School Visit to deliver crime prevention advice through year group assemblies

School Visit to deliver crime prevention advice through year group assemblies

Concerned about robbery? Here’s a quick update from your area.

DWO PC GARRATT (Clockhouse SNT) and PC VUKADIN (Kelsey and Eden park SNT) attended Orion Eden Park school and Harris Academy Beckenham on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, to deliver crime prevention advice through year group assemblies. More than 750 students were engaged from year groups 7-9, discussing topics of keeping safe whilst travelling, robbery and offensive weapons legislation, Police powers and the age of criminal responsibility.

In recent years, these workshops and assemblies have seen a significant reduction in youth related crimes in and around the schools.
Some simple advice was shared and should be considered by all;
• Be aware of your surroundings, especially when at transport interchanges.
• Keep valuables out of sight as much as possible.
• Plan your route in advance – considering safety over speed.
• Travel with a buddy where possible and share each other’s emergency contact details.
• Make a note of your phone’s IMEI number. This can be found on the original box, through the settings or simply typing *#06#.

If you unfortunately are victim or witness to a crime, please remember as much detail as possible about the people involved. Consider;
• Name, if known
• Age or approximate age
• Gender
• Colour
• Height
• Remember people rarely change their coat’s and/or shoes
• Any distinguishable features – scars, tattoos, damage

We’ve put hundreds more officers on the frontlines of community crime-fighting teams, upping visible patrols in the right ‘hot spots’ so we can deter and catch criminals - including with new tech like live facial recognition cameras, drones and e-bikes.

We’re now arresting more than 1,000 extra criminals every month and seeing local crimes like burglary, robbery and theft start to fall, with ‘neighbourhood crime’ down 14%.

But we know there is more to do. That’s why we’re stepping up our use of technology, increasing our operations and working with partners like phone companies and retailers to make it less appealing for criminals to commit these crimes in the first place.

While we are investigating and arresting those responsible, please consider following the below advice to keep yourself and your property safe: 

• Do not leave your phone, tablet or other digital goods unattended, out of sight or on a table. 
• Be aware of your surroundings and only use your phone when it is safe to do so. 
• Secure your phone by choosing a strong pin or password 
• Set up a tracking app on your phone so you can see where it is from another device like a laptop. Use it as soon as possible, before thieves have a chance to disable it. 
• Turn off message previews, so that thieves won’t see any messages about reset or login codes when your phone is locked. 
• Keep a note of your IMEI number (to access, type *#06# on your phone keypad) 
• Plan your route, especially if you are going somewhere, you have not been before. 

You can report an incident of robbery online at https://www.met.police.uk or alternatively, you can stay 100% anonymous by contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.