2 minute read
Police alert
Voice of the Blue Light:
Shaftesbury Town Neighbourhood Team
Monthly news from the North Dorset Police Team. This month - Shaftesbury’s PC 740 Rob Hammond
Shaftesbury Town Neighbourhood Policing Team works from the Police Station on Angel Lane just off the High Street.
The neighbourhood team consists of PC 740 Rob Hammond, PCSO 5382 Su Leatt & PCSO 8857 Phil Dibble. PCSO 6644 Chris Mullens also operates from the station with a responsibility for the rural areas around Shaftesbury and Gillingham. The team is managed by a Sgt based at Gillingham and an Inspector at Blandford.
Recently we have been actively patrolling Shaftesbury and surrounding areas in response
to reports of Anti-Social Behaviour.
ASB remains one of the top priorities identified by the public; patrolling known hotspots has resulted in seizures of alcohol, controlled drugs and the signposting of the young people involved to the Dorset Youth Justice team and other support agencies including Dorset Council, Health and Social Services.
A developing crime of concern in the North Dorset area is the significant increase in catalytic converter thefts from parked cars.
Organised criminal gangs are targeting the exhaust parts for the precious metals they contain.
The offenders are generally focussing on street parked cars quickly accessing the undersides by lifting cars with makeshift jacks or just crawling underneath and cutting the parts off with battery angle grinders or other power tools.
Please be vigilant to people acting suspiciously around parked vehicles, particularly during evenings and overnight.
Advice for vehicle owners:
• Whenever possible, park your vehicle in a garage or on a driveway. • Alternatively, park in a location that restricts access to the underneath of your vehicle, park close to fences, walls or a kerb with the exhaust being closest to the fence, wall or kerb to make the theft more difficult. • Avoid parking your vehicle half on the pavement and half on the road, as this may make it easier for thieves to access the catalytic converter • If your catalytic converter is of a ‘bolt on’ type consider having the bolts welded. • Consider the installation of home CCTV or doorbell cameras to protect your vehicles. • Identify/etch/mark your converter using a proprietary marking and registration system and advertise this fact using windows stickers supplied with the marking system or just your postcode/ registration number to assist with identification. • Consider the use of a ‘Cat Clamp’, a product approved by the Association of Chief Police Officers or other antitheft devices available on the market, some are supported by manufacturer schemes.
We have been working with partners to try and identify the outlets and handlers for the stolen CAT’s, visiting several scrap yards with the local authority & Environment Agency to identify any illegal handling and gain intelligence on who may be selling them as well as giving suitable advice to staff at those businesses.
The Dorset Police website has more information on catalytic converter theft & prevention here.
The Dorset Police website also has a mass of helpful information on crime prevention and we will often use social media to publicise current issues and specific crimes trends. Our current local priorities and updates on progress can be found on the Dorset Police website in the Neighbourhood Policing section.
