If you wish to join your local scheme or start a scheme in your area, please call the NW Liaison Office at the Police Station. We will be pleased to give you the name of the local Co-Ordinator or help you start a new scheme.

Remember: Crime Cannot Flourish in a Community that Cares.

NEWSLETTER

March 2000

Sandra Burton, Neighbourhood Watch Liaison Officer

Billericay Police Station, Billericay CM12 9AB 01277 631212 ext 45431

NW Items for Sale

• Haynes Home Security Manuals: £3 (£9 in the shops)
• Golf Marking Kits: £4 (£6 in the shops)
• Tamper Proof Tax Holders: £1 each

Call us at the Police Station or come to a meeting if you wish to purchase any of them - all great value and make good gifts!

Do you know someone who wants to join Neighbourhood Watch?

If you wish to join your local scheme or start a scheme in your area, please call us at the Police Station. We will be pleased to give you the name of the local Co-Ordinator or help you start a new scheme.

Crime Cannot Flourish in a Community that Cares.

Visit the Billericay Neighbourhood Watch site at: www.btinternet.com/~billericay.nw/site/index.html

Who;s Who

• Police Inspector: Steve Tutton - 01277 631212
• Community Liaison PC Kevin Hopton
• Officer Direct Line - 01268 244028
• N W Liaison Officer: Sandra Burton 01277 631212 ext 45431
• Crime Prevention Colin Mead: 01268 532212

It is probable that much of this crime was drug related. If you think that drug dealers and drug takers are in your area, please call either Kevin Hopton on 636454 or Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111

You do not have to give your name

Diary Dates

Members meeting dates for 2000 are:

12 April; 7 June; 9 August;

11 October and 6 December

Everyone is welcome at the Billericay Football Club at 8pm.

Safety Evening: 9 May

CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111

Safety Evening

Ladies, a date for you diaries: Tuesday 9 May.

7pm tp 9:30pm at Essex Ford Showroom (corner of Western Road and London Road) there will be a safety evening aimed specifically at ladies.

We are very aware that ladies travelling alone are vulnerable and we thought it would be appropriate to arrange this evening event which will provide you with some basic car maintenance instruction and some self defence instruction.

Essex Ford technicians will be on hand to demonstrate how to keep your car running and what to do in an emergency - which may save you from being stranded in the middle of nowhere.

One of the Billericay Specials will take you through some basic self defence techniques, which we hope you will never need to use.

We are extremely grateful to Essex Ford for their help and sponsorship of this event. They are going to clear their showroom for the event, which is no small task!

There is no charge, but spaces restricted to 24 attendees; first come first served, so if you are interested apply now using reply form on the back of this newsletter.

If we have more applications than places and the event is a success, we will try organise another. Please indicate on the reply form if you want us to put you in the list for the next event. Please ware casual clothes, you may get a little dirty if you try hands on maintenance or self defence.

The Driving Force

Our thanks to Officers of the Police Camera Enforcement team who gave us an excellent presentation at the last members meeting.

Essex has the highest percentage of of active speed cameras in the country and the number is growing, the target is to have every camera active.

Some very interesting facts came form the talk:

The difference between 30 mph and 33 mph is the difference between a pedestrian being injured and being killed. Children and the elderly are the most vulnerable groups in traffic accidents and they suffer the worst injuries.

36% of all operating hours in hospitals are used dealing with road traffic accidents. When the Australian Police enforced the speeding laws more rigorously, the number of traffic accidents fell dramatically and they saved over 90,000 hospital operating hours a year.

So think about it, reducing your speed will reduce the chances of an accident, which will free up hospital resource to deal with sick rather than injured people. Not to mention the chance of losing your driving licence if you get caught speeding.

The simple answer is to stick to the speed limit. The time saved by exceeding the speed limit is probably less the 5 minutes per week - is it worth it?

While we are on driving . . .

Continuing the driving theme, Brian Wood of the Southend RoSPA Advanced Drivers Association will be at the members meeting on 12 April to talk about how you can improve your driving and stay safe. Why not come along, listen and learn. We will put together a short quiz on driving for the end of the evening with a Police Drivers Manual as the prize.

The Specials are, well, special

Also at the February meeting was Tony Young, the Senior Special Constable of Billericay. Tony filled us in on what the Specials do in the town.

The Specials supplement the regular Police force and provide valuable backup service. They are the same as the regular Constabulary and perform the same duties. You may not realise it but many of the events in Billericay that require crowd control would not happen or be as effectively run if it was not for the Specials.

If you you would like to know more about the Specials, please contact Tony Young at the Police Station.

Welcome to Mike Savage

We have a new member of the Neighbourhood Watch staff at the Police Station, Mike Savage who is providing great support during the day and taking on some of the organisation work, such as the Safety Evening arrangements.

How do you property mark jewellery?

As good questions, and the answer is probably you cannot. Usually jewellery is too small and too nice to have engraved with you postcode and house number. The best way to help the Police identify your jewellery is to photograph it alongside a ruler (to provide a good idea of size).

We are trying to get one of the Billericay jewellers to come to a members meeting, talk about how jewellery is valued and give some help on the best method of photographing your valuables. Look out for dates in the newsletter.

Operation Resolve is showing results

A county wide crack down on card crime has produced over 50 arrests in its first week. Forces all across the county (including Billericay Regular and Special Police) have been targeting known car thieves and the making their presence felt in areas of high car crime. Results are encouraging, but you still have a duty to protect your own property by locking the car. Also please remember to put all your property out of sight in the boot, or better still at home.

The people that break into cars don't care about you or your property. Some people leave a raincoat coat of the back seat of their car - that's not worth stealing, is it? The answer is yes. If the passing thief is getting wet in the rain, they will think nothing of smashing the window and taking the coat and you are left with a bill a couple of hundred pounds.

We can win against crime

I agree it is a sad state of affairs, but we can win against crime by using reasonable protection for our property and reporting all instances of suspicious behaviour to the Police. Drug abuse plays a major part on the reason for a lot of crime. Drug addict need money to buy drugs from pushers and the easiest way to get it is to steal from us. Getting rid of drug dealers is therefore one of the highest priorities for the Police us the public at large. If you see what you think is drug dealing taking place, call the Police or Crimestoppers or Kevin Hopton. You do not need to give your name, address or phone number.

Remember you could be in line for a cash reward for the information you provide.