Bromley Safer Award for the Safer Neighbourhood team

Sergeant David Morbin Received the 1st of this year's Bromley Safer Awards for "Working Together".
This Award is in recognition of his and his Teams incredible achievements on this Ward over the past couple of years, I reprint the original nomination as sent to the Bromley Safer Awards Adjudicators.

"When Dave took over Plaistow & Sundridge SNT in 2009, he was like a breath of fresh air, the Team had not had a Permanent appointment for some years previously, due to internal issues within the Local Police Establishment.

The Plaistow & Sundridge Ward is a particularly diverse Ward, bordering Lewisham and the Town Centre, enclosing a “rat run” between the two, included in the ward are part of the Downham Estate, with its own special challenges, and the very different problems of Sundridge Park and Bromley North Village.

Even though Safer Neighbourhood Policing is a new departure for him, he has rapidly assessed the requirements and rearranged rotas and routines, instilling organization, motivation, enthusiasm and loyalty in the Team, resulting in a highly effective delivery of Policing in the Ward.

This impressive record is demonstrated through Intelligence gathering, improved community engagement, particularly from the higher visibility of Team members, and much resolution of long standing problems within the ward.

Dave’s relationship with the Panel has always been courteous and he instills, through his attention to detail, credibility and with the reasoned answers, and the pre-prepared and issued update, he provides at the meetings, a great respect in us all. He has never tried to interfere in the workings of the Panel, instead showing that he wants to work with us.

During the time he has been in charge the Team have been involved in many operations and have also a very good record in the resolution and reduction of local ward ASB, drugs, burglary, motor vehicle crimes. The Team have also initiated innovations such as stopping speeding motorists in company with pupils from a local primary school. He has forged very close and successful relationships with our local Primary schools, and particularly the Riverside Housing Darwin House Complex and Affinity Sutton, resulting in much improved crime and safety statistics from those areas. He has also a close relationship with Residents Associations, particularly the 600 property Links Estate, which has enabled him to issue safety advice to the residents and run targeted operations.

I am informed that his Team is the most proactive within the Borough consistently topping the monthly lists for Arrests, Stops and searches, Warrants executed. 4 months ago they arrested 3 Burglars in a very short space of time and subsequently all these cases have since been successfully prosecuted. This week the PCs are conducting a speed gun operation with the help of colleagues from Bickley SNT and Bromley Town SNT. They will be looking for further criminal offences during this operation. I could give many more examples of how our Team is making our Ward Safer for the residents and businesses alike.

His inspiration has led to 2 of his PCSO’s being accepted for PC training, though this potential loss of experience could have led to a drop in performance levels, Dave has continued to keep the Team motivated and focused.

With the reductions in Police personnel Dave has been given the additional role of running Bickley SNT in parallel with Plaistow & Sundridge. This he has done with great enthusiasm but somehow without losing his effective influence with his original Team.

If this is not enough, Dave as a Level 2 trained Officer was deployed on the occasion of the student riots and during August this year, However, as you would expect by now, his Team continued to perform both on the ward and wherever they were deployed elsewhere on the borough.

We are very proud to have Dave as our SNT Sergeant and feel that he deserves the highest recognition for his unstinting efforts. 

I am certain that he will be very humble and will want to share any award that he may get with his Teams."

Congratulations are definitely in order to Dave and his Team, so when you see them Sergeant, PC's or PCSO's out and about give them your best wishes, they are out there for us.

Latest Ward Crimes reported

your safer neighbourhood team page

Our Christmas Message - Christmas is approaching

As Christmas comes nearer people up and down the country are starting to think about doing their Christmas shopping and stocking up on supplies. However, criminals are no different in that respect and at this time of year there can be rich pickings to be found by taking advantage of the unwary. Make sure your neighbours are aware of some common-sense precautions against getting burgled during the festive season. Find out more

Community Day - "Going for Gold" - 14th July 2012

Panel Members Urgently Needed

We urgently need furtherPanel members to increase the representation of all communities,ethnic or religious, younger and older, living and or working in our ward. We meet for a couple of hours approximately 8 times a year to discuss with and advise our Safer Neighbourhood Team on their Priorities.
To understand further what we do please take a moment to read the minutes of our recent Panel meetings  Panel Minutes
The Panel does not restrict itself to Police matters but also interests itself in the Safer concerns of the Community at large, so we would welcome as open a view as is practicable, through a broader representation from the community.

If you would like to know more please phone 07713341213 and if necessary please leave a message including a method calling you back.

Trading Standards Institute warns of dangerous energy saving scam targeting elderly

Trading Standards Institute is urging consumers to be aware of rogue telephone cold callers offering energy saving devices after trading standards up and down the country reported hundreds of complaints.
Trading standards are currently dealing with more than 200 complaints about people claiming to be their energy supplier or working in partnership with them, offering a plug in device which they say can save them 40 per cent off their energy bills.  Trading standards have had a number of the items tested which not only failed to satisfy electrical safety standards but do not deliver any tangible energy savings.
Ron Gainsford from the Trading Standards Institute said: “Consumers are warned not to use the product as they pose a risk of fire and electrocution and a safety recall has been issued for the items traced so far.
“Unscrupulous criminals are using the rising energy prices as an opportunity to lure in cash strapped consumers – elderly people seem to have been deliberately targeted.
“The number of complaints we are currently dealing with is bound to be only the tip of the iceberg.”
Westminster trading standards have been investigating the scam as the caller gives a London W1 Oxford Street address for the company.
Sue Jones from Westminster trading standards said: “The address they give is that of a virtual office provider, the companies involved in these scams are not actually situated there -  we believe the call centre they use is based abroad and the appliances appear to be distributed by a number of individuals in the UK.
“We know that these fraudsters have been duping consumers across the country into paying £99 for the energy saving device and have been told the caller always appears to be very credible by already knowing the consumers’ details, their energy supplier and sometimes some or all of the digits of their credit/  debit  card.
“Often consumers do not realise that they have been defrauded until they receive the dodgy looking device with instructions in broken English and the accompanying invoice which names an unknown supplier and often gives an American address.”
So far four different suppliers have been named, 1 Stop Marketing Solutions, ITC Development Corp, Power Saver and Athico Ltd. but the fraudsters could be operating under other names too.  Some of these names could be very similar to genuine companies – for example Power Saver Ltd, based in Tonbridge, Kent is not involved in this fraud.
The director of Athico Ltd appears to have been a victim of the scam himself. He fully cooperated with trading standards and the company has now ceased trading.
Advice to consumers
If consumers have responded to one of these cold calls they should report the matter to Action Fraud on www.actionfraud.org.uk 0300 123 2040 or Consumer Direct on 08454040506 . They should also contact their bank to stop their debit/ credit card. If a device has been received they should not use it and dispose of it carefully. 
Consumers should be cautious about giving out any personal or financial information. They should independently verify a caller’s identity before agreeing to purchase any goods or services.
Notes for Editors:

• Recalled items: model number SD 001,
• Useful load ratings: 15000 & 19000 watts
• Manufacturer: MacroPlus B1208 City Square, Shenzhen, Guangdong China
• We do not know how the callers have acquired consumer information however it is easy to buy lists.
• The first 4 digits of a particular bank’s credit card are all the same. All Visa cards start with the number 4, the following 5 digits indicate which bank that issued the Visa card. Mastercards start with 5.
• A useful link for information on saving energy is www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

For further information or to arrange an interview please contact Irja Howie at TSI press office on 08456089430 / 07780675815 or pressoffice@tsi.org.uk
Trading Standards Institute (TSI)
TSI is a training and membership organisation that has represented the interests of the Trading Standards profession since 1881 nationally and internationally.  We aim to raise the profile of the profession while working towards fairer, better informed and safer consumer and business communities.
TSI’s members are engaged in delivering frontline trading standards services in local authorities and in businesses.  We are also supporting the delivery of initiatives such as the advice services Consumer Direct, UK ECC and ECCS.
www.tradingstandards.gov.uk

Burglary Activity in Orpington, Petts Wood, Chistlehurst and St Mary Cray

There have been an unusually high number of reported burglaries to Bromley Police over the last four weeks in the areas of BR5/6/7 (Petts Wood, Orpington, Chislehurst and St Mary's Cray).
The suspect/s main point of entry are via the rear patio doors, where they smash the window using bricks or force the doors open with tools, some of which are taken from sheds (shovels).  The second "favoured" method is via the front door, in particular UPVC doors that have not been locked or wooden doors without Chubb locks.  Suspects will use a "loop" instrument via the letter box to pull the handle down to open the doors.
Police would like to offer the following crime prevention steps:

1. When leaving your home make sure that both the Yale and Chubb locks are correctly locked

2. During night hours make sure that the UPVC door is locked with the key and the Chubb lock is activated

3. Make sure all valuables (including door and car keys)  are out of sight from doors and windows

4. Make sure that all PIR lights are well maintained and fitted both at the front and rear of your home

5. When leaving your home make sure all windows are locked/closed

6. If you have an alarm use it and make sure it is well maintained

7. If on holiday ask neighbours to keep an eye on your home

8. Taking into account the time of year make sure that Christmas presents are out of view

9. Create a list of serial numbers and take photographs of sentimental/high value property