August 2003

HELP STOP THIS NOW - IT SIMPLY ISN’T RIGHT.

· 5.00pm Wednesday 25th of June 2003 Fovant. Two men call at the address of a lady in her 80’s. One of them distracts her saying his football is in her garden, the other one enters her house searches and steals.

· Between 11.45am and 5.45pm Wednesday 25th of June 2003 Fonthill Bishop. Someone entered the house of a lady in her 70’s whilst she was in the garden. They searched the house and stole belongings.

· 2.00pm Tuesday 30th of June 2003 West Knoyle. Two men engage a visually impaired lady in her 80’s in conversation and trick their way into her house. Once inside they search the bedrooms and steal money.

· 2.15pm Tuesday 1st of July 2003 Wilton. Two men purporting to be from the Waterboard call at the house of a gentleman in his 80’s. They trick their way in and steal money.

· 5.30pm Wednesday 2nd of July 2003 Warminster. Two men call at the house of a lady in her 80’s. They say they are from the council and have come to fit new windows. Once inside they search and steal.

· 4.00pm Saturday 5th of July 2003 West Knoyle. A man forces his way into the house of a couple in their 80’s barricades himself in a bedroom, searches and steals money.

· 1.00pm Monday 14th July 2003 South Newton. A man tricks his way into the home of a lady in her 80’s searches and steals property.

I am unable to commit my thoughts to paper about the people committing these crimes. Suffice it to say that this cowardly, parasitic behaviour is about as low as a thief can go. The people who commit these crimes have no respect for their fellow man, no compassion, no conscience, they are utterly selfish.
All the victims are decent law abiding people, some of whom fought for this country during the war. They do not deserve this plague upon them, they deserve respect and our protection. Unfortunately there aren’t enough coppers to have one guarding every vulnerable household so this is where you come in. All the offences recorded above happened in broad daylight. Undoubtedly the offenders were seen by neighbours or passers by. Why didn’t anyone ring the Police? I’ll tell you why, we are too trusting, we are not suspicious enough, and we are all too willing to find a reason for someone being somewhere rather than question their presence. I implore you to become suspicious and if you suspect someone contact the POLICE immediately. If your suspicions are misplaced it doesn’t matter, we would rather you report it than not. If you think something is suspicious then that is good enough for us. Only prompt action will have results.

We all have elderly relatives, how would you feel if it happened to yours?

The printing of this bulletin is kindly sponsored by local burglar alarm specialists:

PARTNERSHIP SECURITY
40a Wincombe Business Park, Shaftesbury, SP7 9QJ. Tel: 01747-858888
REPORTED CRIME FROM 25TH JUNE TO 28TH JULY 2003

TISBURY BEAT
(TISBURY, WARDOUR, HATCH, E HATCH & NEWTOWN)
Beat Officers: PCs Mark Littlewood and Mark Steele
5th - Window smashed in The Square. (PC Mark Littlewood)
17th Sinclair C5 stolen from industrial unit in Tisbury. (PC Mark Steele)

TISBURY NORTH BEAT
(BERWICK ST. LEONARD, CHICKSGROVE, CHICKLADE, CHILMARK, FONTHILL BISHOP, FONTHILL GIFFORD, FOVANT, HINDON, RIDGE, SUTTON MANDEVILLE SWALLOWCLIFFE) Beat Officer: WPC Angela Carpenter
25th June - Burglar entered a house in Fonthill Bishop during the day via an unlocked door and stole cash and jewellery from an upstairs bedroom. (Salisbury CID)
25th June - Two burglars tricked their way into an elderly lady’s bungalow saying they wanted to use the toilet, whilst inside they searched the house stealing her purse. (Salisbury CID)
13th - Thieves siphoned diesel from 4 coaches in Sutton Mandeville, the following night thieves broke into an empty storeroom at same location. (WPC Angie Carpenter)
12th - Mobile phone stolen from house in Chilmark. (WPC Angie Carpenter|)
20th - Trailer stolen overnight from farm near Hindon. (WPC Angie Carpenter)
24th - Mobile phone stolen from property being restored in Sutton Mandeville. (WPC Angie Carpenter)

TISBURY SOUTH BEAT
(ANSTY, ALVEDISTON, BERWICK ST.JOHN, CHARLTON, THE COOMBES, THE DONHEADS, LUDWELL & TOLLARD ROYAL) Beat Officer PC Paul Wilson
15th Thieves broke into farm buildings near Tollard Royal overnight and stole a trailer, quad bike and assorted farm equipment. (PC Mark Steele)
20th Burglar entered house during the day whilst occupants were in and stole a handbag. (WPC Angie Carpenter)

MERE BEAT (including BURTON)
Beat Officers: PCs Graham Briant, Pete Robins and Lucy Deakin.
27th June - Male smashed a house window and hit the occupant through it. (WPC Lucy Deakin)
10th Male arrested at Mere police Station for unruly behaviour. (PC Pete Robins)
14th Thieves attempted to steal a lorry from Quarryfields Industrial Estate. (WPC Lucy Deakin)
17th Burglar broke into ‘Costcutters’ in Mere and stole cigarettes and spirits. (Pc Pete Robins)

MERE SOUTH BEAT
(EAST KNOYLE, WEST KNOYLE, SEMLEY, SEDGEHILL & WILLOUGHBY HEDGE)
30th June - Two men tricked their way into elderly couples house and stole money. (Salisbury CID)
16th Thieves broke into lorry parked in layby on A303 but stole nothing. (PC Jerry Wilkins)

MERE NORTH BEAT
(GASPER, KILMINGTON, MAIDEN BRADLEY, NORTON FERRIS, STOURTON, WOLVERTON & ZEALS) Beat Officer: PC Steve Porter.
18th Thieves were disturbed attempting to steal a trailer from stables at Stourton. (PC Steve Porter)
June - Vandal scratched car paintwork and bent aerial on car parked at Zeals. (PC Steve Porter)

If you would like to leave a non-urgent message for your beat officer or would like advice please ring the following numbers either TISBURY 01747-870203 or MERE 01747-860268.
Be aware that you may get an answer phone if all officers are out on patrol which may not be picked up for several hours.

OTHER NON EMERGENCIES CALL 01722-411444. ALL EMERGENCIES -‘999’

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS PENNED BY ROB SEXTON, CHAIR OF THE WILTSHIRE AND SWINDON NHW DEVELOPMENT GROUP. HE HAS ASKED ME TO BRING IT TO YOUR ATTENTION.
NHW - THE NEW AGE

NHW has operated quite successfully for many years and the police have had a major involvement - in fact they have managed it, lock, stock and barrel. In many respects they have done a good job, but they do not have the resources to organise activity, train local co-ordinators or develop strategies.

For example, let me give you a few things to ponder:

· Do you know who runs the NHW in the village next door or what crimes are happening there? Indeed is there someone in your own village who co-ordinates what you do?
· Do you meet regularly to discuss how you can help each other or work together?
· Have you had any training for your role? Do you know what more you could be doing?
· Have you or any of your neighbouring watches engaged in any crime prevention initiatives?
· What effect can you, as a lonely voice, have on the development of policy and such things as methods of communication with the police and the dissemination of information?
These are just some of the issues which the County's new NHW Development Group have been tackling. At present NHW effectively stops with the NHW Liaison Officer, Barry Strange, and he has to service thousands of watch schemes. Together with Sgt. Cullop he is our only link into senior management, but their degree of influence in the wider scheme of things is relatively minimal. As a consequence NHW has tended to stand still.

So, the Development Group have been looking at a new structure, through which we, as NHW members, will manage our own organisation and the police will support us. We will have a management group at county level, with NHW representatives from each police division, who will act as the Co-ordinators for their division. They will work with several Regional Co-ordinators on their own division, each of whom will be responsible for a number of villages and other communities. Their role will be to draw together (and recruit where necessary) the Area or Village Co-ordinators, so they can all meet, share good practice, learn, engage in training and plan activities. Our ability to communicate throughout the system will therefore be greatly enhanced.

Our ability to influence policy and resources will also be significantly improved, because at each level the more senior NHW Co-ordinators will have links into police senior management, right up to the Chief Constable.

Another important benefit is that the new structure will enable Ruralwatch (which is the combination of Farmwatch, Stable Alert and various other rural watch schemes) to be brought into the fold, rather than being isolated as they are at present. Ruralwatch was created because it was recognised that the communities these different watch schemes service were actually part of the wider rural neighbourhood. If we have the information, and thereby the inclination, we can play an important part in thwarting the criminals who specialise in preying on these sections of our community.

This idea of a new structure may all seem rather top heavy, but it exists elsewhere and has been very successful. Both we and the police are therefore convinced it is the way forward and that it will mean a much healthier and more effective NHW, through which everyone will be able to participate more fully and, of course, create safer communities.

Rob Sexton
Chair of the Wiltshire and Swindon NHW Development Group