On 05/12/2014 18:48, Ophelia wrote:


"Spider" wrote in message
...

I would never doubt you, but please be careful!

Ah! The nosy old biddy down the road.

Someone who is willing to steal stuff from under the owner's nose,
might
not take too kindly to being challenged and may just hit out.




In a genuinely tricky situation, I call on the police and extra
witnesses. We run a good watch scheme here. Anyway, triggering a
panic button and our alarm system (if need be) would soon frighten any
intruder or thief.

Does every house have them? How would you cope outside if you
challenged some men moving stuff? I hope you would never think to do
that alone???



Many of our houses have alarms, but if I saw something deeply
suspicious with active villains, the chances are our CCTV would pick
them up. If I could raise extra witnesses, that would help (but I
refuse to accept any vigilanteism in our road), otherwise I would
trigger my own house alarm by using the panic button - if I was that
worried (I've never had to do that yet). However, with such an
incident, I would simply dial 999 and let the police come and catch
them red-handed. I probably wouldn't need to challenge the villains.

I hope you have more luck that a guy on the radio today who was saying
he waited on the phone for an hour when he tried to report a burglary at
a neighbours house. A week later, a community policeman came to take a
statement


I didn't hear that on the radio or news so don't know the details, but
it may be simply that the burglar had already decamped and the police
had to prioritise other incidents. If the villain is no longer on the
premises, it is better to call 101 or the local police station, than to
call 999. If the villain is still on the target property or known to be
nearby, then it's worth calling 999 so there's a real chance that the
police can make an arrest.


Often we see suspicious behaviour and take a look outside. If I
challenge someone, I usually just ask if they're looking for someone
or something, or will say "Is that your car?" if they're hanging
around. There's no need to get very close. I can call from my front
steps if I wish. Sometimes I just challenge over-grown kids because
they've trespassed on private property. They're often a bit 'lippy'.
One asked me if I was accusing them of stealing (there were 4 of
them). I simply said "No, I'm not, but if you enter someone's
property and take something without asking their permission, then it's
likely you are comitting theft". This is not accusatory (they all
know their rights!), but lets them know you're watching them and are
prepared to act. That is usually quite sufficient.

I am sure you know what you are doing and how to take good care of
yourself.

Just reverting back to gardening, when we had plant thieves in our
road, our CCTV camera footage helped the police catch the villains
involved, which was most satisfying. I doubt they'll be back!

Excellent


We think so. The main thing is to drive crime away from our road,
which can be done sensibly and safely. Just twitching a curtain or
opening the front door and letting 'them' know they've been seen is
quite enough to let them know we have an active Watch scheme. We do
rather more than just put up stickers! ;~).

Obviously that makes a huge difference) Well done



Thank you.
--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay