Report by the Harlow Community Police Team

A BUSY summer period for the Community Policing Team with a number of significant incidents dealt with, The Town Centre Team have now been up and running for a couple of months and are starting to have an impact, they have been providing visible patrols to deal with anti-social behaviour, you have been telling us about groups of males drinking in the bus terminal and joint patrols with the Council Community Safety Team have resulted in a male being arrested & charged with a public order offence and a number of Community Protection Warning Notices being issued which is the first step to more formal action being taken, the council have been enforcing the Public Spaces Protection Order by seizing & disposing of alcohol. We work closely with partners from around the Town Centre and will continue to do so to reduce anti-social behaviour, one ask from me – if you see something happening please report it at the time this will give us more opportunity to address problems promptly when they are occurring.

We have continued to act upon intelligence and information executing a number of drugs warrants throughout Harlow which have been successfully, drugs have a significant impact on communities and are often connected to crime and anti-social behaviour, when we execute drugs warrants we publicise this on our social media sites and carry out leaflet drops in the surrounding areas so local residents are aware that action has been taken. A couple of crimes that had a significant impact on the community was the appalling damage to a grave at Parndon Wood Cemetery in August and the social media post of a cat being mistreated in a terrible way, swung around by its tail, thanks to the support from the public officers were able to act swiftly making arrests and charging those responsible and its now with the courts to consider, hopefully the magistrates will sentence appropriately.

This week we have a number of activities planned around the Operation Sceptre which is a national initiative to tackle knife crime, here in Harlow we have been working hard to reduce knife crime for many months looking at our violent crime hotspots and increasing our patrols in those areas by both unformed & plain clothed officers, these has seen some good results with arrests made for possession of weapons and robbery. This week we will be working with parties throughout the town check out social media for daily updates on our activity, the ‘Only Cowards Carry’ knife bin remains outside the police station for the disposal of unwanted knives, more information regarding the charity that supports this work can be found at www.onlycowards carry.org

As the nights will soon be drawing in we start to plan our activities for the winter months, we already have planned to have additional officers on duty for the increase in demand around Halloween and Fireworks night and during the run up to Christmas. Historically when the clocks go back house burglaries increase, I would urge everyone in Harlow to take a few simple steps to prevent yourself being a victim of burglary which is an awful crime, spend a few minutes making sure you home is locked and secure before you leave – we still receive reports of burglaries via open windows. Double lock your front and rear doors, on UPVC doors lift the handle and lock with a key, especially at night , invest in a couple of timer switches for your internal lights this will give the impression that someone is at home when its dark outside. Consider joining your local neighbourhood watch scheme which may also reduce your home insurance premiums, lastly please report anything suspicious to police.

Further details on crime prevention can be found on the Essex Police Website essex.police.uk