Archive for category: News

Thank you to everyone who attended our quarterly online meeting on Tuesday. We had one of our best turnouts, with lots of people bringing their concerns to our attention.

For those that couldn’t make it, this email will give you an insight into the work that has been done over the past three months and our priorities for now until our next meeting at the beginning of August.

In February we agreed that drugs, knife crime, anti-social behaviour and anti-social driving would be the main areas of focus.

Drug dealing

The team have carried out warrants in Barrington (and as a result Essex), Trumpington and Fen Road into the supply of drugs. Three people were arrested as a result of the Barrington warrant which has had a significant impact on cross boarder dealing.

Lots of stop searches which has resulted in out of court disposals for personal use of cannabis. The team have also visited an address in Fowlmere.

Anti-social driving

The team have carried out speed checks in Duxford, Sawston, Swavesey, Bar Hill, Bourn, Shelford, Meldreth, Longstowe and Foxton.

A community protection warning was delivered in Suffolk to prevent a car meet in Waterbeach and a warning issued to the driver of a black Audi parking and driving around Cambourne.

Anti-social behaviour

High visibility patrols have been carried out in Cambourne, Bar Hill, Melbourn, Grantchester, Fen Drayton and Orchard Park. Young people have been engaged with and stop searched.

The team have also issued two Anti-Social Behaviour Contracts to young people in Cambourne for their continued disruption in the area.

Priorities and other concerns raised

The priorities for the next three months will continue as knife crime, drug dealing, anti-social driving and anti-social behaviour as they come out as the most critical in the online survey.

There were lots of concerns raised on the evening including speeding, parking and anti-social behaviour across Linton, Caldecott, Melbourn, Milton, Shelford, Fen Road and Waterbeach. These will be looked at by the team over the coming months.

We’ll meet again online on 8 August where we will have another presentation on recent activity from the team, listen to concerns and together agree the priorities. You can register for the meeting in advance here.

In the meantime you can follow our work on Policing South Cambridgeshire Facebook.

Please ensure you report any concerns to us as they happen online.

Kind Regards

Inspector Simon Birch

South Cambridgeshire Neighbourhood Team

We are pleased to say that we’ve seen a 95% decrease in catalytic converter theft this month.

This isn’t by chance. It’s thanks to members of the public who have shown confidence in their local police teams by reporting suspicious activity, as it happens.

It is the community’s quick thinking and the swift reaction of local officers that we have seen such a huge reduction.

Arrest and charge

On 23 March officers responded to a catalytic converter theft in Kingsley Walk, Ely and arrested three men who have since been charged in connection with catalytic converter theft.

The statistics

During the first quarter of the year (January-March), catalytic converters were being stolen at a rate of almost four every day (3.8).

Since the start of April (1-26th) there have been six thefts recorded, a decrease of between 91 and 95 per cent compared to January (133), February (140) and March (73).

The work

The decrease follows significant work carried out by the local policing teams who oversee proactive

disruption of organised crime gangs as well as support from the police helicopter and the road policing unit to help intercept suspects. Officers have carried out targeted days of action and weeks of patrols, visited scrap dealers and have launched dates for further free catalytic converter marking. Search warrants have been carried linked to Serious and Organised crime groups who police are now investigating as part of a regional crime series.

What next?

Whilst we have disrupted organised crime groups in our area by arresting and remanding individuals, we know other criminals won’t be able to resist the temptation to steal such valuable metal again. So our message is please remain vigilant.

Prevention

It takes just minutes for thieves to remove a catalytic converter and on many occasions victims are unaware their vehicle has been targeted even though it was on their driveway. Thieves are also known to be violent and may carry weapons.

Toyotas and Hondas have been predominantly targeted but other vehicles including Lexus, Mercedes, Mazda and Volkswagen have also been singled out.

Vehicle owners are urged to look out for vehicle jacked up (especially in the middle of the vehicle) and listen out for the sound of metal being cut. There may be a vehicle nearby with the engine running and two or three people involved.

Call 999 and share the vehicle number plate, make and model. Where possible, also provide the make, model and VRM number of your own vehicle.

Kind Regards

Chief Inspector Paul Rogerson

There are road works and temporary traffic lights at the Newnham end of Barton Road. Traffic is queuing in both directions for a substantial amount of time. Best to avoid going in to Cambridge along Barton Road. Works are likely to continue for some time as this is part of the Greenways upgrades.

Most burglars target homes that they think will contain valuables and this generally means cash, electricals, and jewellery.

Here are a few tips on how to protect yourself and valuables:

1.       Improve security, and ensure CCTV and alarms are working properly.

2.       Use a timer switch for indoor lighting.

3.       Keep your jewellery in a safe location, like safe deposit box, while not being used.

4.     Register your jewellery on www.immobilise.com to help us identify your property if ever stolen.

Remember, a home that looks empty is far more likely to be targeted, so it’s worth making sure your home looks occupied.

For more on protecting your home https://bit.ly/3TDNmHu

The force’s new #NotFor999 campaign aims to educate the public about 999 misuse. By raising awareness of our contact methods and when to use each one, we hope that misuse of the emergency line will reduce, meaning operators will be free to help people with genuine emergency calls.

When to use 999:

999 should always be used in an emergency. A situation is classed as an emergency if it meets any of these criteria:

• An offence is in progress, or has just happened
• The situation requires immediate police presence
• Someone is hurt / in serious danger / harm
• The offender / offenders are still at the scene
• The situation is likely to escalate and could cause a disruption to the public
• Property is likely to get damaged

When to use 101 or our online services:

If a situation requires police attention, but it is not urgent, you should avoid calling 999, and we advise that you call 101 if you do not have access to online services. It should be used to:

• report minor and non-urgent crimes that are not currently in progress (where immediate or high-priority response is not required),
• or to offer evidence in an investigation.

When you call 101, we will ask for some initial information from you so your call can be triaged, and passed on to the right person. At busy times, you will have to wait in line for an operator.

If you do have access to online services, you can speak to a specialist operator on live web chat, or you can fill in one of our online report forms. (Online reports can be used to report crime, RTCs, lost / stolen property, missing people, antisocial behaviour, domestic abuse and more).

This way of contacting us is fast and efficient, and can be quicker than waiting on the phone for a 101 operator. If you use online services and we need to contact you to find out more information, a call operator will get in touch with you to do so.

Your report will be assessed and dealt with in the exact same way as a call to 101 – the only difference is the technology used to inform us about the issue / incident.

If you do contact us using our online reports, we ask that you do not get in touch to chase for an update, unless you are providing us with further information about the case.

Ask The Police

Ask The Police is the official police resource for England and Wales. The site can be accessed through our website, and provides Q&As to a wide variety of the general public’s most frequently asked policing questions. If you are ever unsure about whether to contact us or not, you can always consult this website beforehand.

If you would like further information about contacting us, you can learn more in our Contacting the Constabulary Guide.