News : North Devon Insight

Hi Everyone

IS YOUR HOME AN OPEN INVITATION TO BURGLARY?

Barnstaple Neighbourhood Beat Team are reminding residents to keep their homes locked and secure. In recent burglaries across North Devon offenders have gained entry via an insecure door or window.

Please play your part in protecting your home and belongings by taking these simple steps.

* Make sure that your house or flat is kept secure. Always keep your front and back door locked even when you are in the garden.  The same goes for windows, especially vulnerable ground floor windows.

* Do not leave items such as handbags or purses close to a door or window. It takes a matter of seconds for a burglar to reach through and take these items. This will cause far more problems than you think, often car keys are in the bag, credit and bank cards, mobile phone and personal belongings. Store handbags out of site and keep keys in a safe place.

* If you are going away try your best to make your house look occupied. It is best to ask a trusted friend or relative to keep an eye on your property. Drawing curtains, leaving lights on and removing post are all good ways of not drawing attention to your property. Using timers can help turn lights on and off.

* Don’t forget to apply security to your sheds and garages. Often both contain expensive equipment, which is easy to steal and sell on. Make sure items are property marked and locked away using a heavy padlock. Fitting a simple shed alarm is a big deterrent.

* The best way to protect your property is to have a burglar alarm fitted by a company recognised by NACOSS, SSAIB or NSI. This will drastically reduce your chances of becoming a victim of burglary.

Please do not become complacent and consider the above advice. Despite this advice burglary figures have reduced again and we are the third safest place to live in England and Wales. Together we can reduce our figures even further!

For more crime prevention advice please visit our website
www.devon-cornwall.police.uk or call the Crime Prevention Officer 01271 335220.

Please remain safe on bonfire night, we shall have additional patrols out in the Barnstaple area and will deal robustly with any offenders causing or being involved in Anti Social Behaviour.
I would like to update you on changes that are happening to make it easier for members of the public to contact us. From 19 September this year, communities across North & West Devon be able to dial 101, a new national police non-emergency telephone number; our current non emergency number 08452 777444 will be phased out. People who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired will be able to text phone 18001 101.

While 999 is a well recognised number to report emergencies, the 2010 British Crime Survey found that only 54% of the public knew which telephone number to call if they wanted to speak to their local police about policing, non urgent crime and anti-social behaviour issues.

The introduction of the 101 number will help communities to keep their neighbourhoods safe by giving them one easy way to speak directly with their local police to report and discuss all non urgent police related issues. This new number will not change the way we respond to non-urgent calls or connect people to a large national call centre. Calls will still be received by call handlers in our control rooms.

The number is already in use in Wales, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Sheffield and will be rolled out across the rest of the country by the end of this year. We know from these piloted areas that the 101 number is well received by the public and has led to improvements in public confidence when calling the police.

Calls to 101 will cost 15p per call, irrespective of how long that call may last. This cost applies to landlines and mobile phones. This will be the first time that everyone calling the non-emergency number will know exactly how much the call will cost and will be assured of equal access whether calling from a mobile or landline.

In an emergency the public will still be able to continue to call 999, such as when a crime is in progress, when there is danger to life or when violence is being used or threatened.

If you have any questions on the introduction of 101, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,
Tony & Richard

LOCAL POLICE SURGERIES:
Woodville: The second Tuesday of each month and is held in the Children’s Centre (which is located in the grounds of Sticklepath Community School) from 2 – 3.15 pm

PC 11010 Richard Preston / PCSO 30093 Tony Charles
Contact Telephone Number: 08452777444, Barnstaple
Neighbourhood Beat Office

Email addresses:
Richard. PRESTON@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk, Terry.HODGSON@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk, Anthony.CHARLES2@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk
Jessica.MEAKER@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk

'If you have been a victim of crime and would like assistance, please contact Victim Support on 0845 676 10 20.