HAMPSHIRE CONSTABULARY REORGANISATION

Hampshire Constabulary has announced plans to re-shape policing services in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The plans enable the force to deliver a further £25m savings by 2017, as required by central government under the 2013 Spending Review.

Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Hayes says “The cuts mean we have no choice but to plan for fewer officers and staff, but unlike some other areas of the country, neighbourhood policing, which I set a clear commitment for in my Police and Crime Plan, will be prioritised, with dedicated resource, by improving frontline policing, putting victims and witnesses at the heart of policing, reducing crime, asb and reoffending through partnership”.

Chief Constable Andy Marsh says “We will be working with better technology, such as mobile data and body worn video, to cut waste and improve the way we meet the needs of people, especially the most vulnerable. I would like to reassure the public that these new plans are specifically designed to enable us to maintain the 333 PCSOs that do such a great job alongside police officers, to keep communities safe”.

BODY-WORN VIDEO

Hampshire Constabulary has been given £400,000 to spend on a new range of body-worn video cameras, to replace its existing stock of more than 450 bought in 2008. Officers will wear the cameras attached to their chest, capturing audio and video evidence to support prosecutions. The equipment will mostly be used by the force's response teams, with Safer Neighbourhood officers also able to use them.

Chief Constable Andy Marsh has welcomed Government support for the upgrading of this equipment: 'This funding keeps Hampshire and the Isle of Wight at the cutting edge of body-worn video technology - not just in Britain - but anywhere in the world. Their use assists in building trust with the public - and having an accurate and verifiable record of the evidence.

We thank Hellards for their sponsorship of this Newsletter

ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING/AGM

We had a good attendance of almost 50 people at the meeting, held at Alresford Golf Club on September 26th 2013.

The main speaker was Simon Hayes, the Police and Crime Commissioner, who thanked Neighbourhood Watch for their contribution to safety across the county and was looking forward to doing more together.

He said that he wants to prevent crime rather than just solve it, and also to prevent reoffending, recognising that victim and witness needs do not cease after a court case. It was, he stressed, important we spread the message about security – Police time is wasted when property was not secured. However rural residents are justifiably upset when they do lock up and then get burgled.

SCAMS

One victim, in a new and sophisticated online scam attack, lost more than £20,000 after the email account of her accountant was hacked in a frighteningly convincing tax con. She received an e-mail from her accountant's e-mail address, with instructions on paying her VAT return, including an account number and the sort code of the account into which she should pay her tax.

It was not until she received a call from HMRC chasing her VAT payment and the tax office conducted an investigation, that she realised that the e-mail was not from her accountant at all, but from a fraudster who had accessed her accountant's e-mail inbox and made requests for money in their name.

The bank she paid the money to, then failed to respond to her requests for help to recover the money, arguing that it was unable to recover any money because the receiving account, had been emptied and it could not discuss the case further because the victim’s bank was not the same as the fraudster’s.

HMRC has warned of a big rise in the number of tax scams this year. Double check any e-mail appearing to come from the tax office or from an accountant with details of where you should pay outstanding tax. HMRC says the tax office never contacts customers who are due a tax refund via e-mail, but always sends a letter through the post.

If you receive a suspicious e-mail, do not click on any links, forward it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and then delete it.

Please find a link below to the latest scam bulletin which is now on Hantsweb- http://documents.hants.gov.uk/tradingstandards/scams-newsletter-february2014.pdf

Remember, never give your details to anyone unless you are absolutely certain of their credibility.

STREET LIGHTING AND N W SIGNS

Hampshire County Council's street lighting replacement programme is almost complete in Alresford; see- http://www.lightsoninhampshire.co.uk/.

Most of the Neighbourhood Watch street signs, have now been refitted, following refurbishment. Please report any signs missing, or needing work, to the editor.

It is hoped that the upgraded lights will hopefully save in the region of 40% in electricity. They will be centrally controlled, so that faults are self reporting, which will also allow lights to be switched off, or dimmed for a particular area, to make additional savings. A decision supported by Neighbourhood Watch, is that that Hampshire will not turn any lights off. Our findings are that crime is reduced where street lighting is good.

COORDINATOR NEWS

We are pleased to welcome Charles Bazlinton as Coordinator for the Arlebury Watch, taking over from Jim Witchard. Our sincere thanks go to Jim, who was one of the original Coordinators, when we started in the early 1990s.

THE VALUE IN REPORTING SUSPICIOUS VEHICLES

Over a five month period, the Police received several reports of a vehicle seen in suspicious circumstances in the rural Basingstoke area. These sightings were collated and investigated by the Country Watch officer. His thorough investigation resulted in the identification and arrest of a suspect from Camberley, Surrey, the recovery of stolen goods and the seizure of a large sum of cash believed to be the proceeds of crime. Following a guilty plea at Winchester Crown Court a sentence of 10 months imprisonment was handed down and an application is being made for the forfeiture of the cash under the proceeds of crime act. This is a result which will hopefully serve as a warning to others who commit crime in rural Hampshire.

USEFUL CONTACTS Mention that you are in an active Neighbourhood Watch area when placing calls
EMERGENCY 999	Crime in progress Life in danger Violence being used
NON –EMERGENCY 101	Report minor crime Abandoned Vehicles Street Lighting Anti Social behaviour
0845 045 45 45	Contact Police officer Leave messages
Winchester & East Hants Neighbourhood Watch website - www.wehnw.org.uk
Hampshire Constabulary web site www.hampshire.police.uk	Alresford & District Neighbourhood Watch web site www.neighbourhood.watch.alresford.org

NEW PCSO

Hello, I am Laura Willshire and I am the new beat PCSO for Alresford Town and Itchen Valley beats. Please keep my contact details to hand and if you have any concerns or queries please feel free to contact me-

PCSO 12169 WILLSHIRE
Winchester Rural North Safer Neighbourhood Team
email: laura.willshire@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Force mobile: 07901102354
Follow us on twitter @WinchRuralCops