Good evening, 

Here is the crime update for St Alphege for this period. 

Burglaries

Between 6:30pm and 6:55pm on Monday 27th January, a burglary has occurred on PROSPECT LANE. Offenders have climbed over a side gate and smashed a glass pane on a side door, gaining access to the conservatory before smashing a further glass window to the kitchen. A search was conducted and taken costume jewellery. They have then made off in the FORD MONDEO they had parked on BAXTERLEY GREEN. 

Vehicle Crime

There has been no reported vehicle crime in this period. 

GOOD NEWS

Officers from the St Alphege and Blythe neighbourhood team recovered a car stolen from BRISTOL this week after being tipped off by a member of the public. 

Our SHARMANS CROSS, ALDERBROOK and town centre Streetwatch teams have been out on patrol this week, helping to keep our communities safe.

Our SPEEDWATCH team have been out in ALDERBROOK ROAD and ALDERMINSTER ROAD this week. From these sessions, 8 motorists have been sent a warning letter about their excessive speeds. 

Beat Surgery

The next beat surgeries will be on Tuesday 4th February in The Core, Solihull and on 22nd February at Smithtons. 

CRIME PREVENTION

Pickpockets and purse dippers are active in the town centre. Always make sure handbags are zipped up, never leave your handbag or purse unattended on a shopping trolley, pushchair or wheelchair. Always be aware of your surroundings and the people around you when withdrawing cash. A simple tactic against this type of crime is to attach small bells to your purse so that they jingle when purses are being moved.

Please be extra vigilant when using cash machines.  Make sure you are not overlooked.  Be aware of anyone making conversation with you at a cash machine.

Between October 1st and December 31st last year there were 33 reported residential burglaries on the St Alphege area. This obviously coincided with the darker nights.

If you are going to be out when it gets darker please consider timer switches for your lamps. There are also other devices that do the same job that can be linked to wifi. Don’t leave your house in darkness, this is a clear sign that the house is empty.

Remember, crime prevention is all about making it difficult for offenders to break in to your property or steal your vehicles. If they have to spend more time or make more noise than they want to they may give up and look elsewhere. 

Please consider anti-snap locks to all outside doors. Look for at least 3 stars and the Kitemark when purchasing them.

Put wheelie bins at the rear of your property away from gates and fences if you can. These can be used as a means to get over your fence and into your rear garden. 

If you have a side gate or a fence bordering your garden then think about something called PRIKA STRIP. This is strips of hard rubber spikes that can be run along flat surfaces such as gates, fences and roofs, anybody attempting to climb on or over will find it difficult to put their hands on the surface due to these spikes.

We are at the time of year when we start to put away our garden furniture and gardening tools. Please make sure that everything is secure and your sheds are locked and check them regularly over the winter months. Shed alarms are a relatively inexpensive item that you can purchase as an extra crime prevention measure.

Please check any garages that you own that aren’t attached to your house. These can be seen as an easy target as garages that are away from the houses aren’t overlooked. If you have anything valuable in them extra security measures would be a good idea. Lock bikes up that are inside and padlock tool boxes are 2 such measures. Good lighting can be a deterrent, one suggestion would be a dusk to dawn system so that you don’t even have to think about switching it on.

If you use a bike to get out and about think about the lock that you secure it with. Please consider a good quality lock for your bike. A D lock is one such type of lock. Simple chains can be cut through in seconds.

Please consider a good steering lock for your vehicles, and check that your vehicle is locked before you walk away from it.

Tamper proof screws for number plates are a good idea to protect number plates from being stolen.

Please take 5 mins to read about ways you can prevent burglary and vehicle theft

Residential burglary | Your Options | West Midlands Police (west-midlands.police.uk)

Theft of motor vehicle | Your Options | West Midlands Police (west-midlands.police.uk)

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