With the weather forecasts looking promising for the rare event that is a fine, or even sunny Bank Holiday weekend we know that many of you will be looking forwards to getting outside and spending time in the garden.
Unfortunately the warmer sunny weather also brings with it opportunities for criminals. We have historically seen an increase in opportunistic thefts from gardens and vehicles and sneak in type burglary offences where offenders have exploited open doors and windows to gain access to properties while the occupants are otherwise engaged or distracted.
Please take care to be ensure that doors especially, including garage and shed doors are closed and preferably locked when unattended. Please note that many house alarms can be configured via the control panel to give a chime or bleep when a door is opened which can both be a useful alert and deterrent to offenders.
With the warm weather many of you will no-doubt be taking the opportunity to spring clean the garden and get your outdoor spaces summer ready. Gardens can be rich picking grounds for offenders looking for items to help the commit offences, all the below items pictured can be used by offenders to gain access to properties. Please ensure all items of a similar nature are securely stored or fixed down to prevent their use by offenders.
Wheelie bins are often used by offenders either as climbing aids or as a method of transporting stolen goods. A simple and effective way to reduce the likely-hood of this, as well as preventing the theft of the bins themselves is to use a cable type bike lock to lock two or more bins together making the bins much more awkward and noisy to handle. The lock pictured cost only a few pounds for a supermarket.
Please find attached a number of other documents with other crime prevention tips and advice.
Have a great Bank Holiday Weekend and please remember if you need to report a new incident, crime or issue please call 101 or Visit www.gmp.police.uk where online reporting options are available. In emergencies or where there is an immediate risk to life or where a incident is on going always call 999.
