The Crime Prevention Website

This is the advice of West Mercia police at a time of year when street robbery increases.  Once again their advice has relevance for everywhere in the UK

Officers from West Mercia Police are urging members of the public not to make life easy for would be robbers this summer.

As people enjoy the sunny weather and the light nights, so do criminals, with the summer months traditionally seeing a rise in street robbery.

To help combat the rise over the summer months, officers will be carrying out targeted patrols focussing on hotspot areas and the times of day when such offences are more likely to occur. Detectives specialising in street robbery will investigate incidents occurring over the summer months and there will also be an increase in stop checks in hotspot areas.

Officers are also advising people to take extra precautions to avoid becoming a victim of such crimes.

This includes:

  • Don’t advertise your valuables, keep them out of sight in a handbag or pocket. Make sure it is safe before you use your phone in public.
  • Keep to busy well-lit roads and avoid taking shortcuts through parks and dark alleyways.
  • Walk home in a group if possible, robbers are less likely to strike if you stick together.
  • Be sensible with how much you drink. You are more likely to become a victim of street robbery if you are under the influence of alcohol.
  • Stay aware – using headphones means you are unlikely to hear someone approaching you before it is too late.

Superintendent Kevin Purcell said: “With the light nights and more people staying out late, we traditionally see a rise in street robbery over the summer months. Statistically, it is males between the ages of 15 and 24 who are most likely to fall victim to this type of crime but we would encourage everyone to take precautions.

“The best piece of advice I can give is ‘don’t advertise your valuables’. If a potential robber can see your new iPhone or expensive piece of jewellery then you are more likely to fall victim to crime; keep it hidden and keep it safe.

“For our part, we know the hotspots areas for street robbery and we will target these areas over the summer months. However, it is important that people take their own precautions.”

There’s a lot more advice on the Crime Prevention Website and here’s just a few of the advice pages you might like to view:

Practising safes steps: http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/student-security/664/practising-safe-steps/

Taking care at cashpoints: http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/robbery-and-theft-risk/660/taking-care-at-cashpoints/

Rape and sexual assault: http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/personal-security/701/rape-and-sexual-assault/

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