7
Jun
2018
By Calvin at 17:37 GMT, 6 years ago
With celebrity comedian Michael McIntyre getting robbed three days ago in North West London the focus is once again on London’s masked moped robbers. So it didn’t surprise me when I received emails from the BBC and some of this website’s friends asking me if I had any advice. Unfortunately I was out on the day and so couldn’t get back to the Beeb in time, but I still thought it would be useful to provide some comment, which may help those of you who feel obliged to put something out on your Neighbourhood Watch websites and newsletters.
I must admit that I’ve been scratching my head a great deal about this particular incident, because I don’t know the full facts and this type of crime is rare. So instead of my usual list of avoidance tactics I thought it would be better for me to simply come up with a sort of general comment:
If you are driving a luxury and or a high performance vehicle you may be noticed by those who don’t possess such things. A tiny, tiny minority of these people may go on to think that the occupants of the vehicle will have additional portable items of high value in their possession, which are there for the picking. An even smaller number may decide it would be worth committing a crime (some using violence) to take them.
It could be that you’ve just parked your beautiful car at a motorway service station while you’ve stopped for something to eat and when you get back to the car the windows have been put in and the laptop has vanished (it happens all too regularly), or it could be the same as Mr McIntyre who was doing nothing more than picking up his children from school and was unfortunately wearing a rather expensive watch.
What do you say to people like Mr McIntyre? Don’t drive around in a Range Rover; use an ‘ordinary’ car instead so you don’t stand out? I’m sure that would go down like a ton of bricks!
The only thing I can say to people like Mr McIntyre is to bear in mind where they are and how they might sometimes stand out in a crowd and not to lose sight of the fact that there are violent thugs on the street looking for opportunities. I think I’d point him to my list of crime opportunities (there’s 24 of them) and suggest he tries to avoid them as best as he is able.
This was a terrible thing to have happened and I do feel very sorry for Mr McIntyre and his son who must have been very distressed by the whole incident. I very much doubt Mr McIntyre will ever find my website, or request advice from me, but should he find my site by accident I hope he heeds the information contained within it. And let’s admit that it’s when we become victimised that we do go searching for help.
PS Once again I am sorry that I’m not posting much on my website at the moment. I’m in the process of trying to sell my house.
Crime Opportunities to avoid: https://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/home-security-assessment/736/opportunity-for-crime/