Dear Resident,
It’s the middle of the month, which can only mean one thing……. it’s newsletter time! So here goes.
Burglary
In November 13 burglaries and 1 attempted burglary occurred in Pinner.
In the Pinner ward the burglaries occurred in Cuckoo Hill, Durley Avenue, East Towers (attempted burglary), Hillcrest Avenue, Lyncroft Avenue, Meadow Road, Nursery Road and West End Avenue. The Pinner South ward saw burglaries occur in Meredith Close, Norman Crescent, Oakhill Avenue, Pinner Green, and two in Waxwell Lane.
Many of these burglaries took place while the owner / occupier was away from their home for two or more consecutive days. The majority of properties were left in darkness during this time period and entry was gained by means of smashing the glass of a rear window or door. It is therefore important to make access to the rear of your home as difficult for possible for burglars, in addition to giving the impression that your home is occupied.
With Christmas fast approaching you may be ordering gifts online. Please make sure that if you are not going to be home to receive your delivery, that you nominate a safe secure place for it to be left. Even better would be nominate a neighbour who will be in to accept it on your behalf. Not only do parcels left on doorsteps or inside porch ways indicate to burglars that no one is home, but opportunist thieves might have your parcel for themselves!
When the big day has come and gone, please don’t advertise to thieves what Santa has given you, as this might attract unwanted attention. Discard of packaging inside bins and not on the street or in front gardens.
If you’ve been especially good this year Santa may have given you the latest smartphone or tablet (not the ones for hangovers!) or other electronic products. If so, please do not forget to register your ownership of them by using www.immobilise.com, or if you get a bicycle www.bikeregister.com.
As always this link contains all the home security advice you could possibly need https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/residential-burglary/.
OWL (Online Watch Link)
Since mid-November another 100 Pinner residents have signed up to OWL, taking our total to 775, which according to my calculations means that Pinner represents 19% of the 4000 Harrow residents that have joined Nextdoor since it went live in the borough in September.
The OWL database allows us to send a message to a specific road or area of Pinner instead of everyone receiving information that may not be pertinent to them. However, some roads in Pinner only have one or two residents signed up to OWL, making targeted messages ineffective so, as I do every month, I encourage to join OWL.
Whether you have already joined OWL or intend to do so in the future, if you have some form of CCTV, please include this information on the database as it assists officers when investigating local crimes.
For more information about OWL, please read the attached leaflet then sign-up at www.owl.co.uk.
Vehicle Crime
Theft of property from within vehicles continues to occur because so many vehicles are left insecure overnight. Plenty of CCTV footage shows that locked vehicles DO NOT get broken into but result in the thief moving on to the next vehicle.
There has been a recent spate of catalytic converter thefts, not just in Pinner, but across Harrow. Some of these thefts are taking just minutes to commit and are happening in residential streets and car parks during the day and night. If you see anyone working underneath a vehicle in your road and they don’t clearly seem to be working for the AA or RAC, then please call police on the emergency 999 number and try and obtain the make, model and registration number of the vehicle used by the thieves.
Vehicle thieves are operating in the area and I have seen footage of individuals using equipment to scan for signals to obtain entry to keyless entry enables vehicles. Primarily, it is high-value vehicles such as Land/Range Rovers, Audis, BMWs and Mercedes etc. that are being targeted so, in an effort to counter these criminals’ intentions, please keep keys away from your front door, store them in a Faraday pouch, alarm your vehicle, affix a steering wheel lock to it, and consider purchasing a fold down bollard for your driveway.
For comprehensive vehicle theft prevention advice please go to this link: https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/theft-of-a-vehicle/.
Arrests / Miscellaneous
November saw the departure of two officers from Pinner; after two years PC Kat Lewis left to join the North West Borough’s Professional Standards department and PC Kevin Brooks, after only six months with us, moved to Rayners Lane Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT).
Their respective replacements are new recruit Atila Beyaz, and 13-year veteran Cat Groome who joins us from Harrow on the Hill SNT.
PC Muzikeviciute assisted officers from other Safer Neighbourhood Teams to execute a drugs warrant at an address in Graham Road, Wealdstone. One man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of Possession with Intent to Supply (PWITS) drugs and for possessing a non-permitted air rifle.
PC Beyaz and PC Muzikeviciute have been heavily involved in an ongoing and time-consuming neighbour dispute in Whittington Way.
PC Brooks gave first aid to a 90-year-old woman who suffered a head wound and shredded the skin on her arms and legs after falling down the stairs behind Sainsbury’s.
At Lidl, PC Aziz and PC Beyaz assisted an 86-year-old customer who dislocated her shoulder in the store.
Both ladies were taken to Northwick Park Hospital by an ambulance.
PC Muzikeviciute attended a call to an address in Barrow Point Avenue after an elderly dementia sufferer locked herself in her bathroom. Thankfully, the matter was resolved without the need to force entry.
PC Beyaz and PC Muzikeviciute assisted a man experiencing a mental health episode in Marsh Road. The man was detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act and referred to Mental Health professionals. The male was found in possession of cannabis and was therefore issued a Community Resolution by PC Beyaz at a later date.
As you would expect we have visited all those victims of burglaries who wish to receive a visit from us, as well as making enquiries into these crimes and others reported to us. We continue to frequent those roads / areas where we are aware that anti-social behaviour and suspected drug-related activity is occurring. Some of these patrols have resulted in several people being stopped and searched. I encourage you to contact us with any information you have about crime in the area.
Community Engagement
As is always the case (and rightly so) all officers from the Pinner and Pinner South teams were in attendance at the annual Remembrance Sunday service in High Street which, as always, was very well attended. Long may that continue.
We were also on duty to police the annual Pinner Panto (‘Oh no you weren’t!’) which, as usual, passed without incident.
PCSO O’Brien and PC Aziz gave an internet / social media safety and stranger danger talk to members of the 3rd Pinner Beavers.
Both the Pinner and Pinner South SNTs held Cuppa with a Copper contact points in both wards, mainly at Costa, Caffe Nero, Café Sombra, Daisy’s in the Park and Pinner Library.
Everyone at Pinner Police Station wishes you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2020.
Kind regards,
Lee O’Brien PCSO 7562NW
Pinner / Pinner South SNT