West Chiltington - Police and Neighbourhood Watch

Introduction

This is a new page designed to keep us all informed of any aspects of crime and the like in the area. If anyone has any information they think would usefully be put here please use the contact form

As always it is 999 for emergencies but please use 101 for the non-urgent stuff

Sussex police have introduced an on-line reporting email address for non-urgent reports. This means that those making the report have a record of it and the reference number that applies for any future use. The address is Police on-line

There are reports of 'distraction burglaries' being committed by bogus 'Digital Switchover' people. The GENUINE folk will never 'cold call' and an appointment will always be properly made. Please be aware and report any suspicions to the police BEFORE some unsuspecting person is burgled! It might be you!

Latest - beware White Van Man

Now you can report a drink-driver by sending a text message to Sussex Police. To report a drink-driver text 65999 with as much information as possible. If you can include details about who the driver is, where they are driving from and to, details about the car and registration. As soon as the text is received by our contact centre it is treated in the same way as any other call.

Beware!

A recent report of suspicious activity involving a 'driveway company' is on the forum. Thanks to the resident who reported this and please note the police comments on it.

I guess it is time to remind all that historically this time of year is known for burglaries, the darker evenings making unoccupied homes more obvious and the potential for valuable property increasing ahead of Christmas are obvious incentives.

New non-emergency number for the police

• your car has been stolen
• your property has been damaged
• you suspect drug use or dealing in your neighbourhood

• report a minor traffic collision
• give the police information about crime in your area
• speak to the police about a general enquiry

Calls will cost 15p regardless of time of day or length of call. Be advised that you will in all probability reach the Sussex Police switchboard and have to then ask for the reporting centre which is not, in my opinion, the best route. I have emailed them about it.

Doorstep Sellers

There is a campaign against Doorstep Callers being run by OFT on their website via Neighbourhood Watch. ALL doorstep callers should be licensed, and the licences are numbered. If you ask to see the license and they either cannot produce it or you have any doubts, note any 'numbers' if you can and contact the local PCSO to notify them of the activity. I have had reports of a mobile 'knife-sharpener' calling around the area, using a white van with red lettering, and reported to be 'returning December/January' time. I do not know anything adverse about this trader, but it pays to be careful and check as above. A few years back a 'mobile knife-sharpener' was ripping people off heavily! We had reports of 'unpleasant beahviour' from such a trader on this site a while back

Police Items

I'll start this section off by reminding everyone of Operation Crackdown , a police initiative which allows you to report any instance of dangerous or anti-social driving. The oft heard moan is "I cannot remember/didn't have time to see" etc the registration number. IT DOESN'T MATTER. It is obviously far better if you can, but any information will be put onto the police database and I am assured by the police that a 'regular offender' will be notified. You should be able to give location, direction of travel of the vehicle and time. ANY parts of the registration number go towards making up a jigsaw, and colour and type of vehicle will be of significant help. Another result will be that attention may well become focussed on the area and time that appears to be causing a problem.

So, go on! Rather than moaning about these "young tearaways" or " 'im what nearly hit me at the junction because 'e was on his mobile" - report it.

OK, so how? Firstly, you can do it on-line - just click on the link in the first line above. Secondly there is a telephone number on which you can submit your report - use the normal non-emergency police number 0845 60 70 999. You can read more about the Sussex police initiative behind Operation Crackdown and in particular the efforts of the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership here.

The 'Crackdown' team have sent me the following - it is for all who have contributed by reporting to the scheme and hopefully to encourage more of you to do so.

"The communities' reports into Operation Crackdown have helped to make the roads of Sussex safer – use of the system has doubled in the last three years and we are now able to effectively target drivers who pose a risk or drive in an anti-social manner on our roads.

We are working on the functionality to make the Operation Crackdown websiteit easier to use – we’ll update you further when this process is complete.

We have also ‘joined forces’ with a project which aims to increase road safety knowledge and compliance amongst the business driver community. The majority of reports involving vans or commercial vehicles result in a letter of advice accompanied by an information pack being sent to the company owners."

A reminder that our local PCSO is Neville Warner, and he has kindly provide us with this 'bio' so you will recognise him!

I joined Sussex Police in August 2004, coming from a sales and marketing background. Having had many links with the local community through the Chamber of Commerce and youth football I was very keen to offer that wealth of knowledge and life experience to Sussex Police and the Horsham area.

Having spent three very happy months working out of Horsham police station looking after the parishes of Warnham, Rudgwick and Broadbridge Heath I then transferred to Pulborough police station and now look after the villages of Pulborough, Ashington, West Chiltington, Thakeham and Coldwaltham.

During my time working in these areas I have been involved in many local issues and enquiries - carrying out house to house, dealing with missing and vulnerable persons, parish and neighbourhood watch meetings, coffee mornings, foot patrol and looking at all types of youth issues. The youth issues has been an area that I have particularly enjoyed - probably as a result of my background in coaching youth football.

The day to day interaction with the public as I patrol around in my bright yellow jacket is rewarding in itself because people just want to talk and tell you things and comments such as "It's nice to see you and its about time someone did something about that" really do make it all worthwhile. I believe I am making a valuable contribution to policing in Sussex and I am enjoying every minute of it.

Neighbourhood Watch news

All NHW representatives in the village and surrounding area are free to contact me if they have information they feel will be of interest to us all and it can go up here.

I will attempt to debunk hoaxes and scams that may come your way, and highlight the genuine worries.

Here is a link to the Police Local Page.

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