for members of Neighbourhood Watch. For further information, please visit our website at www.capitalsecuritysystems.co.uk or Freephone 0800 614778 to arrange a free survey

SNT 1 Park Gate West Locks Heath/Park Gate Titchfield Common Warsash/Sarisbury/Whiteley Sgt 2208 Spacey PC 109 Wild PC 126 Wilson PC 1410 Colman PC 2736 Tarvin PCSO Barlow PCSO Leekes Mobile 07757 211528

SNT 2 Park Gate East Stubbington/Hill Head/Segensworth Titchfield (including Catisfield) Sgt 2164 Mills PC 142 Channing PC 23445 Evans PC 23463 Mann PCSO Dawson PCSO Harry Mobile 07757 212459

	Park Gate	Locks Heath	Sarisbury	Titchfield Common	Warsash	Titchfield	Hill Head	Stubbington
Dwelling Burglary	2	2	1	3	5	4	8	4
Non-Dwelling Burglary	9	2	6	7	5	11	8	6
Damage	48	59	16	21	59	56	26	27
Vehicle Crime	48	10	7	12	7	26	8	10

SNT 3 Fareham West Highlands/Heathfield/South Fareham (except East of Gosport Road) Sgt 2340 Burt PC 2737 Cupper PC 37536 Heath PC 21263 Hooley PC Binney PC Winters PCSO Titcombe PCSO Sharman PCSO Godfrey Mobile 07757 137068

SNT 4 Fareham North Town Centre and North Fareham Wallington and Salterns Sgt 2906 Martin PC 1003 Cummings PC Browne PC 3832 Way PC Couchman PCSO Bidle PCSO Stanton Mobile 07757 137595 & 07757 120174 (town centre)

SNT 5 Portchester    including Down End Sgt 5539 Dunlop PC 2537 Higgs PC 3718 Hockley PC22044 Glendenning PC Young PCSO Earley PCSO PAyne PCSO Strutt Mobile 07757 138053

	Fareham South	Fareham West	Fareham North West	Fareham Town centre West Common	Fareham Town Centre East	Fareham North	Fareham (Wallington & Salterns)	Portchester West	Portchester East
Dwelling Burglary	4	1	7	3	3	10	2	3	7
Non-Dwelling Burglary	10	2	8	1	8	0	12	3	14
Damage	57	29	68	13	57	22	35	24	37
Vehicle Crime	17	1	10	12	9	8	16	15	30

PHISHING FOR CREDIT CARD DETAILS The fastest growing internet crime is known as "phishing". This is the practice of fooling people into handing over their bank passwords by using e-mails that look as though they've been sent by a legitimate bank.Criminals send thousands of these e-mails to online bankinformationevery day asking them to hand over their user name and password. This information is collected before being used to steal money from bank accounts and to create cloned credit cards. Phishing gangs are becoming increasingly sophisticated, employing professional to create web pages and emails and ensuring that these get through virus checkers and firewalls. Their efforts are paying off because in October last year two out of every ten phishing attacks were successful. Despite the sharp rise in phishing most banks still apply willing to reimburse their customers because they want people to do business using the internet and they want to maintain confidence in it.

D0 YOU WANT A TAMPERPROOF TAX DISC HOLDER FOR YOUR CAR? If so, please send a SAE with your request and a cheque for £1.00 (per holder) made payable to:- "Fareham & District Neighbourhood Watch Association" to:- The NHW OFFICE Fareham Police Station, Quay Street, Fareham PO16 ONA Alternatively, telephone 0845 045 45 45 ext 641267 and leave your request along with your name, address and telephone number. You will be notified when the tax disc is ready for collection from the front desk at Fareham Police Station. on payment in cash of £1.00 per holder. Please put cash in a sealed envelope clearly marked for "N.H.W OFFICE"

NHW Coordinators - Are you making the CASCADE System work ? As a result of communication problems relating to the time and venue of the AGM in march, it was obvious that the message did not CASCADE throughout the NHW as we would have liked. Please may we take the opportunity to remind you that ideally the CASCADE SYSTEM is a rapid method of distributing information and literature from the "top to the bottom" of the organisation. Information should go from Beat Coordinator to Sub Beat Coordinator to Scheme Coordinator to Households