Crime: 27 February 2013

AS YOU WILL SEE – COUNTRY PUBS ARE BEING TARGETED  AGAIN.  THERE IS A ROUTE THROUGH MAIDENHEAD FROM READING !  JUST HAVE A LOOK AT HOW MANY LAPTOPS HAVE GONE !  IF PEOPLE CONTINUE TO CALL INTO COUNTRY PLACES ON THEIR WAY HOME - WITH THEIR JOB LAPTOPS – THIS WILL NOT STOP.  THEY WILL BECOME A CRIME ATTRACTOR AND ANYONE ELSE’S CAR IS PUT AT RISK.

MAIDENHEAD CENTRAL:

maidenheadcentralnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

Neighbourhood Page:

NO CRIME TO REPORT.

RIVERSIDE & BELMONT:

maidenheadcentralnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

25/2 – 26/2  Monday 9 a.m. / Tuesday 9 a.m.  Switchback Road South.  Garden fence kicked and fence panels and posts damaged.

26/2  Tuesday 7.45 p.m. / 10.10 p.m.  Pub, Boulters Lock Island.  Car rear driver’s side window smashed.  Laptop bag and LAPTOP, leads and cables and glasses stolen.

19/2 – 26/2  Tuesday / Tuesday Ray Mill Road West.  Car index plates stolen.

MAIDENHEAD WEST

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

maidenheadwestnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

Neighbourhood Page:

26/2  - 27/2  Tuesday 7 p.m. / Wednesday 7 a.m.  Pub, The Moor, Cookham.  Car rear windscreen smashed with a stone – yellow laptop bag and LAPTOP stolen from the boot.

26/2  Tuesday 7.30 p.m. / 8.45 p.m.  Pub, The Pound, Cookham.  Car front passenger window smashed – LAPTOP, diary X 2, handbag and cosmetic case stolen.

25/2 – 26/2  Monday 7.30 p.m. / Tuesday 7.30 a.m.  School Lane, Cookham.  Car rear windscreen smashed – parcel shelf removed – nothing stolen.

25/2  7.30 a.m. / 10 p.m.  Pub, Bath Road, Littlewick Green.  Car rear passenger window smashed.  LAPTOP and bag, IPAD and holdall stolen.

PINKNEYS GREEN & FURZE PLATT:

maidenheadwestnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

NO CRIME TO REPORT.

MAIDENHEAD SOUTH

BOYN HILL, COX GREEN & WOODLANDS PARK:

maidenheadsouthnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

Neighbourhood Page:

NO CRIME TO REPORT.

OLDFIELD & BRAY:

maidenheadsouthnhpt@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

25/2  Monday 9.10 p.m. / 9.45 p.m.  Pub / Restaurant, High Street, Bray.  Car rear windscreen smashed – Jacket and LAPTOP stolen.

MEMBERS COMMENTS:

FIRST – THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED YESTERDAY IN Wraysbury – be aware – it could happen to you !

26/2  Tuesday 6.15 p.m.  Station Road, Wraysbury.  The owner of a car left it INSECURE on the driveway with the KEYS IN THE IGNITION and the ENGINE RUNNING.  She was only gone for a few moments.  When she returned, she saw the car driving away.  As you often hear in these messages, we have opportunist thieves out there 24 hours a day, looking and waiting for us to make a mistake – if we do - they pounce.  It may be the one and only time, you have done something, but they happen to be there at that exact moment – every time it seems !  The owner had in fact, left her IPhone in the car so she turned on the Tracker App !!!!  It showed the car was in Unwin’s Road, Hounslow !.  MET POL officers attended immediately and recovered the car !  Trackers are brilliant !  Please get to know how to use the one in your phone – please !  I have attached the Tracker handout once again.

FIRST SOME GOOD NEWS – TO REAFFIRM OUR FAITH IN HUMANKIND:

Hi Jeffrey,

I just wanted to say thank you to the unknown taxi driver from Reading and to Gerrards Cross Police. I have tried to find out who the individuals involved are, but with no luck, hence I wanted to send this to you in the hope that the right people would read this eventually.

This is the story: 

In the night of the 12th February, I fell asleep in the train from London to Maidenhead and woke up in Reading. As it was very late, I decided to take a taxi back to Maidenhead. When the taxi driver dropped me off at home, I paid and left the vehicle forgetting my bag with some expensive gear in it (MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad), some really important papers as well. 

The next morning, when I realised I must have forgotten my bag in the taxi, I tried to contact the taxi company, but it was impossible to find the right company, even less so, the driver.

I then tried to locate my iOS devices via iCloud, which showed both as being very close to Gerrards Cross police station. When I phoned 101, they told me Gerrards Cross station only opens at 10 and could I please call later. 

Having a busy day at work I only managed to call 101 later in the afternoon from London, which then connected me to the Metropolitan Police (Gerrards Cross is part of Thames Valley Police), so again no luck as they couldn't put me through. 

A few more meetings later, and I got a phonecall from my wife, telling me that the police had found my bag, found her phonenumber in it and would bring it to our home address. What a service!

So when I arrived at home in the evening, my bag was there already, nothing missing, the nanny had accepted it from a police officer and she didn't know who it was. 

I am really immensely grateful to both the taxi driver from bringing the bag to the police station and to the police officers for bringing it back to me. 

When it's good it has to be said as well!

Hopefully you can convey my message to the right person.

All the best,

Charles

THIS HAS COME IN FROM GEOFF.  ALL VERY SENSIBLE PIECES OF ADVICE !
> Some things to consider!
>
> NOW HEAR THIS...NOT ALL THIEVES ARE STUPID!!
> 1.  A friend of a friend left their car in the long-term parking at San Jose while away, and someone broke into the car. Using the information on the car's registration in the glove compartment, they drove the car to the people's home in Pebble Beach and robbed it. So I guess if we are going to leave the car in long-term parking, we should not leave the registration/insurance cards in it, nor your remote garage door opener.
> This gives us something to think about with all our new electronic technology.
>
> 2.  GPS.
> A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she  knew had their car broken into while they were at a football game.  Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans.  Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard.  When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.  The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house.  The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house.  It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.
>
> Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address in it... Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if your GPS were stolen.
>
> 3.  MOBILE PHONES
>
> I never thought of this.......
>
> This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet, etc., was stolen.  20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says 'I received your text asking about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago.'  When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn.  The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text 'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the pin number.  Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.
>
> Moral of the lesson:
>
>    a.  Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list.  Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc....
>
>    b.  And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.
>
>    c.  Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them.  If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet 'family and friends' who text you.
>
Geoff

SAT NAV SETTINGS:

Hi Jeff

Setting "home" and "mum and dad's house" in GPS's as the local library or police station/supermarket is always a good way to hide your own address.

THE DIFFICULTIES OF BUYING A CAR !!!

Dear Jeff,

I thought I should bring this to the attention of everyone, in case someone falls for the scam.

I was looking at cars on the Autotrader website and found a few cars, which were very cheap, for their mileage and age. The adverts had different email addresses for different cars and they asked that people not to call after 7pm.  If anyone had any queries, they should email for a fast reply.

I phoned one of the Traders named and was told that they didn’t have any of the cars I mentioned, and that someone had hacked into their system and entered those details. The trader has kindly advised me not to email anyone advertised on the website, under their name. The hacking apparently took place, some time last Tuesday / Wednesday.

The thing is, if the scammers request a certain amount of money from potential customers, especially first time buyers before viewing and testing the car, we can imagine how much money they would make out of it!

It may seem obvious to us / those of us aware of such scams, NOT to pay any money upfront, but you never know who is going to be a victim.

Would appreciate it, if you could please warn everyone.

Many thanks!

Kind regards,

Elaine

Many thanks Elaine.  This is what these messages are for – to circulate crime and any awareness advice, that makes us all safer !  We need to sign up every resident in the Borough please !  It will be the only way to protect them from scams such as these.

MORE NIGERIAN MILLIONAIRE SCAMS ARRIVING !

I have just had an email in from Chris !  Apparently he has just won $5.2 million !  He is the letter alleges, the sole beneficiary of a Dr. in Nigeria, who has recently died after winning the lottery there !!!!  BIN THEM !

BURGLAR ALARMS AND HARD SELL TECHNIQUES:

Hello Jeff,
I received a phone call today, which was very cleverly worded.  The person on the other end asked if I had heard about the announcement from Thames Valley Police this week, with reference to their new procedure of no longer responding to ringing house alarms?
As usual I was really busy and was caught off guard as I was doing a hundred things at once.  I just snatched the ringing phone from its cradle.  They asked me about Police announcements etc., I instinctively assumed it was about your Thames valley Alert messages and then spent a few moments frantically scanning my memory about everything I'd read recently, from your updates.

After a couple of minutes of the lady babbling away with 'in partnership with the police', 'registered Borough company' etc. being thrown into the mix, it dawned on me, she was trying to sell me a burglar alarm system.
I said we already had one and it was fine thank you.  She reiterated that the police would no longer respond to the 'bells ringing' on my alarm, and that's why their 'free to selected households' offer of a direct response alarm, was perfect for me.

I'm ashamed to say, I then cut the saleswoman off in her prime and told her ‘no’, I wasn't interested and put the phone down. (Ashamed as it seemed so rude, but she wouldn't take the hint!)
I assume this is a scam, or at least a strong armed tactic to make their alarms seem imperative?  I thought perhaps others should be warned.  I'm sure my elderly parents would be shocked by such a phone call and to hear if their alarm goes off NO ONE is going to come to check?  I'm also assuming this is not the case and if an alarm sounds and the police are informed of it, or are passing they will at least take a look, as they did when I reported a neighbours alarm going off recently?

Just thought maybe people should be made aware, and perhaps be ready for the cold call as opposed to myself ?

PARKING ON THE PAVEMENT.... HAS MORPHED INTO ISSUES WITH CONVERTED FRONT GARDENS, WHERE OWNER PARK THEIR CARS VERTICALLY / DIAGONALLY ACROSS THE PAVEMENT TO GET THEM IN, AS OPPOSED TO HORIZONTALLY AGAINST THEIR HOUSE:

CHAPTER AND VERSE FROM THE RBWM PLANNING DEPARTMENT!

Hi Jeff,

I’m not sure about converting front gardens into parking spaces, as this would be a Planning matter, but have copied this e-mail to colleagues who will hopefully be able to respond to you about this.

Approval however, has to be given for any dropped kerb, or in the case of A or B class roads, separate planning permission would be required. We would normally only give permission for a dropped kerb, where there was a parking space that could accommodate a medium sized family car.  We would make sure that it was possible to use the space, e.g. there weren’t any street lights, signs, trees etc affecting access to the space.  Permission cannot be withdrawn from anyone who simply parks badly, but if they do park overhanging the footway, irrespective of the size of the size of the parking space, then this would be an issue of obstruction.

Regards

Tony

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

Thank you for your enquiry

You need planning permission if the dropped kerb is on a classified road, the list is attached above. (I have attached this)

You will need to let street care know in any case streetcare@rbwm.gov.uk for the construction of a dropped kerb

http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/web/sdop_dropped_kerbs_crossings.htm

Here are some guides you may find useful:

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/patiosdriveways/

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/pavingfrontgarden/

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/house

Hope this is helpful

Regards

RBWM Validation

RETURN ‘HOME’ ADDRESS FOR YOUR SAT NAV !

A good idea would be to put the post code of the local police station - that would give prospective thieves a shock!!  Are you able to let me have the post code of Maidenhead Police Station, I've looked on line at the post code finder but to no avail.

Many thanks
Vera

Bridge Road,

Maidenhead,

Berks  SL6 8LP