Communication is the key to stamping out problems
‘IT’S good to talk’ — that was the message from police officers at the heart of a major operation targeting metal thefts in South Derbyshire.
Sergeant Dave Neate urged householders to get in touch with the force to report the crime ‘no matter how small’ and also pleaded with people to start talking with their neighbours to help halt the momentum of the problem.
He told the Mail: “People wouldn’t believe what is being taken, everything from catalytic converters to boilers, baths and even whole houses being stripped.
“We are asking for people to start talking, telling neighbours or local beat officers if they are going to be away for a while, so that an eye can be kept out for suspicious activity.
“We have seen incidents where people have gone on holiday or to hospital and metal thieves have broken in to their home, stripped it bare and left the place flooded with water — we want to reduce the risk of this.
“The operation will also look at asking people to note down information on rag and bone men who use loud hailers.
All we need is a registration plate number, time and date.
“This information will then be collated and used to stop these people.
If officers spot them we can then run checks and, if issues appear, deal with them. This will hopefully send a message and put a stop to illegal and nuisance traders.”
As part of the operation, officers hope to set up a system that will see anything left out for scrap merchants to take marked with the words ‘scrap’.
Another idea floated included the placing of any metal for collection on the footpath to distinguish what could and couldn’t be taken.
Officers are set to meet with scrap merchants to make sure they are following correct procedures when people sell metal and to target and locate persistent offenders.
Visits will be made to builders’ yards, a regular target for thieves, to make sure that sites are secure and every effort is made to deter criminals.
Homeowners in hotspot areas in the district will also be visited and offered tips on what thieves will be on the look-out for and how best to avoid becoming a victim.
Anyone wishing to report information relating to metal thefts should call Derbyshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
CROOK: ‘I JUST GO BACK AT NIGHT AND HELP MYSELF’
PEOPLE in the Hilton area being urged to be aware after an offender revealed how he chose which houses to target for metal thefts.
Police revealed the man had told them that he would walk around the village, mainly on a Sunday, and as people washed their cars or completed odd jobs would look into open garages, doors and windows and pick what he wanted to steal.
He would go back at night and take items that he had seen during his walks.
Another recent incident saw children’s bicycles stolen from the front garden of a house only minutes after they had been ridden by the youngsters.
In Colliery Row, Church Gresley, a washing machine left out for repair was stolen by crooks in the middle of the day.
As part of the operation to tackle metal thefts, the team has recently had some success in its ongoing battle, with two horns seized from vehicles, one vehicle seized due to no insurance and three arrests made following the theft of scaffolding poles.
The financial benefits for criminals were laid bare after it was revealed that thieves from the area often took their haul as far afield as Stoke-on-Trent to cash in, proving that the money to be made outweighed the cost of fuel.
