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Dear Resident,
I wanted to provide you with an update regarding theft from motor vehicles, which people around your area have highlighted as an issue of concern on the priority survey. Having personal items stolen from your vehicle is an upsetting experience, and we are determined to find and arrest those who break the law. We will keep you updated with what we are doing to tackle this in your area, but in the meantime, please follow the below advice to help protect your belongings. Check that your vehicle is locked and secure every time you leave it. Thieves often look for easy opportunities to steal from vehicles. They will usually try the handles until they get lucky and find one that has been left unlocked. Keep your keys safe, out of view when at home and away from your front door. If you have a keyless entry vehicle, keep the key well away from the vehicle while at home and turn off wireless signals on your fob when it’s not being used. Consider putting the keys in a screened or signal blocking pouch, such as a Faraday Bag and check that it is still working every few months. Remove all items from view by taking them with you or putting them in the boot out of sight. Thieves will look for any items on display. Things like clothes, documents or an old bag might not seem like valuables, but they could still tempt a thief. Ensure you remove all other clues there might be valuables linked to the car, such as phone chargers or sat-nav mounts. Park your vehicle in a private garage if you can. If you do not have access to one, try to park in a well –lit open space. Try to use public car parks that are part of the police approved Park Mark safer parking scheme. Secure your number plates with tamper resistant screws to avoid them being stolen and used by others.
Full advice and guidance on this, and other crime types is available on the Metropolitan Police website. In the last week there have been two reports of thefts from motor vehicles in the Berrylands area (4th May PARK ROAD, 7th May CAMELLIA LANE).
CCTV footage saw a male making off from the CAMELLIA LANE theft. He was described as white, medium build, in his early 20's wearing a blue/black hoody and walking off pushing a bike.
Thieves target insecure vehicles, mainly during the early morning hours. Doorbell CCTV footage shared with the team has previously shown that they are often using no more sophisticated tactic than trying as many car door handles as possible, looking for insecure vehicles parked on driveways and the road.
Please double check that your vehicle is fully locked & secure when unattended and look to remove personal items where possible (especially loose change, sunglasses, electronic devices, sporting equipment etc). If you see anybody trying car door handles, please call Police immediately. Crime prevention advice relating to vehicle and home security can be found via the links below
https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/keeping-vehicles-safe/
https://www.securedbydesign.com/guidance/crime-prevention-advice/vehicle-crime/car-security
 If you ever experience this issue or have information regarding an incident, please report it using our online reporting tools at https://www.met.police.uk/, speak to an operator in our Force Communications Room via our online web chat or call the non-emergency number 101. Alternatively, you can stay 100% anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org. As you have not contributed to the priority survey recently, we may be unaware of issues that you would like us to focus on. Please take a few minutes to securely and privately have your say using the button below, this will mean we can focus on things that matter to you. {SURVEY [PRIORITY]} You may also want to rate this message to let us know if this information was useful or not or use the system to change which issues we update you about, you can do these things quickly and easily using the buttons below. |
