Mid Sussex Neighbourhood Watch Newsletter

Neighbourhood Police Team (NPT) is the new name that has been adopted for what was known previously as the Neighbourhood Specialist Team. Their role is unchanged, but the altered name is to provide similarity with the name used for such teams by most of the Police Forces in England and Wales.

In Mid Sussex we have 3 NPTs based on our 3 Police Stations. NPT 1 at Haywards Heath, NPT 2 at Burgess Hill and NPT 3 at East Grinstead. Each team is led by a police Sergeant (see reports on the back page) and is supported by one or two police officers together with a number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). The names of your local team members can be checked on the Sussex Police website - www.sussex.police.uk - click on 'Local Policing' and enter your postcode in the search box. Alternatively, you can telephone 0845 60 70 999 and ask the operator for the information you need.

Neighbourhood Policing is a term that in the last few years has become much more frequently used. Assistant Chief Constable Robin Merrett says: "It is not about bobbies on the beat, nor officers walking the streets looking good, nor racing to the scene of a crime and giving a 'one size fits all' service. And, it is not about setting up hollow partnerships and talking-shops that achieve nothing". He says: "It is about finding out what makes people and communities tick and dealing with people as individuals and communicating with them and their communities effectively."

Neighbourhood Watch is regarded as a partner, and we hope that it is not considered to be a 'hollow one'. Indeed, in a Sussex Police briefing report issued last summer 'Neighbourhood Watch in Sussex - A New Model for Partnership' it was stated that neighbourhood policing presents the opportunity to enhance its partnership with NHW. This clearly builds upon the considerable support that the Home Office and ACPO - Association of Chief Police Officers - have shown for developing partnerships between NHW and the police and other agencies concerned with reduction of crime and disorder.

ACC Merrett says that "it is not about bobbies on the beat", but Neighbourhood Policing was at the centre of Home Office planning post 2003 and was clearly, in part, a direct response to the public concern about the perceived lack of 'bobbies on the beat'. This led to the aim of 25,000 PCSOs nationally by 2008. In Sussex, the number is now 354 compared with some 200 PCSOs 4 years ago.

Neighbourhood Policing, as stated in 'Patrol' - the monthly Newspaper of Sussex Police - is about the principles of 'Serving Sussex' to be delivered from 2009 and beyond.

We all have them. Children, adults, friends and ourselves. (Go on, admit it! You know you have).

Mostly they help us organise our lives and we probably have just as many good ones as bad. Some are annoying and there are endless jokes about them.

Invariably we all notice each other's behaviour, even when not conscious of our own. It pays to take an inward look from time to time, as some bad habits can leave us particularly vulnerable to crime, and in some rare cases put us in danger.

One particular observant group are the burglars and thieves. They are quick to pick up our habits, and exploit them.

Here are a few which often lead to thefts:-

A ground floor window left open on a hot day when you are out.
Keys left in the car ignition when you are away from it.
Warming the car up on a frosty morning for example, or popping in to the news agents to grab a paper.
Valuables left on display in the car even though you have locked it.
If you have double glazing, not pulling the handle up to secure the multipoint locking on your external house doors, before you lock them with the key, This then leaves the door locked but only on the latch. (some UPVC doors can be sprung open in this state).
Leaving car keys on display and / or in reach of the front door letter box where they can be fished for through the letter box opening.
Sorry ladies, but leaving your hand bags downstairs at night leaves them and all their contents vulnerable to theft if the house is burgled. Invariably keys, bank cards and personal possessions are then stolen from within it.
Leaving the side or back garden gate of your house closed but not locked, giving burglars easy access to the back of the house where they will be out of sight.
Ladies carrying open bags over their shoulder behind them making them vulnerable to purse thieves, and men leaving their wallets on view in their open back pocket. Making both especially vulnerable in busy crowded places where you expect to be jostled.

Beware!

Credit cards scams and frauds continue to be a cause of misery to some and we have in the past warned of the risk of your personal details being misused to secure goods, or money from your account . One recent warning concerns the disclosure of the security digits on the back of your credit card, usually the last 3 numbers that are shown. Some fraudsters have telephoned purporting to be from the card agency and seeking to check if this has been used to purchase some item or other. During the conversation you will be asked to give those 3 numbers, but you are not asked for the number of your credit card so you may not suspect that this has already been obtained, e.g. by some paper work you have thrown away, but not destroyed. This could be a shopping receipt or similar that has been found in your rubbish with other information giving your name and address.

Never respond to such an enquiry. The credit card company will of course know those details. From time to time if you are ordering goods, etc, via phone or internet you may be asked to give these security numbers and provided you are satisfied that the company or whoever you are contacting is bona fide and secure that should be in order, but only if you have made the approach. And once again, do ensure that what you throw in the waste bin does not provide information that can be misused by others.

Phishing for a new line in credit

The other day I received an e-mail from one of our villagers telling me about a phishing e-mail that she had just received. This was a typical scam e-mail asking the recipient to log on and update the security details of their bank. So before you all fall over laughing and start shouting 'there's one born every minute', it is surprisingly easy to fall for these if you don't have your wits about you. In this case, the young lady concerned didn't lose any money but was distracted by it and wasted some time sorting out the problem with her bank.

So just what is a phishing e-mail?

These e-mails purport to come from your bank, building society, or other body where you might have money involved. They generally get you to react immediately by making false claims about security issues, or give you exciting news that you can't possibly miss out on. They are designed to look official and will almost always provide a convenient link to the bank's website. If you do click on the link, you will arrive at a website, that for all the world, looks exactly like the real thing. Entering your passwords here will compromise your security completely.

How do you avoid them?

The first line of defence is to have a good spam detector. My ISP (PlusNet), for example, has a very good spam detector that traps these e-mails on their main server, and so they are never downloaded to my computer. On your machine, ensure that you have some sort of spam filtering, usually built in to your e-mail program - and be sure to learn how to use it. Despite this, sometimes a few do get through. My general rule is simple, irrespective of whether it's genuine or not, delete the e-mail anyway. No bank will ever ask you for your bank account details in this way, and anything else is probably a sales pitch, which you can probably live without.

Neighbourhood Police Team - Reports

Update from Haywards Heath. NPT 1
We welcome an Inspector, a Sergeant, a Constable and two new PCSOs to our Neighbourhood Policing Team. Inspector Rob McPhilemy, who supervises the Neighbourhood Policing and Response Teams, Sergeant Hannah Shepard, who supervises our brilliant and dedicated team of specials, PC Michael Wyborn, who covers the town, PCSO Wendy Elliott who covers Ashenground Ward and the town centre and Shiralee Burrows who will be covering the town.
PC Richard Wooding and PCSO Jayne Milne will be running Operation **Beatsweep in Handcross 12th and 13th March, a multi-agency approach to tackle crime and quality of life issues in the village. There will be a post event street briefing 1pm - 2pm 17th April at Handcross Hardware and Craft.
PC Geoff Bennett and PCSO Stuart Clough have worked hard to reduce a spate of anti-social behaviour in Ardingly. We have increased visible patrols, plain clothes patrols, carried out leaflet drops, worked in conjunction with the Parish and District Council and Downlands Housing to deter a small group of youths causing problems. There has been a significant decrease in reports of anti-social behaviour and criminal damage in the village in the past couple of months.
PC Michael Wyborn, PCSO Becky Standing and PCSO Sarah Macknamara are actively seeking to resolve antisocial behaviour problems in the Bentswood Ward and would encourage people to phone Crimestoppers - 0800 555111 to report information anonymously if they do not wish to disclose their details.
Speedwatch is going from strength to strength. Lindfield is now set up and very active. Cuckfield has been rejuvenated with volunteers being trained from Brook Street and others to be trained in the near future from Whiteman's Green. Balcombe and Sharpthorne speedwatch volunteers continue to work extremely hard going out on a regular basis. Further officers are being trained in the use of the speed gun, so that they can support the speedwatch schemes and enforce the speeding.
We now have four Neighbourhood Panels up and running in the Haywards Heath area, whereby members of the community meet to set priorities for their area every ten weeks, then actions are set to try and resolve the problems identified using different agencies and resources. We would like to encourage residents or anyone with an interest in Ashenground Ward and Lucastes Ward to come forward as panel members, so that you can make a real difference to your locality.
RACHEL MUNDY
Neighbourhood Policing Team Sergeant
Telephone: 0845 60 70 999 ext. 35251
Mobile: 07818 010083

** Note: 'Beatsweep'. This term is used by Mid Sussex Police to refer to an Operation that is being put into effect in a local area, such as a ward or village, etc, when police attention is being concentrated for several days to tackle particular local problems that have been raised by residents. Letters are sent out in advance to seek suggestions on what is causing concern that could be tackled, e.g. vandalism, speeding, illegal parking, graffiti, rubbish dumping, etc. It has proved effective in a number of areas.