Crime: 20 February 2013

Last week we held a Neighbourhood Watch Open Meeting in Ascot and the topic under discussion was ASB.  Rob Dunford from the Borough ASB team and Steve Knowles from Radion Housing made excellent presentations.  Rob was asked several questions and he said he would put a handout together.  I felt this was worth sharing and it is set out below.  He has also included a specimen ‘Incident Diary’, which I have attached.  The point he wanted to emphasise, was that if anyone is suffering ASB, they must keep a diary of dates times and how it affects them.  If there is Borough / Police / Housing Association involvement – they will require specific details.

I have also received a question about parking on pavements.  I passed this through to Tony Carr, head of Highways at the Borough and he has provided a brilliant and very detailed explanation of the law – chapter and verse !!!  You may want to copy and paste these pieces somewhere else, to keep them handy.  I have created handouts from them, which I will keep and circulate every so often.

CRIME:

MAIDENHEAD CENTRAL:

maidenheadcentralnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

Neighbourhood Page:

18/2 – 19/2  Monday 6 p.m. / Tuesday 8 a.m.  Shop, Bridge Avenue.  Shop window cracked.

RIVERSIDE & BELMONT:

maidenheadcentralnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

NO CRIME TO REPORT.

MAIDENHEAD WEST

BISHAM, COOKHAM, HURLEY, THE WALTHAMS, LITTLEWICK GREEN & KNOWL HILL:

maidenheadwestnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

Neighbourhood Page:

18/2  Monday 6.30 p.m. / 8.30 p.m.  Orchard Gardens, Sutton Road, Cookham.  Rear car window smashed – LAPTOP stolen from the boot.

16/2 – 19/2  Saturday 10.30 a.m. / Tuesday 10.45 a.m.  Henley Road.  Blue Badge stolen from a car on the driveway. There is no signs of forced entry and the owner is adamant, the car was locked.  Please remember ‘Jammers’.  Every time you leave / park your car, you must check it is actually locked.

17/2 – 18/9  Saturday 9 p.m. / Monday 9 a.m.  Upper Culham Road, Cockpole Green.  Shed break and garden tools stolen.

17/2 – 18/9  Saturday 9 p.m. / Monday 9 a.m.  Farm, Hatchgate Lane, Cockpole Green.  Outbuildings broken into and searched along with cars.  Champagne and fishing equipment stolen.

16/2 – 18/2  Saturday 6 p.m. / Monday 8.30 a.m.  Waltham Road, White Waltham.  Garage break - Unknown tool used to lever open and damage a window.  Scrap metal stolen – 2 copper hot water cylinders, copper piping and brass stolen.

PINKNEYS GREEN & FURZE PLATT:

maidenheadwestnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

19/2 – 20/2  Tuesday 6 p.m. / Wednesday 9.30 a.m.  Bridle Road X 3  Cars had their wing mirrors knocked off.

19/2 – 20/2  Tuesday 7.45 p.m. / Wednesday 7.45 a.m.  Marlborough Road X 2.  1.  Garage in a garage block broken into.  Up and over garage door undamaged.  Nothing stolen.  2.  Garage door jemmied open – Bike stolen.  2 other garages broken into, but not yet reported.

MAIDENHEAD SOUTH

BOYN HILL, COX GREEN & WOODLANDS PARK:

maidenheadsouthnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

Neighbourhood Page:

18/2 – 19/2  Monday 5 p.m. / Tuesday 9 a.m.  School, Altwood Road.  Plant pots smashed and thrown into a pool and re-cycling bins kicked over.

OLDFIELD & BRAY:

maidenheadsouthnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

19/2  Tuesday 6.15 p.m.  Hotel, Bridge Road.  Car rear window smashed – IPAD stolen.

17/2 – 18/2  Sunday 7 p.m. / Monday 4.30 p.m.  Brownfield Gardens.  Offenders have stolen 6 wheels from the back garden.

19/2 – 20/2  Tuesday 5 p.m. / Wednesday 6.45 a.m.  Company, Monkey Island Lane.  Office block broken into.  A large stone used to break a window.  Nothing stolen.

19/2  Tuesday 6.30 p.m. / 7.30 p.m.  Pub, High Street, Bray.  Car passenger window smashed – LAPTOP & IPAD STOLEN.

MEMBERS’ COMMENTS

FIRST A SCAM EMAIL FROM ANDREW

It appears to come from M&S and alleges that someone has made an attempt, to illegally log into his account and it has therefore been suspended.  It asks him to click on and follow a link, so that he can rectify the situation !

AS YOU ALL KNOW BY NOW – BIN ANYTHING LIKE THIS – IF IT APPEARS TO BE A MULTIPLE ADDRESSED EMAIL, INCLUDES AN ATTACHMENT OR LINK WHICH YOU HAVE TO COMPLETE – AND – A THREAT – UNLESS YOU DO SO SOMETHING  x, y & z WILL HAPPEN - SO DO IT URGENTLY !  PLEASE ALSO ADVISE ANYONE YOU KNOW !

NEXT, POSSIBLY A NEW SCAM !

Hi Jeff

I had a problem today and I wondered if it had happened to anyone else ?

My phone rang this afternoon.  When  I picked it up I heard the words "You have a call waiting. To receive the call press any number".

I immediately put the phone down without taking any other action. I then dialled 1471 and was given the number that had called at 15.52.

I rang the number, as it was a Reading number and I have many contacts in Reading, I got the message "the number you have dialled was not recognised. Please check and dial again."

I presume that if I had pressed any number, it would have autodialed a different number – perhaps premium rate and I would have been charged for the call.

I have reported this matter to BT faults who are reporting it to the nuisance calls department. I do not yet know what they will do, but I wondered if anyone else out there had had a similar incident and knew what it was all about ???

Regards

Peter

ANY THOUGHTS ?  HAS THIS HAPPENED TO YOU ?  IF SO WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME ??

FRAUD:

I HAVE JUST HAD THIS IN RE THE NEW ACTION FRAUD HELP LINE:

Hi Jeff,

I contacted Action Fraud, and they were most helpful. 

Many thanks,

Mary

This is really reassuring.

To contact Action Fraud, call them on 0300 123 2040 or visit their website at www.actionfraud.police.uk.

THE ASB ADVICE FROM FROM ROB DUNFORD:

Good afternoon Jeff,

I hope that the NHW enjoyed our Q&A session on Ascot – I have to say I thought it was a stimulating discussion and would like to thank the Chair, John Bailes and NHW for their attention and really useful questions.

With regard to the query about the kind of information that is required by us when we are investigating an ASB complaint, we generally work on the “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How” principal, but I have collaborated with Steve and agreed the below bullet points as a guide.  Steve has also kindly attached a sample of a Radian diary sheet just to illustrate the kind of document we're talking about:

Date and time
* Seems self-explanatory, but it is very common for us to be told “last Saturday” or “the evening”. What we need is ideally a specific date and time, e.g. “on Saturday 26/01/13 between 7.30 and 8.30 p.m.”

Location
* A specific location, coupled with detailed time/date information, is most useful to aid us in targeting resources and identifying lines of enquiry. For example, if problems are regularly occurring “in the road outside number 15 Apple Street” as opposed to simply “in Apple Street” then we have a better starting point.

Perpetrator description(s)
* If the identity of a person is known then this goes here, but if unknown this additional information essential to us in tracking a person down. Details like age, gender, ethnicity, height, build and clothing are all useful. We don’t expect an ‘identikit’ but at the same time “a group of youths” does not really help us, whereas “five white boys approx. 15-16 years old who were wearing dark tracksuits” can narrow it down significantly, and another detail that can catch younger perpetrators out is being in school uniform!

Details of the incident
* This is very much the ‘what happened’ part, and we find that complainants can gloss over some details, which is understandable because they are generally unpleasant. However this detail is essential to us in rating the severity of the behaviour. We will typically have something like “he swore at me and was really aggressive” which gives us an idea of what happened but doesn’t tell us very much about the incident. In this example the perpetrator may have committed criminal offences for the police to pursue but we can only judge that from the specific information about their behaviour, e.g. “he called me a f*** a*** and came toward me shaking his fist.”

Was it reported?
* I.e. to Thames Valley Police / RBWM / Housing Association. It is helpful for us to know what other professionals have dealt with a problem so that we don’t duplicate work or miss opportunities to work together.

What was the effect on you?
* As was highlighted last night, it is very important for us to understand the impact on the complainant as a victim of ASB. This affects various things about how we deal with a case and as was explained by Steve yesterday it is of particular importance when a matter gets to court. On another level, the perpetrators of ASB are not always aware of the effect their behaviour has on others and if we can paraphrase a victim’s emotional experience then we are able to make someone confront the consequences of their behaviour.


All this said it is always best that victims of ASB contact us before they start to diarise their experiences. If it is appropriate for them to record information for us then we will send diary sheets and explanatory notes to assist with this. We don’t dish out diary sheets too widely as it is important that ASB cases are directly managed and accountable to an individual officer as this provides a more consistent and transparent service for our residents.

I hope this clarifies things somewhat for anyone who was unclear on the diaries.

Kind regards,

Rob

Rob Dunford

Anti-Social Behaviour Officer

Tel: 01628 796 203

A specimen Dairy Sheet is attached for your members to look at.

I have attached it for you.

I HAVE RECEIVED A QUESTION ABOUT PARKING ON PAVEMENTS !

Hi Jeff,

What are the regulations concerning parking on the pavement ?
I live in a wide road, where proper on-road parking would help to slow cars down, and being off the pavement would  a)  free it for pedestrians and  b)  conserve our beautiful granite kerbstones.
Thanks

Alan

I ASKED THE ORACLE AT THE BOROUGH IN CHARGE OF HIGHWAYS - TONY CARR:

Hi Jeff,

There is no specific offence of parking on a footway, but….

Section 72 of the Highways Act 1835 makes it an offence;

“for a person to wilfully ride a carriage upon a footway by the side of a road made or set apart for the use or accommodation of foot passengers”.

Section 191 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 defines, “A carriage or trailer is deemed to be a carriage within the meaning of any Act, rule, regulation or bylaw made under any Act of Parliament -“

Section 137(1) of the Highways Act 1980 makes it an offence, “for a person without lawful authority or excuse to, in any way wilfully obstruct the free passage along a highway”.

Common Law says that, “a Highway is a way over which members of the public have a right to pass and re-pass.

Section 328 of the Highways Act 1980 defines, “A highway means the whole or part of a highway, other than a ferry or waterway, and includes bridges and tunnels on the route”.

Section 42 Road Traffic Act 1988 together with Regulation 103 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 makes it an offence, “for a person in charge of a motor vehicle or trailer to cause or permit the vehicle to stand on a road so as to cause any unnecessary obstruction”.

Section 185 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 defines, “A motor vehicle is a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads”.

Section 19(1), Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it an offence, “for a person to park a heavy commercial vehicle wholly or partially on the verge of a road, on a footway or on land between two carriageways, (central reservation) which is not a footway. HOWEVER. It is a defence to prove that the vehicle was parked on a footway or verge for the purpose of loading or unloading if this could not be carried out satisfactorily without being so parked AND that the vehicle was not left unattended whilst so parked.

A heavy commercial vehicle is any goods vehicle with a maximum gross mass, (or train weight if towing a trailer) exceeding 7.5 tonnes

All of the above are non-endorsable offences and would normally be dealt with by way of a fixed penalty notice however:-

Section 22 of The Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it an offence, “for a person in charge of a vehicle, to cause or permit the vehicle or trailer drawn by it to remain at rest on a road in such a position or in such a condition or in such circumstances as to involve a dander of injury to other persons using the road”.

This is an endorsable offence.

A Road is defined by Section 192 (1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and

Section 142 (1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 thus,

“Road includes any highway and any other road to which the public has access and includes bridges over which a road passes.

There are a number of other definitions affecting types and parts of roads and highways which may need to be considered.

So, the short answer is that it is probably the offence of obstruction of a footway that is more relevant. However, this will be dependant upon circumstances at the time, such as time of day number of footway users, whether someone was actually being obstructed at the time, etc.

Sorry that there isn’t a shorter answer.

Regards

Tony

Tony Carr |  MSc BSc (Hons) CMILT MCIHT | Traffic and Road Safety Manager
Highway Engineering and Transport | Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

I AM OFTEN ASKED THIS – SO I HOPE THE DEFINITIVE ANSWER HELPS.