Since my last update in September, it’s been a busy time for the Police in Rushcliffe.
Firstly, I need to thank the residents of Rushcliffe for their patience, understanding and resilience during the recent flooding episodes.
With closed roads, and businesses and houses impacted, I’m really grateful to both the public for their actions to support each other, and to the multitude of agencies (Fire & Rescue, Environment Agency, Nottinghamshire County & Rushcliffe Borough Councils, Severn Trent top name but a few) who worked around the clock to combat the problems with flooding.
Our team at West Bridgford is changing slightly, as we say goodbye to Sgt Sarah Merrall after a lengthy stint working in the West Bridgford NPT; she is moving on to a new role in November, with T/Sgt Martyn Barber coming into the team.
Martyn brings a wealth of experience from working in response roles and neighbourhood roles previously, as well as more complex intelligence based regional work. I’m sure he’ll be a real asset to the team.
Our on-going work to combat car cruising continues, with meetings held around the issue at Ratcliffe On Soar Power Station involving Police and representatives from the local authorities. I hope for some significant progress in terms of legal powers in the coming months to tackle car cruising force-wide led by Nottinghamshire County Council.
High visibility patrols will continue in the area, with enforcement carried out against those involved in car cruising in our problem spots. These are proving effective so far, with a drop in calls relating to the matter.
A reduction in shop theft offences in West Bridgford has been noted in the last two months, thanks to the work between the NPT and local businesses. Key offenders have been targeted with Criminal Behaviour Orders, high visibility patrols, and joint working with the shops in the area. Increased CCTV coverage following the Safer Streets investment has also had an impact too.
Rushcliffe has seen an increase in theft of motor vehicles in the last month, with vehicles being stolen overnight via keyless entry devices in the West Bridgford area. I’m pleased to say that after targeted overnight patrols were put in place due to this increase, with support from the Operational Support Department and Rushcliffe Response teams, we’ve recently made some significant arrests. Two suspects were detained in stolen vehicles and have now been charged and remanded to court.
In terms of crime prevention advice, as peace of mind, if you have a keyless entry system on your vehicle, you may wish to consider storing your car keys inside a ‘faraday’ pouch (pictured right) in your home. This helps prevent criminals remotely accessing the key codes from modern car keys using scanning devices.
Faraday pouches are relatively cheap, but could be a fantastic tool to increase your home security against such offences.
Thank you.
Inspector Timothy Cuthbert, Rushcliffe Neighbourhood Policing