The , Dittons & Hinchley Wood Neighbourhood Watch Group

Chairman – John Haberfield Contact Tel 0208 398 5256 Email [email protected]

AUTUMN / WINTER 2016

In this edition: Goodbye to Elaine Burtenshaw: Elaine. Our Crime Reduction Advisor, retired from police in May, and her role is being covered by Vic Smith until a replacement is recruited. Elmbridge Police organisation changes: Details about who your local officers are in each police neighbourhood, and how best to make contact with your police neighbourhood team. Scams in the spotlight: Examples of new scams to be aware of. A foiled identity theft to obtain a debit card, scanning data from contactless payment cards, and phoney HMRC inspectors. Crime Statistics: We can no longer provide the crime statistics table that’s been part of our newsletter for many years. It became increasingly difficult to compile following the merger of Surrey and Sussex police databases and new systems not designed to hold information suitable for our needs, plus it relied heavily on much personal effort from Elaine to obtain and format the data. However, we now receive regular updates of crimes and trends, courtesy of Vic Smith, which is far more useful than a set of numbers. Elmbridge Police update: Vic Smith reveals good news on our crime figures over the last 6 months. Once again I’d like to thank everyone who’s fed back details of local crimes, to me or your coordinator. Rest assured, when we circulate information we don’t give out names or addresses; only the road name. John Haberfield

Farewell to Elaine Burtenshaw Elaine Burtenshaw was our Elmbridge police Crime Reduction Advisor (CRA) and played a very active role with NHW; she was a member of the Elmbridge NHW Committee, attended and presented at all of our Imber Court Coordinators’ meetings, wrote articles for each of our newsletters and managed to deliver the 6-monthly update on crime statistics. Elaine has now left . After 37 years with Surrey (32 years as an officer, last 5 as a civilian) her retirement plans were bought forward to May this year after finding a home on the Isle of Wight. I understand she will be volunteering at the donkey sanctuary. We wish her all the best in her new home and quieter life! Welcome to Vic Smith Until a replacement is recruited for Elaine’s position, the role is being covered by Vic Smith CRA, based in Spelthorne. Originally there were three CRAs in Surrey police Northern Division, one for each borough; Elmbridge, Runnymede, and Spelthorne. For some time Elaine and Vic had been covering all 3 boroughs between them, and now Vic is covering all three, so he has a heavy workload! But Vic is already very actively involved with Elmbridge NHW and you will find his first newsletter report further below.

Elmbridge Police organisational changes In the previous (April ’16) newsletter and follow-up email update we explained the new Surrey Police local policing model and what the changes would mean for Elmbridge police; led by the Borough Inspector, this resulted in the following teams and an overall increase of 50 officers:  Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) – smaller but dedicated to Elmbridge; tackling chronic issues affecting local communities; working with partners to make communities safer; PCSO powers to be reviewed: 2 Sergeants, 2 PCs, 11 PCSOs;  Area Policing Team (APT) – respond to calls requiring police attendance; will investigate crimes from start to finish; liaise with specialist resources; led and tasked by the Neighbourhood Inspector; aligned to Elmbridge and supporting the SNT: 9 Sergeants, 70 PCs. We can now provide further detail about the police officers assigned to the SNT and to our individual police neighbourhoods. The core borough team covering Elmbridge is: Sgt Charlotte Chambers, Sgt Greg Turner, PC Joanne Fahey, PC Chris Smith. In addition to which there are 11 PCSO posts. Within Elmbridge there are 10 police neighbourhoods. Within our NHW region, the relevant teams are: West Molesey East Molesey & The Dittons & Hinchley Wood PCSO Jan Aldogan PCSO Jan Aldogan PCSO Nigel Oates PC Chris Smith PC Chris Smith PC Chris Smith (Note: PCSO Jan Aldogan is covering two neighbourhood areas pending recruitment to fill a vacancy) Our Neighbourhood Watch region, as the name implies, covers East and West Molesey, , , and Hinchley Wood. It also includes Weston Green, and some parts of . It is worth noting that our NHW District boundaries are notional, and not rigidly aligned to any other recognised boundaries – they evolved from a time when a large part was in the Met police jurisdiction and local authority boundaries were different from what they are today, and to a certain extent how to divide up the area evenly between the available NHW District Coordinators. However Surrey Police neighbourhoods have traditionally been directly aligned to local authority voting wards, so if you have any doubt about which neighbourhood team covers your road, it will be the same as your voting ward. Having defined the formal allocation of local neighbourhood teams and the areas they cover, this is not really an issue on a day-to-day basis, as officers regularly help other colleagues in adjacent areas. The Elmbridge Police website ( www.surrey.police.uk/elmbridge/ ) allows you to select your Neighbourhood and see the local officers for your area. If you know who you want to speak to, call 101 and ask for or leave a message for them, but be aware they may be on leave etc. So, to avoid any disappointing lack of response, it’s best to ask to speak to the Safer Neighbourhood Team and you’ll be passed to whoever is on duty (there are also voicemail options). However, If a resident is unsure who to call, and it is not an emergency (999, if a crime is being or has just been committed, or if someone is in immediate danger) or needs a conversation there and then with Police (101, if urgent but not an emergency), then staff can be emailed via the mailbox, details of which are on each police Neighbourhood web page in the ‘Send us a message’ section, at the start of which is a link to an ‘online reporting form’ for non-urgent incidents, or otherwise scroll down and complete a simple form which you then submit as an email. This will then be picked up by the office manager, and disseminated to the appropriate member of staff. The office manager will know who is on leave and who is on duty and available. This is monitored Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Scams in the spotlight (Identity fraud, scanning contactless cards, …) Identity fraud to obtain a debit card (from one of our members, 30th September) “I was cleaning my car in the drive yesterday when I witnessed our postman being accosted at the bus stop and asked for the post by a man who purported to live at my address. The postman refused and reported it to me. I shouted at the man and he mumbled something about it being Lower Green he wanted and then took off. I reported this to the police who said it was an attempt to intercept my post. The man was about 50, 6ft tall, slim, grey hair wearing a grey zip-up sweater and dark trousers, carrying a black Mercedes Benz umbrella, up at the time as it was drizzling. Guess what, in the post this morning I received a new debit card and PIN number which I hadn't requested!!! Barclays are investigating, and believe it was an attempt to obtain my debit card. Residents should be aware of people hanging around when the post is being delivered.” To avoid identity theft and identity fraud (from Action Fraud):  Don’t throw out anything with your name, address or financial details without shredding it first.  If you receive an unsolicited email or phone call from what appears to be your bank or building society asking for your security details, never reveal your full password, login details or account numbers.  A bank will never ask for your PIN, a whole security number or password. If you doubt the source of a call, wait 5 minutes and call your bank from a different telephone making sure there is a dialling tone.  Check statements carefully; report anything suspicious to the financial service provider concerned.  Don’t leave things like bills lying around for others to look at.  If you’re expecting a bank or card statement and it doesn’t arrive, tell your bank or card company.  If you move house, ask Royal Mail to redirect your post for at least a year.  Credit reference agencies may offer a credit report checking service to alert you to any key changes Stealing data from contactless payment cards (from Rip-off Britain, BBC1, 19th September) A contactless payment card works by using NFC (Near Field Communication). These cards can be scanned by anyone with a mobile phone with a particular down-loaded application installed. An example showed brushing a phone against someone’s back pocket (where the card was) and instantly copying the card number and other details from the front of the card. The phone scanner doesn’t need to touch the payment cad, just be in close proximity (up to 4cm or 2 inches), so it works easily through clothing and/or a wallet. It cannot access details on the back of the card such as the 3 digit security code, but it was still possible for a thief to use the details to make fraudulent purchases with the stolen card details, and not just limited to the contactless payment limit! They set up a fake on-line account and used the card details to make an on-line purchase; some suppliers do not require the 3 digit security code when purchases are made on-line. Protect yourself: It is recommended to use a contactless card protective sleeve, or wallet, or you could just wrap it in metal foil. This type of crime is currently quite rare, but worth knowing about! “HMRC inspectors” scam (from one of our members) A team is passing itself off as HMRC “inspectors”. They open the conversation by saying that they are investigating possible breaches of money laundering and HMRC has evidence that “your account may have been used”. That worries or even frightens some people! The immediate follow up is the “comfort assurance”: “from what I can see, I am confident that you have done nothing wrong but I will need to satisfy HMRC that this is right so I need some very basic information from you….” And this, if you fall for it, is where you give them all your personal and bank account details. Protect Yourself: Remember you’ve no way of knowing who’s phoning you – they could be anybody, and probably someone out to trick you. It’s best to just hang up. If they re persistent, tell them to write to you with more detail, and if they ask for your address you can be certain they are scammers! Alternatively, ask them for their name, location and phone number and say you will call them back. If you are tempted to call them back, first look up HMRC on the internet and find some valid contact phone numbers. Second, do not use the same phone line they called you on ; scammers will not have hung up; they wait for you to pick up the phone and dial out, so all you will get is the same person from the same number. Instead, use another line (not another phone on the same line, another phone on another line) e.g. a mobile, or if you don’t have that option try calling another number (a friend, TIM etc.) and see if you can actually connect to that number. If you can’t, then they’re still on the line and they’re definitely scammers.

A note from our Crime Reduction Advisor The Local Policing Changes have now all taken place and the different teams beginning to 'bed down' with their different priorities. So what have we been dealing with since then? Our endeavours are threefold: keeping people safe, relentlessly pursuing criminals and being there when people need us. Trying to balance the books is always going to be tricky. In the pursuit of offenders we will prevent and detect crime, with particular emphasis on those who prey on the vulnerable. Vulnerable people will be protected either from harm from crime or by referring them to another more appropriate agency to support them with other social needs. Crime and disorder will be prevented by managing crime series and trends locally, local hot-spot locations, working with communities and partners to achieve this. We will encourage and support the public to help protect their own communities; and this includes Neighbourhood Watch. At the end of August there were no emerging crime series, neighbourhood issues or other identified risk. Police resources are very much focussed on Missing Persons, especially those young people that may be or are vulnerable to Child Sex Exploitation; and the drugs scene. Unfortunately these issues are prevalent not only in your community but across the Borough and another reason why we need you as eyes and ears out in the community to report any suspicions you may have. Since the beginning of March this year to date (early September) I can report 19 household burglaries in the West Molesey area. Several of these were attempts only, with no entry gained and the target still seems to be IT, jewellery and cash: although on one occasion in the High Street, a BMW and VW Golf were stolen from the drive. Insecurities due to the summer weather have also been a factor. There were just 9 reports of burglaries to sheds or garages, the majority of these were when sheds on the Hurst Road allotment were targeted on several occasions. Bicycles continue to be a target – from public locations and private sheds and garages. Also in West Molesey a Ford Focus was stolen from Anne Way and a builders van from Brockenhurst in May, and there were several overnight thefts from parked vehicles and vans and the odd river/boat crime. Turning to The Dittons and Hinchley Wood I can report 5 burglaries in the same time frame: one of them involved the theft of two vehicles – a Land Rover Defender and a VW Golf. Spot a pattern here? In fact offenders were arrested for both incidents and are being dealt with. Another allotment shed was broken into and a motorbike and a Leyland Mini classic car were stolen from a garage in Bankside Drive. Other thefts from cars amount to no more than 4 incidents, whilst a black Honda motorcycle was stolen from Avondale Avenue, a Land Rover Defender from Ewell Road and a moped from Fairway Close. There have been a number of reports of damage caused to parked cars – from spray paint to scratches. This is normally indicative of residents reacting to parking issues – and of course cannot be condoned. Remember you can register your property FREE at www.immobilise.com Vic Smith Crime Reduction Advisor

Numbers To Keep Useful Websites

IMMEDIATE POLICE RESPONSE 999 elmbridgenhw.ourwatch.org.uk www.banksafeonline.org.uk POLICE NON-EMERGENCY 101 www.bba.org.uk Surrey Police www.surrey.police.uk www.cardwatch.org.uk www.communities.gov.uk CRIMESTOPPERS (anonymous) 0800 555 111 www.crimeconcernuk.net www.crimestoppers-uk.org www.getsafeonline.org

CRIME REDUCTION ADVISER (CRA) www.homeoffice.gov.uk VIC SMITH 01483 6 31147 www.identitytheft.org.uk [email protected] www.rightupyourstreet.net www.surreycc.gov.uk ESHER POLICE STATION (Civic Centre) 101 www.surreypa.gov.uk Monday-Friday: 8:45am to 5:00pm www.thisismoney.co.uk www.immobilise.com TRADING STANDARDS 08454 04 05 06 via Citizens Advice consumer service Residents Associations: www.esher-residents.com ELMBRIDGE COMMUNITY SAFETY 01372 474398 www.moleseyresidentsassociation.org.uk Email: [email protected] www.hinchleywood.org.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/ElmbridgeBC# www.residents-association.com(Thames Ditton & Weston Green)

NOISE COMPLAINTS 01372 474750 www.longditton.org

ABANDONED VEHICLES, GRAFFITI, LITTER Crime Maps Clean Up Line 01372 474474 Go to elmbridgenhw.ourwatch.org.uk select Your Area then click on Molesey, SURREY FIRE & RESCUE 01737 242444 Dittons & Hinchley Wood. The crime map Home Fire Risk Check 0800 085 0767 links are at the bottom of the page. Contact Centre 03456 009 009 SelectaDNA VOLUNTARY ACTION ELMBRIDGE 01372 463587 Forensic DNA marking kits still available for the www.vae.org.uk fantastic price of £20.00 – original price £49. To order: Email [email protected] or call TELEPHONE/FAX/MAIL PREFERENCE SERVICE John Haberfield. To stop unsolicited sales or marketing calls Phone www.tpsonline.org.uk 0845 070 0707 Information for Residents About The No Cold Fax calls www.fpsonline.org.uk 0845 070 0702 Calling Sticker Scheme Mail www.mpsonline.org.uk 0845 703 4599 Fed up receiving visits at your home from cold calling traders? Concerned about rogue traders calling on To report suspicious activity call: your elderly or vulnerable neighbours, seeking work?  Crimestoppers – 0800 555 111 If so, say "no" to cold calling doorstep traders with a Surrey Trading Standards door sticker.  Anti-Terrorist Hotline – 0800 789 321 Contact your Crime Reduction Advisor or Or in an emergency call 999 Elmbridge Community Safety

NHW SIGN INSTALLATION: Tracey Spreadborough Tel: 020 8979 2660 Email: [email protected]

Keep Them Out!  Remember Burglars don’t like security  Remember Lock your car at all deadlocks on doors because they can’t open times when parking and don’t leave them from the inside, and have to leave valuables on view through a window  Remember Most burglars enter a  Remember On winter evenings keep lights on premises from the rear, and many at home when out burglaries take place during the day  Remember At Christmas time, keep wrapped  Register your property FREE presents away from sight of prying eyes at https:/www.immobilise.com. Registering identifiable  Remember Make sure sheds and gates are property with IMMOBILISE helps to identify the locked, and outside bins are not left where burglars, recover stolen property and prove offences burglars could use them as a stepping stone.

YOUR NHW STREET CO-ORDINATOR IS: