Our grateful thanks for intelligence:
While compiling today’s messages, I see in the police computers, dozens of reports from members of the public, phoning in suspicious people out and about in the community, particularly in the early hours.
This is exactly the intelligence we need. Our Shift Response Teams, are out and about, patrolling in cars and on foot, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They cannot be everywhere. Each morning at 8.30 a.m. the police plan that day’s response with various ‘tasking’ events, based on the previous 24 hours crime - and - intelligence received from you. Your input, is therefore vital.
We concentrate and calculate our resources, where we think, they will be needed most, in case of an emergency or a crime in progress. We prefer them to be responding and patrolling in a targeted manner. If you report a crime in progress or need a policeman urgently, you need them to be as close as possible, so they can respond within minutes.
This Police area stretches from just outside Staines, to just outside Reading and from the M4 (and a little bit the other side) down to Ascot.
Reactive and proactive targeting, is therefore essential and that is where you are a great help. Keep those calls coming !
HELP US TO HELP YOU !
NEXT:- As the Town fills with visitors at the weekends, they park their cars and leave many of their possessions on view, as they cannot carry them around. This leads to easy pickings for our Opportunist Thieves. It therefore comes down to local residents, who are aware of what is happening, to work with the police, to protect those visitors, who are so valuable to the town.
If while out and about, you see anyone acting suspiciously in our car parks near or perhaps looking into cars - 999 it immediately. It is a crime in progress and if we get the intelligence, a location and a description of possible offenders, we can attend immediately, carry out an area search for someone matching the description given and prevent a crime from happening, as well as making a visitors day to RBWM a pleasure, as opposed to a very unpleasant experience - which they will later recount, to friends and colleagues.
As a result of the thefts from cars in our car parks, we are organising additional police patrols of those areas and you will see large blue ‘Police Operation in Progress’ signs going up !
Please help us to help you and our visitors.
NEXT: ANOTHER ACTION FRAUD CASE - POSSIBLY A POTENTIAL COURIER FRAUD:
An elderly victim attended her bank today, to organise a large transfer of savings. As this was an unusual transaction, the Banking Protocol was activated. The aggrieved said that they wanted to transfer the money, to their bother in law. The bank employee became suspicious, as the aggrieved had no brother in law ! It is not yet clear exactly what happened, but it appears they received a telephone call from someone who said they were the bank’s fraud department and asking for their help to identify the fraudster, by asking them to transfer their savings and was given a script to follow, if questioned by anyone at the bank.
Fortunately the Banking Protocol caught this fraud, before any funds were actually transferred.
BE ON YOUR GUARD - NEITHER THE POLICE, NOR BANKS, WILL EVER ASK YOU TO DO THIS.
NEXT: FROM RBWM
Public hearing sessions on the Borough Local Plan continue
The second round of public hearing sessions to examine the emerging Borough Local Plan for the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, are taking place in October and November. The second week of these sessions starts on Monday 19 and runs daily until Thursday 22 October.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the hearing sessions are taking place virtually, meaning that members of the public and other interested parties can observe the discussions online via the RBWM YouTube channel:-
This second week of hearing sessions will run as follows:
Tuesday 20 October: 9.30am to 5.30pm
Wednesday 21 October: 9.30am to 5pm
Thursday 22 October: 9.30am to 4.30pm
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZNp1KmF3YnabN6enzlyelQ For more information visit the RBWM website:
https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/news/second-week-public-hearing-sessions-borough-local-plan-set-begin NEXT: We are in Romance Fraud Month !!!
As you will have read from these reports - we in RBWM, have suffered from online Romance scams.
The public are being reminded to stay safe online, as reports of Romance Frauds / Scams have risen 26% in a year.
Police forces across the country are working together with partners, including Match Group, to tackle romance fraud, with a combination of awareness raising and enforcement activity, co-ordinated by the City of London Police.
The multi-agency campaign, running throughout October, aims to raise awareness of romance fraud and provide clear and unambiguous protection advice to the public, following a 26 percent rise in reports to Action Fraud in the last year.
Criminals are experts at impersonating people. They spend hours researching you for their scams, especially when committing romance fraud. We’re reminding everyone to stop and think: fall for the person, not the profile, it could protect you and your money.”
Romance fraud, or dating fraud, occurs when you think you’ve met the perfect partner online but they are using a fake profile to form a relationship with you. They gain your trust over a number of weeks or months and have you believe you are in a loving and caring relationship. However, the criminal’s end goal is only ever to get your money or personal information.
There can be a perception that the people who fall victim to romance fraudsters are of a certain age or gender, but the reports we receive show that literally anyone can be taken in by these calculating criminals.
Between August 2019 and August 2020, Action Fraud received over 400 reports a month, from victims of romance fraud in the UK. Losses reported by victims during this time totalled £66,335,239, equating to an average loss per victim of just over £10,000.
DON’T LET IT BE YOU
For more information go to:
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/romancefraud NEXT: A reminder - End of British Summer Time
British Summer Time comes to an end on Sunday 25 October, when the clocks go back one hour at 2am during the duty day of Saturday 24 October.
In practical terms, this means that at 2am on Sunday the clocks are returned to 1am.
Traditionally, we see an increase in burglaries after the clocks go back, as people are at work as it gets darker and their houses are unlit - If it is dark and there are no lights on in a house - obviously - NO-ONE IS HOME.
We have already started our ‘Winter Burglary Campaign’ - Use this time to make any necessary changes to protect your home, if it will be dark over the winter months and you are not home:
Set electric timers on side lights and a talk radio station, which can be heard from the front door. You can now purchase adaptors for central light fittings, which have dusk to dawn sensors which can turn them on, when it gets dark, if you don’t have sidelights.
Purchase a ‘Fake TV’, from major online retailers. These cost less than £20 and once plugged in, can be left to do their job. They go in an upstairs, front facing room. They have 2 settings - Winter / Summer and an internal dusk to dawn sensor. In the summer, they come on as it gets dark and stay on for 4 hours. In the winter, they come on and stay on for 7 hours. They contain LED lights and cost virtually nothing to run. It is a small box, which just flickers colours - even around the edges of drawn curtians and it gives the appearance of a real TV being watched from the outside - THE HOUSE IS OCCUPIED - so, plug it in, set it, turn it on and forget it.
What lights to leave on, if you are not home and it is dark, or you go out ? Simple. Your house must look like someone is home, like every other occupied house in the road - so it does not become a target for opportunist thieves looking for easy pickings. When your house is occupied on a normal night - go outside and have a look. That is what you must re-create, if it is dark and you are not at home. If you have young people in the house ………. that is often, every light in every room. Do your best. The cost in electricity, is nothing, compared with the costs of being burgled.
If you don’t have one, consider getting a burglar alarm. They are now wireless, simple and quick to fit, and no-where near as expensive, as they used to be. Having an alarm, is NOT an indication that you have something inside worth stealing. They are fitted as standard, in all new houses.
Think about purchasing a Video Doorbell. This will send the footage of anyone approaching your home, to your mobile phone, wherever you are in the world. You can also speak though the microphone, to anyone who approaches the house !
There are also ‘Guard Cams’. Again available from major online retailers. These are external security lights, which contain a hidden camera. If the beam is broken and they are activated, they record in full HDD colour and can also send the footage directly to your mobile phone.
USE THIS TIME TO PREPARE
AND FINALLY ! Halloween and Trick or Treating:
In these times, can you as members of the community, let me know if you think families will take their young children out Trick or Treating in your area. We are hearing - probably no - and instead some areas are organising ‘Community Walks’ to see decorated houses. If it is going to be a traditional Trick or Treat event, the Police will need to organise additional officers for patrols. Please let me know the views from your community, so that we can make decisions about where to concentrate our resources. Community Feedback is essential, for our planning process.
CRIME
I have attached reference numbers to each crime report. If you live in the vicinity of any of the crimes mentioned and have CCTV or a video doorbell, can you please check the footage. If you have any that might be of interest to the police, can you please make contact with us, quoting reference number given.
I have added a new email address below. The first email address is directly to your local Neighbourhood Team. The second is to our investigation team. Please use it to send any intelligence / video doorbell / CCTV footage you may have, which is relevant to any of the crimes lists below - quoting the reference number.
Alternatively you can call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or email -
www.crimestoppers-uk.org MAIDENHEAD CENTRAL:
maidenheadcentralgeographical@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukSR.windsor&
maidenhead@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk17/10 Saturday 11.15 p.m. Langton Close. Car was being loaded up outside a house after a gathering. The owner went out and disturbed a man searching the car, who immediately made off. Wallet and contents stolen. Ref. No: 43200329657
16/10 - 17/10 Friday 11 p.m. / Saturday 1.30 a.m. Market Street. Bike left in a stairwell stolen. A silver, Specialized Hard Rock mountain bike. Ref. No: 43200328377
RIVERSIDE & BELMONT:
NO CRIME TO REPORT.
MAIDENHEAD WEST
maidenheadwestgeographical@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukSR.windsor&
maidenhead@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukBISHAM, COOKHAM, HURLEY, THE WALTHAMS, LITTLEWICK GREEN & KNOWL HILL:
17/10 Saturday 7 a.m. / 9.30 p.m. Station Hill, Cookham. Several cars vandalised. 3 had wing mirrors kicked off and keyed. Ref. No: 43200329062
PINKNEYS GREEN & FURZE PLATT:
17/10 - 18/q0 Saturday 8 p.m. / Sunday 9 a.m. Alwyn Road. CAR ENTERED BY UNKNOWN MEANS - POSSIBLY LEFT UNLOCKED - Loose change stolen from the centre console. Ref. No: 43200330616
MAIDENHEAD SOUTH
maidenheadsouthgeographical@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukSR.windsor&
maidenhead@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukBOYN HILL, COX GREEN & WOODLANDS PARK:
18/10 Sunday 10.20 p.m. Kings Grove. Soft top on a car slashed. Ref. No: 43200330872
17/10 Saturday 2 p.m. Greenfields. 3 lads aged around 25 - 30 disturbed trying to remove something - a catalytic converter from under a car. They immediately made off. Ref. No: 43200328992
OLDFIELD, BRAY & HOLYPORT:
NO CRIME TO REPORT.
Please consider using our online reporting system but please note this reporting tool is not for use where a crime happening right now, the suspect is still at the scene, or anyone seriously injured or in immediate danger.
