Crime Prevention

Message from Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police

Dear Residents

These are unprecedented times that understandably will cause concern in our communities. In light of further developments and the announcement this week by the Prime Minister that everyone should stay at home unless certain conditions apply, I wanted to reassure you that Warwickshire Police will continue to work hard to keep you safe and to support all of our communities throughout the coming weeks.

This is a national public health emergency and we are working closely with our partners across local authorities, emergency services, health and local charities to ensure we support the collective effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 and maintain essential services for our communities and in particular those who are most vulnerable.

Like everyone, we as an organisation are feeling the impact of this pandemic and we have seen a short-term rise in workforce absence with some staff required to self-isolate in accordance with Public Health England advice. We have a fantastic workforce who will rise to the challenge and we will continue to do all we can to keep them and their families safe as they deliver the best policing services possible.

This of course places greater pressure on policing, but we continue to deliver essential policing services 24/7 across the County. We are working hard to prioritise the most urgent calls for service so I would ask for your patience when seeking our services.

I urge every single one of us to play our part in protecting our communities and keeping people safe. For most, this will be staying at home, which will help to slow the transmission of the virus, reduce pressure on the NHS and ultimately save lives.

We are working with national policing colleagues to fully understand the powers that will be available to the Police to enforce the Prime Minister’s announcement, but use of these will not be necessary if we all comply with the advice. Our officers and staff will continue to provide high visible policing in towns and villages across Warwickshire and they will take appropriate action to enforce the new measures where people do not comply.

I want to thank all communities for their support, patience and understanding at this critical time.

Martin Jelley QPM
Chief Constable

Appeal for information after sheep deliberately run over in field

Warwickshire Police are appealing for information after a number of sheep are sadly believed to have been deliberately run over and killed in a field near Bidford on Avon. Three sheep were found dead in a field at the Barton Crossroads/Honeybourne Road on Friday.  A further eight ewes were found dead in the same field and another seven were severely injured and had to be put down.

If anyone has any information, or witnessed any suspicious vehicles or behaviour in this location over the past week, please call 101 and quote incident number 47 of 11 March 2020.  Information can also be given anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Join the trial for a new fly tipping app

Defra is running a trial to test the usability of a fly-tipping reporting app called FlyMapper. The trial runs for three months from 2 March and anyone can register to join between now and the end of the trial.  Further details can be found on the NFU website. The aim of the trial is to gather intelligence for the better management of fly-tipping on private land in England. FlyMapper is already successfully used in Scotland and Wales. Currently victims of flytipping may have to report incidents to multiple authorities, which is time consuming, often confusing and frustrating.

Latest scam alerts from Warwickshire County Council

Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards department has issued some advice on the latest scams which are currently circulating.

Advertising space
Businesses are cold called and offered advertising space in bogus anti-bullying, drugs (or similar) publications. The callers sometimes claim they are working with the Police, Fire Service or other Government services and that the publications will be distributed to schools. In reality, these bogus publications are not being produced

Text messages
One resident reported receiving a text that stated that they had been sent a letter concerning a ‘personal issue’ and to click on the web link contained in the text for more information. The resident had received no such letter.  It is likely that had the text message recipient clicked on the link they would have been directed to a potentially harmful or dangerous web page containing malware.  More advice

Telephone calls
Latest scam ‘phone calls include those pretending to be from credit card providers, HMRC and wifi providers.

For further information and advice please visit this page.

Land Registry free property alerts

By signing up to the HM Land Registry property alert service you will receive an email each time there is significant activity on the property you are monitoring, such as if a new mortgage is taken out against it.  The alert will tell you the type of activity (such as an application to change the register or a notification that an application may be due), who the applicant is and the date and time it has been received.   Signing up to Property Alert won’t automatically stop fraud from happening. You will need to decide if the activity on the property is potentially fraudulent and act quickly if so. The alert email will tell you who to contact.  Read more here.  

Could the uWatch cube help with your security concerns?

The uWatch Cube is a little weather proof box that can be sited anywhere that has a mobile signal. If the cube is moved, something moves in front of it, a Bluetooth Tag activates it, the temperature is outside a range you have set or the internal clock has told it to activate you will receive an alert on your smartphone in less than 30 seconds. The uWatch Cube could therefore be used for a variety of situations including security and as such the device has Police “secured by design” approval for preventing and solving crime. To view full information on wWatch Cube please visit this website.

Rural Crime Reporting

As part of their ongoing work to tackle the serious issues surrounding criminal behaviour on farms and in the wider countryside, the NFU has partnered with the charity Crimestoppers to launch the Rural Crime Reporting Line, a service through which information about four rural crimes can be given anonymously. Rural crimes often go under-reported and their true extent remains unknown. Anyone who has experienced, witnessed or has any information about these rural crimes is encouraged to come forward and call the line – your information could be extremely valuable.

Contact number: 0800 783 0137
Website: http://www.ruralcrimereportingline.uk

Beware of fraudsters targeting farmers who receive subsidy payments

In the past, banks have warned that fraudsters pretending to be from their bank’s fraud department may try to target farmers who receive subsidy payments. Remember:
• Your bank will never ask you for your full online password
• Your bank will not ask you to make a payment over the phone using your online account.
• If you get a call from someone claiming to be from your bank (or any other organisation), make sure it’s genuine. End the call then wait 5 minutes and call them back on a number you know is correct (not a number they’ve given you).
• Never give your PIN and other passwords to a 3rd party even if you think you are speaking to your bank.

Beware of phishing email with Police branding

Warwickshire Police has been made aware of a phishing email that is using police branding to provoke responses.
The email says that the recipient is being summoned to court as a witness and asks them to follow a link, which could then lead to a virus or malware being placed on their computer.
For full information on the email please visit the link below.

Beware of rogue tarmac gangs

Farmers are warned to beware of rogue tarmac gangs targeting their premises. The gangs either door knock or more recently (and in a new twist to an old scam) phone the farm and claim they have some left over tarmac they want to get rid of. They imply that they would rather tip the tarmac on the farm driveway to cover a few potholes as a favour, rather than have to dispose of it. If the farmer agrees, the rogue gang arrive quickly, spread the tarmac and then demand thousands of pounds with menaces!
If you have been a victim or are approached and threatened please report to the police on 101 or 999 if immediately concerned for your safety.

Report a wildlife crime anonymously

Warwickshire Wildlife Watchers has added a form to their website which will allow the reporting of a wildlife crime to take place anonymously.
Lamping without permission, hare coursing, persecution of badgers, bats and birds of prey and are examples of incidents which are against the law.
Visit the website below if you want to report a wildlife crime.

Consider registering a domain name for your business if you don’t have a website

Online criminals are using a fake website scam to trick customers into paying money for goods that are never received. They do this by setting up a website using the name of a genuine business that does not have a website. The customer then thinks they are purchasing online goods from a genuine business but never receives the goods that they pay for.
If you are a business that does not have a website consider registering the domain name of your company to ensure that you do not fall victim to this scam.

Request for businesses to remain vigilent

Following a spate of robberies in Kenilworth and South Warwickshire, Warwickshire Police has issued a number of alerts in relation to incidents at business premises in recent days. A request to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour to the Police on 101 has been issued.  If you’d like to sign up to the Warwickshire Police Community Messaging Service please visit the website below.

Cyber Safety Advice

In the light of the recent cyber attacks on the NHS Warwickshire County Council has produced some cyber safety advice for businesses.
To read the advice in full please use the link below.

New YouTube videos to help businesses avoid cyber crime

A new YouTube Channel has recently been launched which is specifically aimed at businesses. The Channel houses an array of short, useful videos covering cyber crime related topics.
Some of the video topics include Ransomware, Phishing Emails and Password Management. If you’d like to view the videos or look at what other topics are covered visit the YouTube Channel below.

Scene it. Herd it. A new Crimestoppers campaign

Theft of livestock, farm tools, oil, diesel, quad bikes, trailers and burglaries from farm buildings remain top targets of thieves in the Warwickshire countryside, prompting independent charity Crimestoppers to launch a new campaign tackling rural crime across the county.
There has been a sharp increase in the theft of expensive tractors and recent intelligence suggests that organised criminals are specifically targeting British farms and machinery dealers. The problem affects communities, businesses, farmers and manufacturers.
Crimestoppers is working closely with agencies such as NFU Mutal, Horse Watch, and Rural Watch to spread the word that there is a safe, anonymous way to report crime.

Beware of storage scam

Following recent increases in fly-tipping there have been a number of incidents across the country where farmers have been paid cash to store material, for example road planings. Farmers are then discovering wrapped bails of landfill refuse stored instead, often in very large quantities and facing an equally large bill to clear the rubbish up. Please be aware of this and contact the police on 101 if you receive such requests for ‘storage’.

Horse Watch

The excellent Warwickshire Horsewatch is also open for horse owners in the West Mercia area. Warwickshire and West Mercia forces also recognise that with rural and equine crime, thieves do not respect borders and what happens in one county soon moves across to another. Therefore, alerts from many other counties are included on their Facebook page and in their Bulletins. You are invited to join the Warwickshire Scheme. To join, please visit the Warwickshire Horsewatch website: www.warwickshire-horsewatch.co.uk