Last updated: Friday, April 15
The Safer Neighbourhoods Team for Chineham is:
PC Jim Charlton (left) and PCSO Richard Strauss (not pictured).
We are based out of Basingstoke Police Station.
Locally, we work with your community to find out what matters most where you live. We will work with you and our partner agencies to agree the main priorities for the area and how we will work together to tackle them.
The community priorities are:
That last meeting of the Safer Chineham Panel took place on Tuesday, October 5. Due to continuing work on the previous quarter’s priorities, it was decided to keep these for the last quarter of the year.
These are:
- Anti-social behaviour at Chineham Shopping Centre
- Speeding on main roads
- Traffic and parking problems at the Four Lanes schools
These are the priorities that people in your local area have agreed with the Safer Neighbourhoods Team. You can influence these priorities by contacting your team, attending a meeting or speaking to members of the team when you see them out and about.
Action we have taken in relation to your priorities
Crime update by PC Jim Charlton:
This month has seen a number of acquisitive crimes occur on the beat. An insecure vehicle was entered in Talmey Close and a sat nav, petrol can, car stereo and various road maps were stolen from inside. A black mountain bike with front suspension and the rack it was attached to were stolen from a vehicle in Reading Road. Both of these occurred in the early hours of the morning of March 21.
I expect this is a continuation of the series I mentioned last month which involved insecure vehicles being targeted. I expect this is because those doing it are new to it and roam around trying car doors until they find one left unlocked. Please ensure that you lock your cars and that you do not leave any valuables in them as it is not safe to do so, which is why we keep seeing these thefts from vehicles occur.
A garden shed was broken into overnight on March 24 in Martins Wood and a chain saw and red petrol strimmer were stolen, although the former was recovered in Great Sorrels Copse a short time later. Furthermore, in the early hours of April 2 thieves tried to break into a shed in Warbleton Road, but made-off empty handed when the shed alarm sounded.
Please protect your sheds by firstly preventing access to your garden (by padlocking back gates and trellising fencing) and secondly by preventing access to your sheds by padlocking them and ensuring the hinges and locks fitted to them do not have the screw heads exposed, otherwise they can just be bypassed. As shown by the second incident, fit a shed alarm. They are very cheap and easy to install.
In the early hours of April 1 thieves went ‘fishing’, by which I mean they inserted a tool of some sort through the letterbox of an address in Four Lanes Close in an attempt to ‘fish’ something through it; either a set of keys and/or some other property. The occupants knew this because a suitcase had been pulled towards the door.
Please do not leave keys or valuables near your front door as they are at risk of this type of burglary. Keys, mobiles and handbags/wallets should ideally be taken upstairs so that they cannot be stolen or used to enter your house, you can call for help in an emergency, and so you can get out if a fire occurs.
Any finally, burglars stole a laptop after they entered a house in Sorrells Close between 7pm and 11:30pm on the evening of Saturday April 9, by scaling a drain pipe and climbing through an open first floor window from the porch roof. If you do like opening windows for a draught in warmer weather, please ensure that it is locked shut when you go out or when you leave that room for any prolonged length of time. This is especially true for downstairs windows, especially if that window can be accessed from an adjacent roof.
Thieves actively look for opportunities to commit crime and they will take advantage of them when they find them. Please protect your property.
If anyone has been offered any of the articles of stolen property mentioned above, or have any information as to who may be responsible, please contact us. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers if you have any information about these or any other crimes.
If you would like me to visit to conduct a home security check please make contact on the details below.
Anti-social behaviour update: by PCSO Keith Patching
Well the warmer weather has arrived. The bluebells are out, blossom is on the trees, all in all the village is looking beautiful. However, it is a shame to witness litter blowing along in the breeze, mostly sweet wrappers and other food wrappers. There are plenty of bins located around the village and failing that we all have bins at home, please do take any litter home or place it in the bins provided. We can all do our bit to reduce litter.
Anti-social behaviour remains a priority within the village, in particular at the shopping centre. I have spoken with a number of managers at the centre and they are working closely with me to identify who is involved. To date we have put names to most of the repeat offenders and banning letters have been issued.
Plain clothes police officers will be conducting patrols in the centre over the coming weeks to target anyone seen supplying alcohol to anyone under the age of 18. It is an offence and the penalty for supplying alcohol to an underage person can include a fine of £80. If you are approached to purchase alcohol please report it to either the police on 101 or to the shop staff or security guards.
Great Binfields Road has recently seen some road improvement works carried out near to Great Binfields School, part of the works was to reduce the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph, The signage is in place so please do take extra care when driving along this road and ensure you observe the new speed limit.
I am currently in the process of setting up new dates with the Roads Policing Unit to conduct speed checks along the other roads in the village and I would like to remind all residents that the speed limit along Hanmore Road, Thornhill Way and Mattock Way is 30mph. We have a lot of children, parents with pushchairs and elderly people crossing these roads and they are all at risk of speeding vehicles. With the lighter evenings here we will see children out later into the evening posing a greater risk. Please monitor your speed and keep our roads safe.
Four Lanes School has been advised that groups of youths are continuing to loiter in the grounds of during the evening. The groups are seen to be consuming alcohol and being verbally abusive when challenged to move on. This sort of behaviour is not acceptable and I would urge all parents to remind children of the risks of consuming alcohol and generally being a nuisance when they are in public.
Any person under the age of 18 found in possession of alcohol and appears intoxicated may be deemed ‘at risk’ and can be removed to a place of safety until such time that they are either sober or collected by an appropriate adult. A place of safety could include a police cell. Do you really want to attend the police station to collect your child?
Finally do you have a couple of spare hours each month? Do you want to give something back to your local community? How about a role as a Police Volunteer? For more details take a look at the section below.
How you can take action
Volunteering
You could also volunteer to help the teams working in your local area and make a real difference to your neighbourhood. Click here for more information about police support volunteers.
Do you have a bike?
How well could you describe your bike? It only takes a few seconds to steal one so keep a record of your cycle details, and keep it secure to deter thieves.
- Mark your bike with your postcode and house number
- Keep a note of the bicycle frame number. This will add identification should the cycle be recovered by the police.
- Take a photo of your bike on your mobile or with a camera and store it in a safe place. This will help us return your bike if and when it is recovered.
Please complete the attached Bike Safe form. Email it to us and store the details safely.
Your Voice Counts - community priorities
Your Safer Neighbourhoods team wants to hear from you. Have your say on what the policing priorities should be for your area, by clicking here to download a copy of the form and send it back to your local team.
Crime mapping and local performance information
Hampshire Constabulary has joined with partner agencies in the two counties to provide you with local information about crime and disorder, using a system called CADDIE. On the bottom left hand side of this page, you can enter your postcode into CADDIE to view information about your local area.
You can also view details of how we are performing against certain key criteria in your local area. Click here to see your local performance information.
How to contact us
If you would like to speak to any of the officers responsible for policing your local area, please call 101 or email the team.
