Summer 2021

Update on Neighbourhood Policing in

INSPECTOR STEPHEN WARNES - SNT CENTRAL & NORTH INSPECTOR CATHY THOMAS - SNT SOUTH NEIGHBOURHOODS POLICING CROYDON

South Norwood, Woodside and West Officers have been working closely with the Modern Slavery Proactive Taskforce and conducted a joint visit to a brothel in Lesley Park Road where one female was arrested Crime Prevention for immigration offences. Following intelligence of drug use at a property in Albert Day & AGM 2021 Road, Woodside, a Warrant was authorised Norbury and Pollards Hill and executed. Two officers from the team The Team have been working very Following our last very successful event identified two males they wanted to speak to hard to put a prolific shoplifter (targeting in 2019, plans are underway for this years on Portland Road, both suspects were shops on Road) behind bars. Thanks Crime Prevention Day in collaboration successfully detained and arrested for to the team’s tenacity and dedication they with Croydon Met Police. possession of offensive weapons as two managed to get enough evidence to arrest the All Neighbourhood Watch coordinators knives were found discarded nearby. male who last week was subsequently and residents in their watches are sentenced to 12 months in prison. welcome so please SAVE THE DATE! Town Centre Teams Thornton Heath, Bensham Manor At the start of the month they ran an and West Thornton More details will follow over the coming operation targeting shoplifting resulting in 6 A search warrant was executed at an address months and will be sent to all arrests, 3 community resolutions and £800+ on Southwell Road, West Thornton where a coordinators so please keep a look out of items recovered. cannabis factory was found with 150+ fully for emails. grown plants with a substantial street value. The team assisted in an operation at East & The drug remains linked to modern slavery, If you are not a coordinator but live in a West Croydon stations targeting those gangs and organised crime groups and armed NHW area and would like more suspected of being involved in County Lines. gangs attempt to rob factories for their crop. information or to attend, please contact In East Croydon offices detained a male The team executed another search warrant in Becky at the NHW office directly on found to be in possession of a large hunting Leander Road, West Thornton and recovered [email protected] knife which was concealed down the front of a substantial quantity of suspected cocaine his joggers, he has two other impending and £10K cash, three arrests were made for Saturday 6th cases for carrying knives and was on tag. possession with intent to supply and they November 2021 remain under investigation. In West Croydon 2 males were detained on Parsons Mead one was wanted for arson and Multiple Warrants executed - Drug Arrests the other had a knife discarded near him, SNT Officers have conducted numerous Royal Russell School both were arrested. warrants throughout South Croydon & New Coombe Lane Addington finding large quantities of The team have made over 40 arrests this cannabis, cash, a machete and 2 knuckle Croydon CR9 5BX month for robbery, GBH, weapons offences, dusters resulting in 3 arrests. With the attempted child abduction, assaults against assistance of our Territorial Support Group Invitations will follow, watch this space Police, shoplifting offences, seven drug for further information (TSG) and Violent Crime Task Force (VCTF) offences, and a good number of colleagues, multiple warrants were executed miscellaneous offences including in the Shirley area resulting in the arrest of one immigration and recalls to prison. The team male for Possession with Intent to Supply class have also recovered seven knives and two A and Possession of class B, & one male offensive weapons. issued with an out of court disposal.

Weapons seized/found - Shirley, Purley and South Croydon Officers continue to conduct weapon sweeps across Croydon to reduce violence related offences. North Shirley SNT conduct regular weapon sweeps & found a large Rambo style knife in a disused garage. Officers from Purley & Woodcote SNT dealt with a couple of youths causing ASB with the assistance of their other ward colleagues. As a result of a drug search a large machete was found and the youths were arrested. Continued on page 2....

www.cbnwa.com [email protected] nhw @CBNWA Cyber Crime and Fraud in Croydon In March 2021* there were 374 offences reported to Action Fraud by Croydon residents. The losses amounted to a total of £1,821,082 that's an average of £4,869 per victim.

Top 5 types of fraud by volume (no. of reports) were:

Top 5 types of fraud by amount reported lost were:

Always report, Scams fraud and cyber crime to Action Fraud, either online at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by telephone on 0300 123 2040

*Data from Met Cyber Crime Unit / latest data available

STOP CHALLENGE PROTECT Taking a moment to stop and think Could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, Contact your bank immediately if before parting with your money or refuse or ignore any requests. Only you think you’ve fallen for a scam information could keep you safe. criminals will try to rush or panic and report it to Action Fraud. you.

...cont'd from page 1 WELCOME Inspector Cathy Thomas ANPR Operation - targeting Drugs in South Croydon Cathy has been based at Croydon for approx. 5 years previously managing Partnership and Excellent work carried out by PC Swift who Prevention across Bromley, Sutton and Croydon which incorporates within its remit, Anti- led teams resulting in 6 arrests of which 2 Social Behaviour (ASB), Licensing, Faith and Hate Crime. During these challenging times were for Possession with Intent to Supply ward officers have continued to conduct plain clothes and high visibility patrols, executed controlled drugs. Officers working with the warrants, implemented Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) operations and assistance of Roads Traffic Police, Charlton continued to work in partnership with the council to reduce Burglary, Motor Vehicle crime, ANPR team and bailiffs, implemented an Drug related offences and ASB. ANPR operation across 2 sites in the New Addington area resulting in 94 vehicles Over the next few weeks all Dedicated Ward Officers (DWO’s) will also be focusing their being stopped, 6 arrests and 5 vehicles efforts on ensuring communities are safe as restrictions are lifted across the UK. This also seized. includes specific operations targeting our open spaces to decrease violence related offences including Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) and ASB related issues. The Catalytic Converter Thefts good news is that as restrictions lift officers can begin to restart community engagement The Operation Basswood Team have and will advertise through Social Media. continued their manhunt and have arrested another nine subjects for Car Cruises/Motorbike ASB - Waddon, Purley and Woodcote SNT SNT & Road Policing teams using Police Solo riders have been dealing with a range of ASB conspiracy to commit theft from motor issues across the wards, particularly the problem of car cruises and off road motorbike riders vehicles. Five of those have subsequently causing annoyance in . Large scale ops led by PS been charged and remanded. Valley Park, Purley and South Croydon Dickinson and APS Lambert-Singer have been conducted over the last 6 weeks resulting in 30 Section 59 notices issued for ASB, 18 vehicles seized incl 2 dirt bikes, and 1 quad bike. 20 Since the operation we have seen around Fixed Penalty Notices issued, 4 arrested for driving under the influence of drugs. 69% reduction in catalytic converter thefts in Croydon, Sutton & Bromley. Social media shows car meet organisers now refer to Croydon as “ hot with police”! How the ‘FluBot’ How to protect yourself from FluBot: spyware is getting onto Android devices Don’t click on any links you receive in text messages Have you heard of ‘FluBot’? Keep on top of the latest software updates. The spyware is spreading among Android devices and could steal your passwords. How to get rid of FluBot:

An app known as ‘FluBot’ is being sent to mobile devices in a We’ve heard from lots of affected people that it’s impossible to text message fraudulently posing as being from courier DHL – simply uninstall this spyware. A full system reset should work, it says you have a parcel out for delivery and includes a link that but you might want to back up your data first so you don’t lose invites you to track the delivery by downloading a fake tracking it. app. But the app is actually malware/spyware that could steal your passwords. However, don’t restore the phone from the backup – do a completely fresh install with a factor reset, then download your Spyware is malicious software that can access data on your apps and files again. It’s a nuisance, but it’s safer. You can also phone. Sometimes it might trick you into entering sensitive contact your phone manufacturer’s customer support for help. information such as passwords by prompting you with fake login pages. These details can be used to access accounts and target you and your contacts with further scams. The way spyware is distributed is constantly evolving to use different links, and masking the messages’ origins with different mobile numbers.

Over 92 % of the public I've engaged with feel unsafe using pedestrian highways due to e-scooters. A letter e-scooters! and the report has been sent to MP with the by MELANIE FELTEN - request that it should be discussed with the relevant CBNWA CO-ORDINATOR , OVAL ROAD Government Ministers. NHW coordinators have been working to raise awareness The law on e-scooters is you cannot ride on public roads, about the danger posed by illegal scooters on our paths and cycle lanes or pavements, only on private land. They are roads. treated as motor vehicles by the Department of Transport

I discussed the subject recently at my quarterly SNT meeting - and subject to the same legal requirements like MOT, Addiscombe West, as e-scooters ridden illegally on licencing, tax and insurance. pedestrian highway are posing significant danger to the most UPDATE from the Police: Insp. Cathy Thomas has confirmed vulnerable pedestrians like children and the elderly. that 'OP RIDER' is in place currently in the Town Centre but will be rolled out across the Borough. Anyone seen with an I've engaged with over 350 members of the public via e-scooter will be stopped and asked for insurance, they will receive a warning the 1st time but 2nd time the scooter will social media, using a voting system to gather public be seized. Watch our newsletters for updates here on. perception and experiences on the matter.

We are pleased to announce a new partnership between National Neighbourhood Watch Network and LockLatch: the worldwide distributor of LockLatch, PetLatch and MiniLatch.

The three products are adjustable lockable latches that fit any door or window, whatever the window or door is made from and whichever way it opens. The locks enable you to keep your property secure with leaving windows and doors ajar.

They are pleased to offer all Neighbourhood Watch supporters a 15% discount off the retail price of their products with a matching contribution going towards Neighbourhood Watch Network expenses.

www.locklatch.co.uk quote coupon code NWNLock on check out. Trading Standards Croydon Bogus Community Nurses

Beware! There have been problems locally, ensure you ask for ID and be aware.

If in doubt DO NOT allow them in.

Watch out for regular 'Community Alert' updates

4 Ways you can DOG FOULING! help us... Deliver in a road near you to A few coordinators have recruitment leaflets increase our co-ordinator numbers. expressed concerns with excessive dog fouling in their Persuade your local councillors to support our areas. "Scams" campaign, details of which have been sent to all Croydon councillors already. The Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996 carries a max fine of Arrange for us to have a stall at a function to £1,000 if the owner, or person in recruit and run a raffle to raise funds. As we are no charge of a dog fails to clean up longer eligible to apply for funding from the their animal's faeces from Council's Community Fund Budget we must raise pedestrianised areas, public monies in other ways to keep the charity afloat. footways, parks and open spaces, housing, land & grass verges. Coordinators: Help us save on printing costs, You can report offences on the Croydon council website obtain email addresses or mobile numbers from (my.croydon.gov.uk) under the 'My account' section. your neighbours and look to use email or maybe WhatsApp broadcast for sharing CBNWA newsletters and updates.

Mrs Audrey Terrey Contact Becky at [email protected] if you can help One of our long serving NHW coordinators from Norbury Park with any of the above, or need help, Ward, Mrs Audrey Terrey, sadly passed away in hospital in May. we'd love to hear from you.

Audrey did so much for her neighbours and community during her Your Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator's details: life time and will be greatly missed.

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