Police Report - June 2020
The latest report from our Community Policing Team aims to highlight emerging issues in our area, and to provide crime prevention advice and guidance to the Community.
COVID 19 – UPDATE
In relation to the COVID 19 restrictions Police Scotland follow an ENGAGE, EXPLAIN, ENCOURAGE and ENFORCE approach. What this means is that when breaches are reported to us we will follow each step in order to resolve the breach with any enforcement action being the last resort. We continue to receive calls in relation to this and adopt the above approach.
More details can be found on the following Scottish Government Website which lays out what is permitted with this new phase (Phase 2) introduced as of 18th June 2020.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others/
COMMUNITY POLICING PRIORITIES
Antisocial behaviour, Violence and Disorder:
On the 6th of June, Police warned a male for causing a disturbance in the street on Great Western Road having been alerted by neighbours.
On the 11th June, Police were called to Noisy party on Craiglea Avenue, it was dispersed with advice given to all occupants, particularly in the current pandemic.
On the 16th June a parked vehicle had its window smashed on Braeside Place during the hours of darkness, this appears an isolated incident with no further reports of damage to any other vehicles. Anyone who hears or see’s suspicious activity is encouraged to contact Police.
On 20th June, Police were called to a male acting suspiciously on the Old Deeside Railway Line near Pitfodels Station Road. This male was found by officers to be exercising and on people going past he jumped into the bushes to maintain his 2 metre distance. Suitable advice was passed.
Police are seeing an increase in both Anti-social behaviour and youth related calls as a result of the improving weather/lockdown easing. All officers are aware of this, they continue to provide passing attention to the known areas such as Airyhall Reservoir and various Primary schools. Members of the public are encouraged to report any anti-social behaviour or criminality via 101 or 999 if an emergency.
I would continue to encourage parents/carers of youngsters to ensure they and their families continue to follow the NHS/Government guidance.
Acquisitive Crime:
On 29th May Police received a report of a person in the rear garden of a property in the Seafield area, Police attended but no persons found or further reports made, nor any description passed by caller.
Police are investigating reports of a Sneak-in Theft in the Seafield area on the 10th June, where persons have stolen food items/clothing from an insecure garage. Enquiries are ongoing with a positive line of enquiry being pursued.
On 20th June Police received reports of male acting suspiciously in the Hutchison Terrace area during the small hours, a male matching description was stopped but no crimes identified and permitted on his way. I would encourage all members of the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to Police on 101 or 999 if an emergency, remembering to provide as much detail/descriptions of persons as possible.
Road Safety & Road Crime:
There were no incidents of note during the period in relation to this. We continue to work with partners in response to specific complaints in terms of road traffic offences and to make use of antisocial behaviour legislation. Residents in the areas affected by antisocial driving are encouraged to contact Police on 101 at the time to report incidents in order for us to take positive action.
Community Engagement & Reassurance:
Doorstep crime is a problem that continues to plague our communities’ year on year. These incidents can have a devastating and lasting effect on victims from disruption to their homes, or property and financial loss that impacts heavily on their emotional wellbeing and health. This is why we feel it is so important to run, a yearly Shut Out Scammers campaign, in our effort to raise awareness and provide guidance on the matter of doorstep crime.
This year’s campaigns titled ‘It is not easy to spot a rogue trader’ aims to highlight the signs to look out for when trying to identify a rogue trader or bogus caller at your door, and the support mechanisms available to help you do this.
With the main message of the campaign being:
It's not easy to spot a rogue trader. They will often look genuine. They will look professional, have a branded van, a website, and business cards. They may even have their company listed on review sites, and appear to be endorsed by reputable trade associations. They may look authentic, but cowboy traders just want to scam you.
Don’t let scammers in to your home........Just say no.
How Can You Spot a Rogue Trader?
The most common types of work offered are ROOFING, DRIVEWAYS and GARDENING. They mainly operate during the spring and summer months when lots of people are looking to get work done around the house and garden. It is difficult to tell the difference from a real tradesman however they will:
Offer to do small jobs cheaper than competitors. However, once started they claim that urgent and more expensive repair work is needed on your property when this is not the case.
Claim they can start immediately and offer special discounted deals if you pay in cash now, trying to rush your decision.
Complete similar work in your area to give you confidence in them. However, scammers have been known to finish one job in order to get into a local area. They then go on to scam, mislead and overcharge additional customers in the surrounding area.
They can have a local telephone number and claim to have a local business premises. Telephone numbers can now be purchased and business units can be let short term. Scammers will often go to great lengths to make you believe they are local.
They may even drive a branded vehicle and have a website that they can direct you to are able to supply a business card.
Due to the current COVID 19 pandemic, remember that you and the tradespersons should adhere to the social distancing guidelines to keep safe.
Call 101 to report any suspicious activity. If you feel scared or threatened call 999 and ask for the police.
For more information on spotting the signs of a rogue trader visit Trading Standards site, while further advice in relation to COVID19 scams can be found here.
What can you do to shut out the scammers?
If you don’t want any cold callers, you can request a No Cold Calling sticker from your local Trading Standards office.
Always ask for identification.
Ask to see a business card or letterhead for full contact details for the company. Call the business to check it exists and that the contractor does work for them.
Request to see proof of qualifications in their trade.
Consult your local Trusted Trader Scheme via www.approvedtrader.scot and obtain three quotes for any maintenance work.
Check to see if the contractor is a member of a trade association by searching the trade association websites.
Never feel pressured into making a decision on the spot. Any legitimate trader will be happy to return at a later date, use this time to research their business.
Never agree to a trader starting work straight away and never hand over any money without seeing proper paperwork.
Making sure that you understand the terms and conditions, including cancellation rights. Make use of your cooling off period to think about the proposed work.
Never be afraid to say ‘No thank you’ and close the door.
You can also sign up to the Neighbourhood Watch Scotland Alert system to receive timely alerts about local crime prevention and safety issues from partners such as Police Scotland.
Follow us on Twitter @NorthEPolice #WestEndCPT
COVID 19 – UPDATE
In relation to the COVID 19 restrictions Police Scotland follow an ENGAGE, EXPLAIN, ENCOURAGE and ENFORCE approach. What this means is that when breaches are reported to us we will follow each step in order to resolve the breach with any enforcement action being the last resort. We continue to receive calls in relation to this and adopt the above approach.More details can be found on the following Scottish Government Website which lays out what is permitted with this new phase (Phase 2) introduced as of 18th June 2020.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others/
COMMUNITY POLICING PRIORITIES
Antisocial behaviour, Violence and Disorder:
On the 6th of June, Police warned a male for causing a disturbance in the street on Great Western Road having been alerted by neighbours.
On the 16th June a parked vehicle had its window smashed on Braeside Place during the hours of darkness, this appears an isolated incident with no further reports of damage to any other vehicles. Anyone who hears or see’s suspicious activity is encouraged to contact Police.
On 20th June, Police were called to a male acting suspiciously on the Old Deeside Railway Line near Pitfodels Station Road. This male was found by officers to be exercising and on people going past he jumped into the bushes to maintain his 2 metre distance. Suitable advice was passed.
Police are seeing an increase in both Anti-social behaviour and youth related calls as a result of the improving weather/lockdown easing. All officers are aware of this, they continue to provide passing attention to the known areas such as Airyhall Reservoir and various Primary schools. Members of the public are encouraged to report any anti-social behaviour or criminality via 101 or 999 if an emergency.
I would continue to encourage parents/carers of youngsters to ensure they and their families continue to follow the NHS/Government guidance.
Acquisitive Crime:
Police are investigating reports of a Sneak-in Theft in the Seafield area on the 10th June, where persons have stolen food items/clothing from an insecure garage. Enquiries are ongoing with a positive line of enquiry being pursued.
On 20th June Police received reports of male acting suspiciously in the Hutchison Terrace area during the small hours, a male matching description was stopped but no crimes identified and permitted on his way. I would encourage all members of the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to Police on 101 or 999 if an emergency, remembering to provide as much detail/descriptions of persons as possible.
Road Safety & Road Crime:
There were no incidents of note during the period in relation to this. We continue to work with partners in response to specific complaints in terms of road traffic offences and to make use of antisocial behaviour legislation. Residents in the areas affected by antisocial driving are encouraged to contact Police on 101 at the time to report incidents in order for us to take positive action.
Community Engagement & Reassurance:
Doorstep crime is a problem that continues to plague our communities’ year on year. These incidents can have a devastating and lasting effect on victims from disruption to their homes, or property and financial loss that impacts heavily on their emotional wellbeing and health. This is why we feel it is so important to run, a yearly Shut Out Scammers campaign, in our effort to raise awareness and provide guidance on the matter of doorstep crime.
This year’s campaigns titled ‘It is not easy to spot a rogue trader’ aims to highlight the signs to look out for when trying to identify a rogue trader or bogus caller at your door, and the support mechanisms available to help you do this.
With the main message of the campaign being:
It's not easy to spot a rogue trader. They will often look genuine. They will look professional, have a branded van, a website, and business cards. They may even have their company listed on review sites, and appear to be endorsed by reputable trade associations. They may look authentic, but cowboy traders just want to scam you.
Don’t let scammers in to your home........Just say no.
How Can You Spot a Rogue Trader?
The most common types of work offered are ROOFING, DRIVEWAYS and GARDENING. They mainly operate during the spring and summer months when lots of people are looking to get work done around the house and garden. It is difficult to tell the difference from a real tradesman however they will:
Offer to do small jobs cheaper than competitors. However, once started they claim that urgent and more expensive repair work is needed on your property when this is not the case. Claim they can start immediately and offer special discounted deals if you pay in cash now, trying to rush your decision.
Complete similar work in your area to give you confidence in them. However, scammers have been known to finish one job in order to get into a local area. They then go on to scam, mislead and overcharge additional customers in the surrounding area.
They can have a local telephone number and claim to have a local business premises. Telephone numbers can now be purchased and business units can be let short term. Scammers will often go to great lengths to make you believe they are local.
They may even drive a branded vehicle and have a website that they can direct you to are able to supply a business card.
Due to the current COVID 19 pandemic, remember that you and the tradespersons should adhere to the social distancing guidelines to keep safe.
Call 101 to report any suspicious activity. If you feel scared or threatened call 999 and ask for the police.
For more information on spotting the signs of a rogue trader visit Trading Standards site, while further advice in relation to COVID19 scams can be found here.
What can you do to shut out the scammers?
If you don’t want any cold callers, you can request a No Cold Calling sticker from your local Trading Standards office.
Always ask for identification.
Ask to see a business card or letterhead for full contact details for the company. Call the business to check it exists and that the contractor does work for them.
Request to see proof of qualifications in their trade.
Consult your local Trusted Trader Scheme via www.approvedtrader.scot and obtain three quotes for any maintenance work.
Check to see if the contractor is a member of a trade association by searching the trade association websites.
Never feel pressured into making a decision on the spot. Any legitimate trader will be happy to return at a later date, use this time to research their business.
Never agree to a trader starting work straight away and never hand over any money without seeing proper paperwork.
Making sure that you understand the terms and conditions, including cancellation rights. Make use of your cooling off period to think about the proposed work.
Never be afraid to say ‘No thank you’ and close the door.
You can also sign up to the Neighbourhood Watch Scotland Alert system to receive timely alerts about local crime prevention and safety issues from partners such as Police Scotland.
Also available are the three following contact email addresses for the West End:
The primary purpose of these e-mail addresses is for residents to report non-criminal queries, such as passing attentions, information, advice and non-criminal quality of life issues, such as youth annoyance. These e-mail addresses are not for reporting crimes or offences. The process for reporting any crimes or offences is to call 101, where our Service Centre will log the call on our Command and Control system and allocate the incident to our area. Using this process negates the possibility of the report being missed and also ensures that the caller’s details, addresses and telephone numbers are noted for our awareness and response.
Should you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to discuss these with the Officer attending your Community Council Meeting or by emailing the above e-mail addresses or our Service Centre. It is not necessary to wait until the meeting and your local CPT Inspector, PI Sim welcomes your contact.
Contact Us
Please also remember you can communicate with us using any of the following:
🕾 101 – Non emergency
🖱 Email - *****CPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
🖱 Facebook – www.facebook.com/NorthEastPoliceDivision
🖱 Web – www.scotland.police.uk
🕾 999 – Emergency
🕾 0800 555 111 - Crimestoppers
No comments