Don't gift thieves your property!

Last night Cllrs Chris Maskell, Tony Page and Mohammed Ayub and I attended the Oxford Road Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG).  The Oxford Road NAG is a group of residents, local groups, council and Police officials all with the improvement of their local area at the top of their agenda.  It was a very interesting meeting covering littering, crime, and other local concerns.

I did discover something surprising and it has prompted me to take action.  If the Police raid a suspected thief's property and find what could be the proceeds of crime, they cannot prosecute unless it can be proven the items were stolen.  Unless you report your property stolen and provide a means of identification, like a serial number or you've marked it with a UV pen, the theft cannot be proved and the property returned to the suspect.  Suffice to say all our electricals are now marked. 

Of course it's better not to have things stolen in the first place and one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent burglary is to double lock your front door.  Burglars can very easily open an unlocked door from the inside using a bendy pole - they just pull the door handle and wander in - nasty.  So double lock your front door and make a note of serial numbers/mark your property with a UV pen and keep safe!