News 1 November to 7 November
 Chief Inspector Cox outlines Colchester priorities.
Colchester’s District Commander, Chief Inspector Colin Cox, has outlined his three policing priorities for the coming months.
Crime in Colchester has fallen by 7.3% in the past year and Ch Insp Cox is determined to build on this positive work by focussing on reducing violence and anti-social behaviour, and improving road safety.
He also emphasised the importance of his team continuing to increase public confidence by maintaining a highly visible presence in the community.
Update from Colchester Community Policing Inspector Mirrington-French
 Inspector Mirrington-French
We have continued to patrol hotspot areas across the city and wider parishes where we receive reports of anti-social behaviour. In total we have completed 354 hours of hi-visibility patrol this week across Colchester. The new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) was approved last month and we will continue to work alongside the city wardens to disperse those in breach and assist with evidence for those who consistently breach the order. The PSPO is in place to tackle a range of activities that have a detrimental effect on the quality of life, including street drinking, begging and other intimidating behaviour, using skateboards in public spaces, and placing advertising boards on the streets. We conducted 7 stop and search last week which resulted in 3 arrests and 1 community resolution being issued. We continue to work with businesses and partners in the city centre to tackle shoplifting and a 32 year old male was charged with theft and taken to court this week as well as a 38 year old male charged with 5 counts of theft.
Following some pro-active work of the team, we managed to locate and arrest a man who was wanted on warrant for failing to attend court for a violent offence. Luckily we do not have too many people fail to attend court but when they do, we will always liaise with local partners and utilise our intelligence teams to help us locate them and bring them before the court. We often circulate people of interest on our Facebook pages.
Storm Ciaran has unfortunately caused disruption to our city last week and with such severe weather comes an increase in calls for service for the Police. These calls for service varies from obstructions to the road network, tress and electricity cabling causing a danger, increase in road traffic incidents, assisting other agencies with rescue operations and concerns for the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable persons. We have worked hard to respond to these additional demands on top of our everyday calls for service and thankful for the community and partners who have assisted us in ensuring these calls are responded to.
Often we will work alongside other forces to complete joint operations as often crime is conducted across several forces and we work together to tackle this organised crime. This week we worked alongside the metropolitan police on a possible location involved in human trafficking. These incidents are rare in Colchester but the damage caused to victims is often unseen by the general public and the crime occurs behind closed doors. The work to disrupt organised crime is always on-going and we have specialist teams within the police that are dedicated to this work. On community policing we are often supporting these teams and providing them local intelligence that builds the overall picture of these crime groups. This is just another area of work that we undertake that would be invisible to the public on a day to day basis.
Project Servator aims to disrupt a range of criminal activity, including terrorism, while providing a reassuring presence for the public. Our officers are experienced and specially trained to spot the tell-tale signs that someone is planning or preparing to commit an act of crime.
Trained Project Servator officers have been in Colchester. They’ve been on the lookout for the tell-tale signs that someone may be gathering information that may help them plan or prepare to commit a crime.
Project Servator deployments are completely normal and nothing to worry about. It isn’t linked to any specific intelligence about a threat to the area.
Our specially trained officers can pop up any place, any time and in any weather.
 Let's talk
Upcoming community police events
Thursday 9 November 9am to 10am
Greggs, 58 St Christopher Road, St Johns, Colchester, CO4 0NB
Friday 10 November 10am to 11am
Lakelands Community Centre, 2 Western Approach, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8DX
Friday 10 November 11.30am to 12.30pm
Cessac Community Cafe, Community Centre, Fallowfield Road, Colchester, CO2 9ND
Tuesday 14 November 6pm to 7pm
Fingringhoe village hall, Chappel road, CO5 7BH
Wednesday 15 November 10am to 12pm
Franks cafe,Unit 7B, Moat Farm Business Centre, Turkey Cock Lane, Colchester, CO3 8ND
Wednesday 5 November 1pm to 2pm
Harpers Cafe,1 Cage Lane Boxted Community Hub, Boxted, Uk CO4 5RE
 Protect yourself at cash machines
It’s a good idea to scan the area around cash machines (ATM) before you use them. Be aware of anyone standing close by and always check the machine to see if it’s been tampered with before you use it.
Tell-tale signs of ATM fraud
Things to look out for are devices attached to the machine – some are more obvious than others. If you do see something suspicious contact the police and the bank.
Remember, if it doesn’t look or feel right then steer clear and, if possible, go inside the bank where it will be safer. And always keep a regular check on your transactions.
Be alert
We know it’s not always easy, but try to be aware of anyone near you when you’re at an ATM. Being aware of your surroundings and not being distracted makes it harder for people to take advantage and less likely that they’ll try to.
Thieves will watch as you key in your PIN or distract you while you’re withdrawing cash. Be vigilant. Cover your PIN and keep an eye on your card at all times. If someone taps you on the shoulder or tries to speak to you, just ignore them.
When you've left the ATM, put your card away immediately.
You should also be careful with contactless cards. You can get a card holder to prevent your card details being inadvertently read.
Be fraud smart
Buying cars
Always view the vehicle and documentation before making any payment.
Make sure you receive a receipt and ‘new keeper’s details’ (V5C registration certificate) at the time you make the payment.
Check that the V5C has a DVLA watermark, and that the vehicle identification number (VIN) printed on it matches that on the vehicle itself.
The VIN is stamped into the vehicle’s chassis, usually in the engine bay or beneath the plastic trim around the driver or passenger door opening. It’s normally also displayed on the bottom left of the windscreen when viewing from outside the vehicle, and/or on a sticker inside the driver or passenger door opening.
Don’t be pressurised into making any advance payments (such as a holding deposit or transportation fee) without seeing the vehicle in person first.
Carry out checks by getting a Hire Purchase Investigation (HPI) vehicle history check or similar report to make sure the vehicle isn’t stolen, cloned or subject to outstanding payments, and a DVLA MOT history check.
Be wary of purchasing vehicles from another country, particularly when there are requests for exportation costs.
Use known third party payment providers after checking terms and conditions. If making a direct bank transfer, send the transfer only at the point of collection. Avoid using cheques or banker’s draft.
If you make payments in cash, consider carrying this out at your or the seller’s bank premises for added protection.
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