With the clocks going back resulting in darkness in late afternoon and then with the month during which Christmas shopping and festivities are underway, our Neighbourhood Police Officer PC Kevin Flint has asked if I would remind locals that the criminal element are more active this time of year, seeking opportunities to relieve us of our possessions from houses and any unlocked vehicles as well as the vehicles themselves.

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Luckily we live in an area where crime levels are low in fact very low locally. We should not be complacent. However PC Kev Flint said the following are of particular relevance in the rural areas with gaps between houses, no street lighting, few pedestrians passing by, and easy access from fields behind many properties.

• A bit of a giveaway that a house is unoccupied is the absence of house lights after dark, Always leave some lights on at front and back as well as upstairs and downstairs and invest in some time-switches to give the impression someone is indoors. Leave a tv on and leave doors ajar so lights at the back are glimpsed from the front and vice versa.
• Criminals look out for empty houses once cars have set off to collect children from school in mid afternoon, so leaving lights on even when it is still light is a good idea.
• If you go out around Christmas keep presents out of view, including ones beneath the Christmas tree.
• Each year presents are stolen from cars in the driveway that have been left unlocked / unattended whilst packages are being offloaded.
• Keep garages closed and out buildings locked with expensive equipment secured with padlocks and chains.
• Keep cars on driveways locked at all times and car keys ideally hidden from view and definitely out of reach of grabbers poked through letterboxes.
• Be suspicious about unknown individuals lurking around or vehicles hanging around on the road or in neighbours driveways late in the day when – often difficult to judge with so many delivery vans these days – but err on the side of reporting sightings including car reg numbers straight away to police on 999 if something is happening or otherwise on, 101 then post Grapevine making clear police have been informed.

A small group from the rural parish areas around Chesham meet with Thames Valley Police Neighbourhood team once every three months or so to review the nature of crime incidents and trends and learn about initiatives etc. We would welcome some additional members of the local villages to join us. If interested please get in touch. Chris Brown