News 13 March to 19 March
 Community Policing Team - Inspectors Blog
Last week I was very pleased to be out on patrol with the District Commander, Chief Inspector Cox and the Community Safety Partnership Manager, Mr Donaghy, visiting the areas of Tiptree and Stanway and speaking with local residents, councillors and the MP regarding local issues and concerns. We will be coming out to as many wards as we can over the next 12 months and ensuring that we actively listen to concerns and together with the community and partners, coming to resolutions to community based problems. As a leadership team, we are striving to be more visible and accessible to our partners and communities and this is one of the ways in which we intend to do this moving forwards. The community policing team as a whole are always looking for new ways to engage with our communities and this week we have attended and engaged at 13 community events. Engagements can include coffee events, crime prevention events, youth club engagement, sporting events and educational inputs at care homes, schools and other establishments. These events are normally attended by our police community support officers, who are always happy to attend events and talk to people about policing, crime prevention or any other police related matters. If you would like them to come to an event you are hosting or you have an idea of an engagement activity, please email us colchestercommunitypolicingteam@essex.police.uk
The team have been busy in the city centre and we have completed 41 stop searches in the last week, 15 of which were positive and resulted in 5 arrests for drug related offences, 1 arrest for possession of an offensive weapon and 8 out of court disposals for drug related offences and 1 disposal for theft. We have arrested a further 4 people for shoplifting and investigations are being progressed to get these persons before the court. We had a positive result at court this week where a male has been remanded into custody charged with 13 counts of shoplifting across Colchester with the most recent offence taking place in the city centre. We have continued to complete high visibility patrols in the city centre and the team have been liaising with different security teams. If you would like the city centre team to come and visit your business or venue in the city centre then please let us know so we can arrange this by emailing colchestercommunitypolicingteam@essex.police.uk Having personally met with representatives from the BID and ColBAC this week, we are actively trying to create more effective ways of working with businesses affected by crime in the city centre.
As part of the county wide Project Minerva, we are using the Commonplace app for the public to tell us where they feel safe and not safe in public spaces across Essex. This is a really useful tool, not only for police but for partners to see where they can make improvements to our local areas to improve safety and make Colchester a better place to live, work and visit. My ask is for you to not only promote this amongst you respective areas and communities but to also look yourself at what is recorded and see if there is something you can do to make a difference.
In recent weeks the community policing team have attended several protests and demonstrations in the city centre and wider area of Colchester as this forms part of the duties of community policing. I am aware that protests and demonstrations can have an impact on the day to day activities of our communities and in some cases can cause upset and concern amongst our communities. Questions we often get asked is why we are not doing anything or why are we letting these protests carry on. The reason for this, is that we are bound by the Human Rights Act and under Articles 9, 10 and 11, the public have a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the right to freedom of expression and the right to freedom of assembly and association. We have a duty under this act to protect those who want to exercise their rights peacefully and we should only interfere under certain circumstances. We will assess any protest or demonstration that we are notified of and if any risk is identified we will always work with organisers to reduce risks and disruptions. In some cases we will have a dedicated public order command in place where the risks identified require a different response. We do have some powers to put certain restrictions on a protest/demonstration, but these have to be appropriate and proportionate to the risk. There is always a likelihood that someone will be offended by someone else’s opinion at a protest as we do not all think the same, however being offended does not necessarily make the protest illegal or not peaceful.
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Please have a safe week
Inspector Jenna Mirrington-French
Four arrested for shoplifting in Colchester
Across Essex last week, our officers arrested 29 people on suspicion of shoplifting and secured 73 charges of shop theft.
Two people were also charged with assaulting of retail workers.
Of the arrests made between Monday 4 and Sunday 10 March, four were in the Colchester district. A man has also appeared in court, accused of committing 13 shop thefts in the city. He’s been remanded in custody by Chelmsford magistrates until his next hearing on 8 April 2024.
Sergeant Christian Denning, of our specialist Business crime team Team, says our force is committed to tackling shoplifting and the violence and abuse which can accompany it.
“Our community and local policing teams are dedicated to arresting offenders and gathering the evidence we need to put them before the courts.
“But they can’t do it without the public’s help. Through our Open For Business, Closed For Crime initiative, we encourage business owners and retail staff to report shop theft, assaults and anti-social behaviour.
“We want to hear from anyone who has information about shop thefts or, indeed, any crime. You can report online at http://esxpol.uk/pb6Hw or, alternatively ring us on 101.”
There’s been a rise in reports of people catapulting wild animals and birds in urban areas and country parks and our Rural engagement team officers are appealing for your help to tackle it.
Foxes, otters and other mammals, pigeons, swans and other waterfowl can be targets.
Our wild life crime and Heritage officer PC Jed Raven says: “Some people think it’s just a bit of harmless fun but the animal or bird they hit could suffer a long and painful death as a result.
“Causing any creature pain and suffering is illegal. The vast majority of people simply want to get out and enjoy nature but a small minority just want to hurt things.
It’s not just catapults, people sometimes target wildlife with air weapons and crossbows but any way you look at it, it’s dangerous and it is cruel. And animal cruelty can be a precursor to more serious crimes.
Anyone who walks in or patrols our parks and towns are our eyes and ears. We need you to tell us what you know. We identified this trend because people were reporting incidents to us and the RSPCA. If you don’t tell us, we can’t act."
You can report information and incidents to us online via http://esxpol.uk/ms6Pi but, if it’s a crime in progress or there’s a danger to public safety, ring 999.”
 Let's talk
Upcoming community police events
Let’s Talk Friday 22 March 13:00 – 14:00
Ali's BBQ House, The Parade, Colchester
Let’s Talk Tuesday 26 March 10:00 – 11:00
Marks and Spencer’s, Staine park Stanway
Walk and talk with Essex Recovery Foundation 27March 10:30
Highwoods Carpark, Co4 5JR
Let’s Talk Thursday 28 March 10:30 – 11:30
Zest Café, University of Essex
Let’s Talk Thursday 4 April 10:30 – 11:30
Community 360, Long Wyre Stree
 When at home the best place to keep your motorcycle, moped or scooter is in your garage or shed
- Fit a garage door defender or upgrade garage door locks.
- Garage and shed alarms as well as low level dusk to dawn lighting will also enhance security. Fitting a ground anchor also provides extra security.
- Motorcycle lockers are also available to store your bike at home.
No shed or garage? Park in the safest place you can
- Park it in an area near to your home where it’s well overlooked with good lighting.
- A Park Mark approved car park has a higher level of security than other car parks.
Be fraud smart
Pension Fraud
If you’re over 55, the law now lets you access your pension savings. You have control of your pension pot and it’s for you to decide how to invest the money.
Scammers may target you to steal your savings. They do this by persuading you to cash out your pension and put the money into fraudulent and unregulated investments with the promise of high returns.
If you’re under 55, you can transfer your pension to another scheme, but you can’t access the funds unless you’re seriously ill. If you’re offered a cash incentive to transfer your pension, you’re likely to face tax charges worth more than half your pension savings.
If you’re cold-called, get a text, email or similar approach that you haven’t invited, offering a pension review, be careful. It may not be someone acting in your best interests.
Never make a decision based on phone calls, glossy brochures or pushy salespeople. How often do you buy from a doorstep salesperson? So why trust someone you’ve never met, contacting you from a company you’ve never heard of, with your life savings?
Always seek advice from an expert who has no connection with the ‘sales pitch’. If possible, research the company. A genuine financial adviser should be registered with the FCA.
In short, if you receive a cold call, email, text, or any message about your pension, end the call or delete the message immediately. For more advice, visit The Pensions Regulator.
For more information and help or to report these and many other types of fraud, go to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre.
 Do restaurants, cafes and take-aways have a legal duty to display their hygiene ratings?
Many local authorities participate in the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, which is managed by the Food Standards Agency. In those areas, food establishments are rated on their hygiene (please note that the rating is based solely on hygiene and not on food quality). There are six ratings going from 5 – hygiene standards are very good, down to 0 – urgent improvement is required. A rated business is then provided with a green ratings sticker, showing its results, which can be displayed to customers in its shop window.
However, there is no legal requirement to display the rating sticker given to them. But the Food Standards Agency has a website that can be used to search for any rated business in your local area and view the results
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