Bullwood Hall Prison in Hockley finally closes its doors this week.

At the moment nobody seems to know what will happen to the buildings and land….

March 27th, 2013 | Category: Crime & Policing, Hockley | Leave a comment

From the Police and Crime Commissioners Website:

The next Police and Crime Commissioner public meeting, discussing crime and policing issues, will take place in Rochford on March 28th, 2013.  Key topics will include ASB, licensing and the “night time economy”, shoplifting, and vehicle crime, plus any policing or crime subject that members of the audience wish to raise.

Nick Alston aims to hold a public meeting in every district of Essex, twice a year, working with colleagues from Essex Police, Community Safety Partnerships, district and unitary councils, partner organisations and the voluntary sector. These are important events for everyone who cares about the way their community is policed and who wants to know the facts about crime in their area.

Meetings have already taken place in Southend-on-Sea, Basildon, Chelmsford and Dunmow, and the next event is scheduled for:

Rochford:

Time: 18:30 to 20:30, Thursday March 28th

Location: Hawthorn Centre Lecture Theatre, SEPT Rochford Hospital, Union Lane, Rochford, SS4 1RB

Nick Alston said: “It is important that crime continues to fall in Essex – that we have fewer victims of crime and fewer people living in fear of crime. I am committed to the principle of local solutions for local problems, and to ensuring that police, partner agencies, the voluntary sector and residents work together as closely as possible to keep our communities safe.

“The meeting will be two hours long. We’d love people to attend all the meeting, but if you can only make part of it, please still come along. I want your views to be part of the debate about how we can best keep the streets and countryside of Essex safe.

March 24th, 2013 | Category: Crime & Policing, Essex & East, Rochford | Comments (1)

Have you heard of the ActionFraud website? They describe themselves as follows:

Who is Action Fraud?

 Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud reporting centre where you should report fraud if you have been scammed or defrauded.

We provide a central point of contact for information about fraud and financially motivated internet crime. People are scammed, ripped off or conned everyday and we want this to stop. We believe that we can beat fraud if we talk about it.

The service is run by the National Fraud Authority – the government agency that helps to co-ordinate the fight against fraud in the UK. We work with partners in law enforcement – the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, run by the City of London Police – to make sure your fraud reports reach the right place

Report fraud and internet crime

You can report fraud using our online fraud reporting service any time of the day or night; the service enables you to both report a fraud and find help and support. We also provide help and advice over the phone through the Action Fraud contact centre. You can talk to our fraud specialists by calling 0300 123 2040.

Reports taken are passed to the police who may contact you for further information. Action Fraud does not investigate the cases and cannot advise you on the progress of a case.

 

One recent item involves Essex schools and parents – if you haven’t seen this already, be warned!:

School truancy cold calls

Parents are being warned of a scam where fraudsters are cold calling victims and demanding you pay truancy fines [20 February 2013]

Essex County Council issued the warning after a parent of a pupil received a phone call purporting to be from the Education Welfare Service stating that their child had not attended school that day and as a result they had to pay a fine of £340.

The parent was asked to provide her credit/debit card details so that a payment could be made over the phone.

It is important to remember that The Education Welfare Service do not phone parents demanding payment immediately over the phone.  Invoices and penalty notices are sent via the post, and only then are you given the option to pay by phone.

Read more about the fraud on the Essex County Council website.

March 3rd, 2013 | Category: Crime & Policing, Education, Essex & East, Web Stuff | Leave a comment

The new Chief Constable for Essex is Stephen Kavanagh, currently Deputy Assistant Commissioner in the Met.

You can see more about him on the Police and Crime Commisioners blog here. He takes over on May 3rd:

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said: “I feel hugely privileged to have been selected as the next Chief Constable of Essex Police. I greatly look forward to working alongside the Police and Crime Commissioner and everyone in the force to deliver our shared vision for policing and keeping our communities safe.
“I was born and bred in Essex, and I feel very proud to have been presented with this opportunity.”

The Police Oracle website writes about it here and describes him as “much respected”:

The officer started his career in policing in 1985 as a constable in Met before being promoted to detective sergeant in investigative and forensic management positions.

He was a founding member of the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force where he helped to write the ACPO Race/Hate Crime Manual following the Stephen Lawrence inquiry.

He became homicide SIO in 1998 before climbing the ranks to DAC for Territorial Policing in April 2011, after completing his Strategic Command Course at Bramshill. He also gained an MPhil in Criminology at Wolfson College in Cambridge.

The officer became DAC for Specialist Operations in November 2012, and has had the responsibility for several high-profile ongoing investigations.

February 22nd, 2013 | Category: Crime & Policing, Essex & East | Leave a comment

If you drive one foot behind a car on the M25, and take both hands off the wheel to make gestures at the driver – be warned , it might be an unmarked police car with a video camera !

From the Essex Police on Youtube:

Published on Feb 6, 2013

Police in Essex have launched a new road safety operation to curb the menace of inconsiderate drivers and motorcyclists.
Operation Safeway will target bullying tailgaters who drive too close, such as the driver shown in this video clip, impatient drivers who undertake, those who overtake on roundabouts and others whose behaviour put innocent lives at risk.
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The operation is being carried out in response to growing public concern about poor driving standards that have led to fears for the safety of all road users.
Police will be using cars and motorbikes fitted with video cameras to make sure that offenders are dealt with quickly and efficiently without officers spending time in court.
Drivers who commit more serious offences will be prosecuted for careless driving but the majority are more likely to be sent on an educational driving course in an effort to improve overall rider and driver behaviour.
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The footage above was recorded from an unmarked police car travelling at 70mph in a line of traffic in the outside lane on the M25 near Epping. The police car was tailgated by a van whose driver flashed his lights and took both hands off the wheel at the same time to make gestures at the officer driving the car. At one point the van was estimated to be less than 1ft from the rear of the police car. The van driver was later stopped and given a fixed penalty notice…..

February 11th, 2013 | Category: Crime & Policing, Highways & Parking, YouTube and Video | Comments (5)

We’ve received the following message and would like to pass it on. It is also on the Essex Police website here.

Police have warned the public to be on their guard against a bogus police officer who attempts to use the non-emergency number 101 to steal bank details.

The man is known to call people at random and tell them their bank details have been found in possession of arrested suspects.

In an attempt to verify that he was a genuine officer he gave the name of Sgt James Hackett (no such officer exists) and invited his intended victim to call him back urgently, within five minutes, on the police 101 number.
One victim did call him back to find out more but became suspicious because there was no ring tone and no extension number was given. He hung up immediately. Another victim was tricked into giving details.
Tony Ellis, the crime reduction officer for Epping Forest District, said: “We are aware of two cases where this trickster tried to obtain his victim’s bank details. In one he succeeded. These calls can immediately be identified as fraudulent because we would never ask for bank details over the telephone.

This man might use many other aliases and try different stories but the single rule that will prevent you from becoming the victim of this type of con is very simple….under no circumstances whatsoever must you give your banking details to anyone asking for them particularly over the telephone. If you receive a call of this nature please note what the caller says. If you suspect the caller in any way, discontinue the conversation and call me on 101 extension 319383.”

February 5th, 2013 | Category: Crime & Policing | Comments (1)

A view from Cambridgeshire, from Liberal Democrat Lorna Dupre:

The word of the year – omnishambles – has already been overused to the point of becoming wearisome. But if ever there were a situation for which it was fitted, it was the new elections for Police & Crime Commissioners in England and Wales on Thursday. Many voters were furious about them – nearly 3,000 in Cambridgeshire alone taking the time to spoil their ballot papers, sometimes in great detail, to tell us so. It’s a pity that it’s an offence to reveal the comments people made, as they were biting, pithy, sometimes graphical, and worthy of a wider audience.
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The proposal for elected Police & Crime Commissioners featured in the Conservative Party manifesto in the run-up to the 2010 General Election. At best, it was nothing more than a Tory tribute act to the Blairite cult of the powerful individual. At worst, it was a crude attempt to politicise policing and pour money from the hugely inflated salaries of those elected into the pockets of their political parties. There was to be no trial run, no pilot scheme, no opportunity for electors to say whether they wanted these highly-paid people given sole power over a major part of the life of their community.
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As if all this were not bad enough, it was decided to hold the elections in November.

November 18th, 2012 | Category: Crime & Policing, Elections, Essex & East | Leave a comment

So, Conservative Nick Alston won the election in a tight contest.

To quote from the Chelmsford City Council website:

Nick Alston received 11,025 second preference votes. Added to his first preference votes, this gave him a total of 62,350 votes.
Mick Thwaites received 18,532 second preference votes. Added to his first preference votes, this gave him a total of 58,664 votes.
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Nicholas Kenneth Alston was therefore elected as the Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex.

Labour came a decent third. Linda Belgrove came 4th, UKIP 5th, and the English Democrats last. The English Democrats focus on stuff like flying flags may well have lost them credibility.

As for the Lib Dems, we didn’t stand at all – and that seems to have been vindicated. Many ordinary voters didn’t think that this post should be connected to party politics and voted for Mick Thwaites or Linda Belgrove accordingly – or didn’t vote at all.

And one Conservative councillor in Brentwood seems to think the Lib Dems absence was hurting the Tories:

Russell Quirk Russell Quirk ‏@russellquirk
Essex Lib Dems may well have stuffed Essex Conservatives by not standing in the #essexpcc elections. Thwaites in thru the back door?

Inside Rochford District Mick Thwaites actually came first, with 3343 first preferences. The Conservatives came second, and Labour a poor third.

November 17th, 2012 | Category: Crime & Policing, Elections, Essex & East | Leave a comment

You can find out about the Essex candidates here…

November 14th, 2012 | Category: Crime & Policing, Elections, Essex & East | Comments (21)

Sir Bob Russell is the only Lib Dem MP in Essex, and has his own way of doing things – whether with keeping down expenses, or giving blunt answers to constituents.

Here’s his view on the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections:

Sir Bob Russell, MP for Colchester, is urging residents across Essex to “keep party politics out of our Police” and vote for Independent candidates in the Election on 15th November for the Essex Police and Crime Commissioner.
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Sir Bob noted that “people have two votes – a First Preference and a Second Preference. There are two Independent candidates. For those who do not think we should bring party politics into our Police Force I hope they will vote for both of them.”
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Sir Bob said that he would be giving his First Preference to Mrs Linda Belgrove, the former Vice-Chairman of the Essex Police Authority, with his Second Preference for Mr Mick Thwaites who is a retired Essex Police Officer.
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He added: “Both of them have qualities which I feel are more important than giving a party political direction to the policing in Essex. Both are worthy candidates. I just hope that people will vote for both of them, whatever the order they feel their preferences should be given.”

October 30th, 2012 | Category: Crime & Policing, Elections, Essex & East | Leave a comment

There has been a spate of burglaries in the District in the last 3 days.
Make sure you keep your windows and doors secure

- when you go to bed, and when you go out.

October 25th, 2012 | Category: Crime & Policing | Comments (2)