CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111
Members meetings are held on
the following dates at the Billericay Football Club, Blunts Wall Road,
8 pm, everyone is welcome on 10 April, 12 June, 14 August,
9 October and 4 December
Police Inspector: Richard Croft - 01277 631212
Community Liaison PC
Kevin Hopton
Officer: Direct Line - 01268 244028
N.W. Direct
Line 01277 633090
It is probable that much of this crime was drug related. If you think that drug dealers users are in your area,
please call Kevin Hopton on 01268 244028 or Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111. you do not need to
give your name. Your information could
stop a crime or even save a life.
The Queen’s Golden Jubilee and Billericay Fun Day 2002.
The Rotary Club of Mayflower Billericay, in
conjunction with the Town Council, The Lions Club, the Rotary Club and Round
Table will be arranging a full day’s entertainment at Lake Meadows on Saturday
1 June. The day will start at 11 am and
be followed in the afternoon and early evening with a musical event, finishing
with a fireworks display over the lake.
Put it on your calendar and come along and support the local charities.
Of
the 36 Burglaries, 17 involved garages and 3 involved
garden sheds. Time to look at the
security on both. The areas these
crimes were committed in are: Westbourne Gardens, Radford Crecsent, Alyssum
Walk, Newlands Road, Tye Common Road (2), Norsey Road, Buckwyns, High Street
(4), Foxhunter Walk, Clockhouse Road, Hollyford, Chapel Court (4), Upland Road
(2), Kennel Lane, Church Street, Brightside, Penwood, Potash Road, School Road,
St Pauls Gardens, Stockwell Close, West Park, Froden Brook, London Road,
Western Road, Grange Road. People’s
property worth a total of £30,392 was stolen and £6,480 worth of
damage caused.
26 Theft From Motor Vehicles
A
total of £18,111 worth of our property was stolen and £2,605 worth
of damage caused in the acts. The areas
the thieves attacked were: Blunts Wall Road, Pilgrim Pub, Burstead Village Inn,
Celandine Close, Darell Way, Waitrose Car Park (2), Chapel Street, Coach &
Horses, Western Road, Rectory Road (2), Dedham Close, Chantry Way, Burstead
Golf Club, Hill House Drive, Mark Close, Kings Head (2), Stock Road
(3) High Street, Radford Crescent, Tyrrells Road, Froden Brook.
7 Theft Of Motor Vehicles
The
value of vehicles stolen was £88,200 (one vehicle was very
expensive). The areas involved
were: Old Kings Head Pub, Crays View,
Vincent Way, Kennel Lane, Quilters Drive, High Street and Norsey Road.
We
are pleased to say that 3 of the stolen vehicles were recovered by the Police.
40 Criminal Damage
The
mindless of Billericay caused a total of £9,125 worth of damage, most of
it after the pubs closed by those who cannot hold their drink. The areas were: West Park Avenue, Radford Court, Cromwell Avenue, High Street
(5), Crown Road (2), Passingham Way, Grange Road, Tyrrells Road,
Ganels Road (3), Blunts Wall Road, Hickstars Lane (2), Meade Way,
Newlands Road, Raven Lane, Laindon Common Road, Hollyford, Foxhunter Walk,
Penwood Close (2), Outwood Common Road, Arlington Way, Marlborough Way,
Passingham Avenue, Regent Drive, Haven Rise, Moat Edge Gardens, Burstead Golf
Club, Hannikans Farm, Lake Avenue, Rushdene Road and Lake Meadows.
If you
see anything suspicious, call the Police on 01277 631212 or 999. Your call is important.
Why mark your the
phone? You may have read that there
have been many phone thefts across the
country. Thieves once wanted the phone
for the SIM card so that they could make calls at your expense. These days the thieves want the latest model
handsets and are not really concerned with the SIM card. A large proportion of phones are on a “pay
as you go” agreement which limits the amount of calls they can steal from you.
The best way to mark
your phone is to remove the battery cover and write your postcode followed by your
house number (or the initials of your house name) on the inside of the
cover. Use an ultra violet marker
pen. If you do not have one, drop by
the Police Station and collect one from the front desk with our compliments. If
you need more help with marking, please give us a call on 01277 633090.
Our friends in
Wickford Neighbourhood Watch have come up with some advice on mobile phone
safety:
You can find your
phones IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identifier) by pressing *#06#
Record this number and
keep it safe. Your phone supplier can
use it to disable the phone if it is stolen.
Beware - this scam
could cost you a bundle of money!
Thanks to Roy Burton
for alerting us: If you receive a text
message saying something long the lines of "Please call me on 09011500065
Urgent". It will probably say it is from "KB". DO NOT CALL this
number, it is a premium rate number charged at £5 per minute. Also, when
you call you will get an engaged tone; this is not a real engaged tone, it is
simply a recorded sound that will try to make you call again, and again, and
you are charged £5 each time.
As a general reminder,
all phone numbers starting 09 are premium rate numbers with varying
charges. Think before you ring.
Many thanks to members
of Neighbourhood Watch who reported that two men in a white transit van with an
impressive company name painted on its side have been charging a high price for
minor building or household repairs. They attempted to charge one elderly lady
£280 to repair a few roof tiles and tried to get another elderly person to part
with £400 for basically clearing his guttering.
We cannot publish the
name on the side of the van, but the simple lesson is DO NOT PAY DOORSTEP
CALLERS. If they do a poor job you
are unlikely to be able to get your money back. Always obtain at least two quotations for the work. Get the quotes from companies that have been
recommended by other people. Essex
Trading Standards have issued an excellent booklet entitles ‘Sorting the Pros
from the Cons’ - call us if you would like a copy and we will send you one.
I am very pleased to
say that in both the cases I reported here, a relative and a member of the
public stepped in to help the elderly person and a disaster was avoided.
A couple of the usual
ploys of doorstep callers are:
“We noticed you have
some loose roof tiles, we could fix them very cheaply”. Say thank you for the information and no
thank you to the work. If you are
concerned, get a reliable maintenance company to have a look.
“We have some left
over materials from a big job and we could do your drive really cheaply”.
Companies do not have lots of material left over - it is a con. Again say no thank you. If you want your drive done - call in a few
local firms with real addresses and get at least two to quote.
Many thanks to Tony
Eades of Essex Youth Offending Service for stepping in at short notice as our
guest speaker when Kevin Key, one of
our co-sponsors had to postpone at the last moment.
There has been a noticeable
rise in the number of youth offenders and this scheme is a new method of
dealing with first time offenders.
The Youth Offending
Panels scheme originated in New Zealand where it has enjoyed a considerable
success .
The principle of the
scheme is panels of local people will take the lead in challenging young
offenders to take responsibility for their actions and help them to change
their behaviour. The victims are give
the opportunity to tell the offender how the crime affected them and what may
help to put things right.
This is not a soft
option, it is aimed at stopping first time offenders becoming multiple
offenders by helping them and exposing them to the affect of their crime.
Essex Youth
offending Service are looking
for volunteers. If you can spare about
six hours a fortnight, please call them on 01245 265151. Training is given.
Kevin Key, one of our co-sponsors will be with us on 10 April
to talk about locks and security, especially garage and shed locks, which
is where a lot of crime is aimed.
Susan Kielty will be with us on 12 June, Susan
leads the Essex Trading Standards fight against bogus callers. If you are elderly or have an elderly
relative or neighbour, please come along and get some great advice and support.
We have security tax
disc holders for sale at £1 each. They
have a warning that they make the tax disc tamper proof, so there is little
point in stealing it. The personal alarms
are small but very loud. They cost £5
each and come with a battery. We are awaiting delivery of some attachments that
turn them into door alarms - very useful in hotel rooms. If you
would like either, please call us on 01277 633090.