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Police News CUT OUT AND KEEP IN A CONVENIENT PLACE Nettleham Police Station Scothern Road Nettleham Lincoln LN2 2XT Telephone: 01522 882222 (Ext:5796) Mobile: 07939 312757 Voicemail: 01522 558798 (1170) Fax: 01522 805797 E-mail: jackie.parker@lincs.pnn.police.uk Jackie Parker mobile: 07944 776801 Welcome to the winter edition of Police News for 2006. I would like to start on a serious note and warn you about nuisance door-to-door persons. They usually target vulnerable people such as the elderly. These are men who say they are builders and that you need work doing on your property. They are very friendly and persuasive and make you feel that they are doing you a real favour by carrying out the work. Often the work does not need carrying out and the work they do is usually substandard and then they charge extortionate prices. When the money is paid they are often never seen again, or they might tell you that they will do work inside the house and exhort even more money out of you. They may leave you with a contact telephone number or address, but these are sometimes false. The decision to have work carried out on your property is your decision and no one else’s, but please be aware of these unscrupulous people. If you are in any doubt, then send them packing. Don’t agree to anything until you’ve checked with other people that the work needs doing and do not let them into the house under any circumstances. Tell them that you want to get several quotes before any work is undertaken and ask them to come again another time when you have had time to check them out. This kind of scam has taken place in a couple of local villages recently and in both cases we were told by the victims that they thought they were ‘lovely men’, so beware! One very elderly gent was even driven several times to the ‘hole in the wall’ by this unscrupulous builder, who convinced the man he was doing him a favour by taking him to the bank! Please keep an eye out if you have an elderly, or vulnerable person living near you. Be a good neighbour! We have had a spate of anti-social behaviour in and around the village in the last few weeks.
Any incidents of anti-social behaviour that are reported to the police are looked at and any names that are taken of people that are involved are recorded and kept on file. Several of the youths have been taken home and given warnings in front of parents and their names will be sent to the Anti-Social Behaviour Team for them to consider what will happen next. Do you know where your child is on these dark nights? It may be that we will be stopping and speaking to your child if they are in the area that anti-social behaviour has been taking place. If you know the people involved in anti-social behaviour, or any of the vehicle details, then please make a note of them. Anti-social behaviour cannot be resolved without the help and involvement of the local community, so please don’t suffer in silence contact us! Now that the dark nights are upon us, you must stay alert and watchful. Please make sure your property is as secure as it can be when you go out and remember to set your alarms! If you are planning to go away at Christmas, then invest in a number of timer switches for your lights in order to create the impression that someone is in and therefore deter any undesirable people. (NOT the hall lights - how many of us only use the hall light when we are in? This is a sure sign to the burglar that you are out!). We need ensure that no one gets the opportunity to commit offences, by reporting anything that you feel is suspicious. These people are well aware that we all buy things at Christmas and that we will have them in our properties around this time of year. Please also make sure that your vehicle is locked and secure and that you do not leave valuables such as wallets, telephones and tools on show in your vehicle. On my walks around the villages, I have also seen many garage doors wide open, some with lights on with very expensive tools on show. The owners can be heard in the back garden mowing the lawn, or cutting the hedges! Lots of times I could have helped myself to anything on show and even the odd bottle of wine, or something from the freezer, and they would have been none the wiser as to who it was. The same goes for warming up your vehicle to defrost the windows before you set off on your journey. Engines running, keys in the ignition and doors opened are not covered by your insurance policy. Report any suspicious people or vehicles immediately to the police. The sooner we get a call, the sooner we can act upon it. As we are on the subject of dark nights, please, please, could you make sure that you have adequate lights on your bicycle and that of your children’s. I have spotted one or two paperboys and girls out in darkness with no lights. Make sure the bulb and batteries in your bicycle lights are in good working order. 17
Friends of mine had a ‘close encounter’ with a paperboy only last week. They were reversing out of their drive and missed the lad by centimetres, as they had not seen him at all, as he had no lights, a dark jacket and his fluorescent paperbag had no reflective strip. If your son or daughter is a paperboy/girl, please make sure that they can be seen on these dark nights. New Child Seat Regulations Please remember we have the new child seat regulations, which came into effect in September. It is easy to forget the rules, especially when you do not care for the child all the time, such as having your grandchildren come and visit. This happened to me recently when I looked after my four nephews for the weekend. It wasn’t until the children were climbing in the vehicle, that the youngest child asked me where his booster seat was, that I even thought about it! Luckily, my brother had thought of it and the booster seat was in my hall waiting to go in the car. Until that point I had not even thought about car seats, as I have not needed to have one for a few years, so I know how easy it is to forget. Basically these are the rules: Baby Seat: rear facing for children up to 13kg (approx age: birth to 9/12 months) Child Seat: forward facing and for children 9kg to 18kg (approx age 9 months to 4 years) Booster seats: for children 15kg to 25kg (approx age 4 to 6 years) Booster cushions: for children 6 years and up if under the height of 135 cm. Rear facing baby seats MUST NOT be used in a seat protected by a frontal air bag unless the airbag has been deactivated, manually or automatically. Who is responsible? The driver is responsible under the law for making sure children under 14 years of age use a seat belt, restraints in cars, goods vehicles and mini-buses. When reporting a crime please report them directly to Lincolnshire Police Headquarters on 01522 882222 where your crime can be recorded and an officer allocated, if necessary. Due to the very nature of our job we cannot always be at the Police Office to answer the telephone or receive personal callers. Please do not leave URGENT messages on an officer’s voicemail. We do work shifts, have rest days, annual leave and sickness and may not be able call you back until next on duty. And finally, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas from everyone here at Nettleham police station. We hope that 2007 will be an even better year for everyone.
Jackie PCSO 2108 Parker