Hello, my name is Lara Curtayne and I am one of the Crime Reduction Officers with Bedfordshire Police. The area I work in is Bedford Borough and, along with my colleague Peter Spicer, our role covers all domestic, non-residential and commercial crime. Whilst based at Greyfriars police station, I am often out and about visiting residents and businesses in the suburbs and villages.
As well as dealing with day-to-day incidents, the Crime Reduction Officers look at seasonal trends and communicate pro-active advice to potential victims. Some seasons are obvious like summer holidays, where houses are left empty for long periods of time and are at greater risk of burglary.
However, there are other trends which are not so apparent. This is usually due to singular incidents occurring over a wide area over a few days or weeks, as opposed to – say – half a dozen cars being broken into in the same street on the same night.
During Spring, we see an upturn of theft from gardens and allotments as gardeners get to grips with tidying up winter growth and preparing for the new growing season. Tools and lawnmowers are often the target but, even if nothing is stolen, damage is caused and is inconvenient and expensive for the victim.
However, as all experienced gardeners know, there is just as much work to be done when Autumn approaches and, again, all your tools will be in constant use. Unfortunately, for the allotment holder, nature is against them as the days rapidly get shorter, the weather worsens and the allotments are less frequented over the winter. This leaves your tools and equipment unattended for long periods of time and the gap between the crime and its discovery can be anything between a day and a fortnight.
Shed and container security is all important, therefore. It is worthwhile giving your allotment a “health check”:
• Check your locks and bolts – replace any rusty items, ensure all padlocks and hasps bear the British Standard kite mark and are made of hardened steel.
• Don’t forget the hinges on your doors – if a burglar can’t breach the lock, they may attempt to unscrew the hinges. Use coach bolts, non-return screws or simply damage the screw head; you don’t need to do every screw, just a couple on the hanging plate and a couple on the door plate.
• Remember to secure outbuilding windows – even the ones that don’t open can be vulnerable. Consider obscuring the window with an opaque window film (the type used to obscure bathroom windows) as this will reduce the temptation. Alternatively, fit a grille or a couple of bars across the inside of the window to reduce the window aperture.
• Consider using a battery-operated siren alarm in your outbuildings – they often cost less than £20 and are simple to install and use. Unfortunately, these are not so appropriate for allotments that are in remote areas.
• Get into the good habit of putting everything away when you have finished with it. Your own tools can be used to break into your storage.
Have you thought about security marking your tools? This is simply done by putting your house number and postcode on your property. Whilst property marking cannot prevent your goods from being stolen by itself, it is a very good deterrent as it is difficult to sell on stolen property that has been marked. It also allows the police to return recovered stolen goods to their rightful owner and secure a charge.
Items you don’t mind spoiling the look of (ie, garden furniture and heaters) can be marked by etching or scratching your postcode on to them, or with a permanent marker pen. Alternatively, there are DNA-based marking products such as RedWeb, SelectaDNA and SmartWater. Display signs that all property is marked and traceable.
And finally, add security onto the agenda at your committee meetings. Encourage members to report any breaches in the boundaries immediately and, if there is lighting, check it is working properly. It does no harm to remind people to be a little more vigilant and that security measures are in place for their own benefit.
Just so that we are clear on the extent of the problem, allotment crime is relatively low but Bedfordshire Police would still like to see less of it. During the past 12 months, there have been 35 crimes on allotments in Bedford Borough, peaking in April and May. However, we are starting to see a slight rise again the in last couple of weeks.
Of these 35 crimes, 18 were shed burglaries, 4 were criminal damage incidents, 4 were incidents of arson and the rest were classed as miscellaneous thefts. No particular allotment site seems to have been targeted in particular.
I hope that this information is of use to you. I will be posting some PDF documents for your perusal. If you have any questions, or need specific advice, please do not hesitate to contact either Pete or myself at Greyfriars on 01234 275273 or by email: bedford.cro@bedfordshire.pnn.police.uk
If a question is submitted that is of interest to everyone, we will post it on this forum.
Happy Harvesting!
2484 Lara CURTAYNE
Crime Reduction Officer
Bedfordshire Police
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