How scary to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard) and write about an issue that seems to be of interest to a lot of people in Greenhithe at the moment. Am I getting old? am I getting intolerant? ... Should I start to accept little things like beer bottles left by the kids play areas or blocked toilets in Collins Park or boy racers leaving black Donut markings on the car parks here.. No... I say not.

I moved around the world (twice) to live in a safer community, a great community with people who are concerned and who genuinely care. I love the spirit of Greenhithe and frankly would find it hard to move any where else. I am not here to undermine our new Community Constable Hermien Kok, more so to assist her and continue with the good work she has started. It's important not to be too naive in relation to your home security and to what goes on around us. To validate what I am talking about I need to let you know I have been a Police Officer since 1986 working in South London till 2003 then in Auckland since then. I am aware that people seem to be reluctant about using the 111 system to notify police of something unusual or suspicious but take it from me, I would rather someone did that than have to fill out all the paperwork after a burglary !!!

So the reason I am writing this 'article' is to raise your awareness about suspicious activity, about anti social activity and to give you ideas about how to tackle it If something does not look right or feel right it usually isn't ... if you are able to, call 111 and let the police attend and sort it. If you can’t then look for details which you can pass on, get a car registration number, clothing descriptions, unusual features ...noet the time and the date. Anything which you can remember and write it down if you can... Who does not own a camera, a camera phone or a video camera? Use them because a picture speaks volumes... Those things can be used to identify offenders far more easily than memory.
If you are going out of your home put the stereo on, leave it on talk radio or crank it up a bit, burglars dislike noise and people. If you have two cars leave one in the driveway rather than the garage so it appears you are in, I know it might move it on to another person but that's a fact of life I am afraid. If people to continue with those petty anti social things such as graffiti, damage to kids parks and slides or vandalism to our bus shelters then other crimes will become worse... It's a syndrome identified in USA called 'broken windows'. If we allow those sorts of things to occur then the doors open for other more serious things such a burglaries etc.
Back to my call 111 or use a camera etc ..Or better still front up to those people (if it is safe) and tell them.. Quite often it will be a result of boredom. I know we can get disheartened by calling 111 and getting a limited response but don't give up..

So...... what can we do to help ourselves?
I heard a good story recently about a burglar who was found with around 1000 hoses on reels in a lock up, he didn't want the hassle from going into peoples homes and merely helped himself to easily available things lying around outside.. and he was selling them on for around 30 - 50 dollars a pop .. So do the maths .. $50 K for lifting up hoses which most people would see as an inconvenience and probably don't even report. So it s the simple things that can make a difference:- Put the garden hoses in the garage or in the back, fit a good lock to the rear gate, don't allow people easy access to the rear of your property. You can use nasty plants to protect your home too, things with thorns are not fun to climb over. Property mark your push bikes , get a good UV pen and write your address on things like TV s and DVD recorders, this allows us easy identification of stolen goods. Note down serial numbers of electrical goods, useful for warranty purposes but a great for Police. Nothing better than doing a few serial number checks and finding stolen goods. Take photo's of things that are of value or unusual, but then ensure you put it on disc.. or a few copies and leave them in various places. You can add serial numbers to a word doc and save it to disc too.

Don't leave ladders in the rear or the garden or tools that can assist someone lift open the ranch sliders. Lock the car on the drive and try not to have a spare set of keys by the back door. Most crime will be done by people using cars. Burglars don't like to use the Bus! Get in the habit of shutting windows. Fit window locks that allow the windows to be left ajar for ventilation if need be. Best of all fit a good alarm system and tell your neighbours so they can call you first then police second.

Well I hope I haven't bored you or worse still scared you ... I think this forum is excellent. I am not here to undermine the role of any Police Officer working in our community but rather to ease their burden. I believe that we all share a role in the ongoing community spirit that exists here. As a footnote I am more than willing to visit your home and give you a quick run down on how you could be more secure. It's not for any financial gain, I don’t have any links with any tradesmen or the like but I could give you a good idea about how entry would be most likely gained and what you can do to prevent it. I suspect you can contact me through the administrator of this site.

Best of luck
Billy Lawrence