Police Local Newsletter

Dear Resident,

It’s the middle of the month, which can only mean one thing……. it’s newsletter time! So here goes.

Burglary

In November 13 burglaries and 1 attempted burglary occurred in Pinner.

In the Pinner ward the burglaries occurred in Cuckoo Hill, Durley Avenue, East Towers (attempted  burglary), Hillcrest Avenue, Lyncroft Avenue, Meadow Road, Nursery Road and West End Avenue. The Pinner South ward saw burglaries occur in Meredith Close, Norman Crescent, Oakhill Avenue, Pinner Green, and two in Waxwell Lane.

Many of these burglaries took place while the owner / occupier was away from their home for two or more consecutive days. The majority of properties were left in darkness during this time period and entry was gained by means of smashing the glass of a rear window or door. It is therefore important to make access to the rear of your home as difficult for possible for burglars, in addition to giving the impression that your home is occupied.

With Christmas fast approaching you may be ordering gifts online. Please make sure that if you are not going to be home to receive your delivery, that you nominate a safe secure place for it to be left. Even better would be nominate a neighbour who will be in to accept it on your behalf. Not only do parcels left on doorsteps or inside porch ways indicate to burglars that no one is home, but opportunist thieves might have your parcel for themselves!

When the big day has come and gone, please don’t advertise to thieves what Santa has given you, as this might attract unwanted attention. Discard of packaging inside bins and not on the street or in front gardens.

If you’ve been especially good this year Santa may have given you the latest smartphone or tablet (not the ones for hangovers!) or other electronic products. If so, please do not forget to register your ownership of them by using www.immobilise.com, or if you get a bicycle www.bikeregister.com.

As always this link contains all the home security advice you could possibly need https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/residential-burglary/.

OWL (Online Watch Link)

Since mid-November another 100 Pinner residents have signed up to OWL, taking our total to 775, which according to my calculations means that Pinner represents 19% of the 4000 Harrow residents that have joined Nextdoor since it went live in the borough in September.

The OWL database allows us to send a message to a specific road or area of Pinner instead of everyone receiving information that may not be pertinent to them. However, some roads in Pinner only have  one or two residents signed up to OWL, making targeted messages ineffective so, as I do every month, I encourage to join OWL.

Whether you have already joined OWL or intend to do so in the future, if you have some form of CCTV, please include this information on the database as it assists officers when investigating local crimes.

For more information about OWL, please read the attached leaflet then sign-up at www.owl.co.uk.

Vehicle Crime

Theft of property from within vehicles continues to occur because so many vehicles are left insecure overnight. Plenty of CCTV footage shows that locked vehicles DO NOT get broken into but result in the thief moving on to the next vehicle.

There has been a recent spate of catalytic converter thefts, not just in Pinner, but across Harrow. Some of these thefts are taking just minutes to commit and are happening in residential streets and car parks during the day and night. If you see anyone working underneath a vehicle in your road and they don’t clearly seem to be working for the AA or RAC, then please call police on the emergency 999 number and try and obtain the make, model and registration number of the vehicle used by the thieves.

Vehicle thieves are operating in the area and I have seen footage of individuals using equipment to scan for signals to obtain entry to keyless entry enables vehicles. Primarily, it is high-value vehicles such as Land/Range Rovers, Audis, BMWs and Mercedes etc. that are being targeted so, in an effort to counter these criminals’ intentions, please keep keys away from your front door, store them in a Faraday pouch, alarm your vehicle, affix a steering wheel lock to it, and consider purchasing a fold down bollard for your driveway.

For comprehensive vehicle theft prevention advice please go to this link: https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/theft-of-a-vehicle/.

Arrests / Miscellaneous

November saw the departure of two officers from Pinner; after two years PC Kat Lewis left to join the North West Borough’s Professional Standards department and PC Kevin Brooks, after only six months with us, moved to Rayners Lane Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT).

Their respective replacements are new recruit Atila Beyaz, and 13-year veteran Cat Groome who joins us from Harrow on the Hill SNT.

PC Muzikeviciute assisted officers from other Safer Neighbourhood Teams to execute a drugs warrant at an address in Graham Road, Wealdstone. One man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of Possession with Intent to Supply (PWITS) drugs and for possessing a non-permitted air rifle.

PC Beyaz and PC Muzikeviciute have been heavily involved in an ongoing and time-consuming neighbour dispute in Whittington Way.

PC Brooks gave first aid to a 90-year-old woman who suffered a head wound and shredded the skin on her arms and legs after falling down the stairs behind Sainsbury’s.

At Lidl, PC Aziz and PC Beyaz assisted an 86-year-old customer who dislocated her shoulder in the store.

Both ladies were taken to Northwick Park Hospital by an ambulance.

PC Muzikeviciute attended a call to an address in Barrow Point Avenue after an elderly dementia sufferer locked herself in her bathroom. Thankfully, the matter was resolved without the need to force entry.

PC Beyaz and PC Muzikeviciute assisted a man experiencing a mental health episode in Marsh Road. The man was detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act and referred to Mental Health professionals. The male was found in possession of cannabis and was therefore issued a Community Resolution by PC Beyaz at a later date.

As you would expect we have visited all those victims of burglaries who wish to receive a visit from us, as well as making enquiries into these crimes and others reported to us. We continue to frequent those roads / areas where we are aware that anti-social behaviour and suspected drug-related activity is occurring. Some of these patrols have resulted in several people being stopped and searched. I encourage you to contact us with any information you have about crime in the area.

Community Engagement

As is always the case (and rightly so) all officers from the Pinner and Pinner South teams were in attendance at the annual Remembrance Sunday service in High Street which, as always, was very well attended. Long may that continue.

We were also on duty to police the annual Pinner Panto (‘Oh no you weren’t!’) which, as usual, passed without incident.

PCSO O’Brien and PC Aziz gave an internet / social media safety and stranger danger talk to members of the 3rd Pinner Beavers.

Both the Pinner and Pinner South SNTs held Cuppa with a Copper contact points in both wards, mainly at Costa, Caffe Nero, Café Sombra, Daisy’s in the Park and Pinner Library.

Everyone at Pinner Police Station wishes you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2020.

Kind regards,

Lee O’Brien PCSO 7562NW
Pinner / Pinner South SNT

Santa and his Sleigh, our popular Christmas float touring the streets of Pinner.

It’s that time of year again and Pinner Rotary are looking forward to bringing the magic of Santa and his Sleigh to a street near you.

This year we are collecting for ORCHYD, a local Chidren’s charity supporting severely disabled children, and other Rotary supported charities.

Dates and Routes are listed below, starting each evening at 6:00pm and ending at around 8:00pm, except for the first route on Wednesday 11th December, see below. 

Wednesday 11th December      map
6pm – 6:30pm: the Sleigh will be parked on Crossway near the junction with Pinner Hill Road, please come and visit us!
6:30pm – approx 8:15pm: Albury Drive – Blythwood Road  – Murray Crescent – Marsworth Avenue – Woodhall Gate – Evelyn Drive

Thursday 12th December     map
Love Lane – Avenue Road – Barrowpoint Avenue – Barrow Point Lane – Moss Lane – Grange Gardens

Friday 13th December     map
Church Avenue – Downs Avenue – West Avenue – Central Avenue – The Avenue

Monday 16th December     map
West Towers – East Towers – Cannonbury Avenue – Hill Road – Glover Road – Lawrence Road – Rosecroft Walk – St Ursula Grove – Hill Road

Wednesday 18th December    map
Grove Road – Northumberland Road – Lincoln Road – Mount Drive – The Ridgeway – Lincoln Road – Lankers Drive

Thursday 19th December     map
West Way – West End Lane – High View – Cuckoo Hill Drive – North Way – Northfield Avenue – Hillcrest Avenue – West End Lane – West End Avenue

Why doesn’t Santa’s Sleigh visit our road?

2014 was the first year that the Rotary Club of Pinner started touring the streets with Santa’s Sleigh. Although many residents remember a sleigh in their street years ago, that was probably either the Lions or Round Table. It’s a large undertaking for our Rotary club, from designing and building the sleigh and planning the routes, through finding enough volunteers each year to deliver flyers and take the sleigh around the streets. We would always welcome volunteers to help us each year.

Our Sleigh routes are very carefully selected and are reviewed each year. Our overriding concern is to ensure the sleigh can travel safely. So, we consider a number of issues such as the width of streets and the number of parked cars – so we can manoeuvre the sleigh – and wherever possible we avoid bus routes or main roads. It’s also important to limit how far Santa’s helpers have to walk during the evening’s trip.

Each year since we started Santa’s Sleigh, residents have contacted us asking if Santa can visit their road or can we offer sleigh rides, or can they book Santa’s Sleigh for private events or can we take our sleigh to other towns! Sadly, we can’t consider most of these requests. We just try to visit as many streets as we can in the weeks leading up to Christmas as we know it brings a lot of happiness to the children of Pinner.

Pinner Panto – Thursday Evening!

Motorists – a quick reminder, there will be traffic congestion around Pinner tomorrow evening.

  • The High Street will be closed to traffic from about 3pm to 10pm.
  • Chapel Lane will be closed at the Bridge Street end from about 3pm to 10pm. Access the car park from West End Lane.
  • Pinner memorial Park will be closed to the public from 4:30 whilst the firework display is being set up.
  • Bridge Street zebra crossing will be controlled by traffic lights between 5pm & 9pm.

Visitors

  • Don’t forget to visit all of the shops that are taking part on Bridge Street before hitting the High Street.
  • 5pm: Christmas lights will be switched on by the Mayor of Harrow
  • Choirs will be performing on the High Street & Chapel Lane
  • 8:15 pm – Fireworks in the Park
  • The Panto organising team look forward to seeing you there.

Police Local Newsletter

Dear Resident,

Here is the newsletter covering the majority of our October activities. As usual we have all had a busy month doing one thing or another to contribute to making our community a safer and pleasant place for everyone.

Burglary

In October ten residential burglaries occurred across Pinner, in the following roads: two in Albury Drive and Moss Lane respectively, and one in Bell Close, Cannonbury Avenue, Crossway, Grange Gardens, Pinner Hill and Whittington Way respectively.

All but two of these burglaries are known to have occurred during the hours of darkness, and in all but one instance, entry to properties was gained by means of a rear patio door or window being forced open or removed. Again, as is so often the case, the route to the rear of homes continues to be gained by burglars going through unlocked / insufficiently locked side gates or by climbing over low side gates or flat-roofed garages.

In many cases, burgled homes did not have any outwardly visible signs of occupation as houses were often in darkness. Burglars (and thieves committing overnight vehicle crime) do not like light or noise that might attract unwanted attention, so please consider getting motion sensor lighting and an alarm if you don’t already have one.

The main valuables stolen tend to be jewellery, watches and cash. It is therefore important that you catalogue and photograph all your jewellery and watches so, if you should be burgled, you can identify what has been stolen, and if found, you can prove they belong to you.

Please take some time to read the attached home security advice, then assess your home’s security and proactively bolster any vulnerabilities you identify. For comprehensive burglary and other crime prevention advice please click on this link: https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/.

OWL (Online Watch Link)

 At the time of writing 667 Pinner residents have joined OWL, which is fantastic. However, this figure pales in comparison to the 2909 residents I engage with on Nextdoor, a social media platform you may be aware of and currently using.

It is anticipated that at some time in the future OWL (with the exception of Twitter), will be the only way we will engage with you about crime-related matters so, in addition to the way you might have received this ‘newsletter’, I would ask that you sign-up to OWL too so we can maintain contact with you.

For more information about OWL, please read the attached leaflet then sign-up at www.owl.co.uk.

Please accept my thanks in advance for your registration.

Arrests / Court Results / Miscellaneous

Whilst at a flat in Grove Avenue, PC Brooks arrested a male on suspicion of burglary after he attended the address in possession of a mountain bike that checks established had been stolen from a property in Moss Lane.

Two other bikes at the flat were also identified as being stolen from the same property. Thankfully, due to the bikes’ owner providing police with each bike’s frame / serial number, we were able to return the bikes to them. You can register ownership of your bikes at www.bikeregister.com, and electronic items at www.immobilise.com

PC Aziz, PC Brooks, PC Lewis and PC Muzikeviciute have each seized cannabis from individuals stopped in Cuckoo Hill Drive, Pinner Memorial Park, Pinner Village Gardens, and the car park of Montesole Park and Roxbourne Park respectively. These drug seizures have resulted in four Community Resolutions and one cannabis warning being issued. A youth was referred to Harrow Council’s Youth Offending Team.

After watching a transit van being driven slowly along Wakehams Hill, we stopped the vehicle and established that it did not have insurance, subsequently resulting in it being seized under Operation Reclaim.

PC Lewis and PC Muzikeviciute have been dealing with ongoing neighbour disputes in Ellement Close, Tewkesbury Avenue and Whittington Way.

We are aware that there is one male, and a male and female couple loitering and begging outside Sainsbury’s and occasionally elsewhere, claiming to be homeless. We have spoken to all three of them and they have all been referred to partner agencies who have offered benefits and accommodation, which for whatever reason has been wholly or partially declined.

I politely request that rather than give the individuals money that might not be spent on legal forms of sustenance, you instead make a referral or a donation to a homeless charity such as Harrow-based Firm Foundation http://firmfoundation.org.uk/, or Streetlink (https://www.streetlink.org.uk/), to name just two.

Community Engagement

PC Aziz and PCSO O’Brien gave an internet and social media safety talk to the 3rd Pinner Beaver Scouts, which was very well received by the young (and young at heart) minds in attendance.

PCSO O’Brien had an audience with Moss Lane residents who wanted to discuss the two burglaries that occurred in the road.

PC Aziz held a pop-up crime prevention stall outside Marks and Spencer, and PCSO O’Brien held one outside Tesco; both of which provided opportunities to speak to shoppers about distraction thefts, handbag thefts and burglary prevention whilst simultaneously deterring shoplifting offences.

PCSO O’Brien also waited outside the gates of Pinner Wood School to hand parents and pupils alike with Hallowe’en and burglary prevention literature.

As well as meeting the new Rabbi, the team have also been providing reassurance to the Jewish community as they celebrated the High Holy Days.

Of course, we still heavily use Nextdoor and Twitter to promote what we have done, and will be doing.

If you don’t want to join Twitter, but still want to find out what we’ve been doing, you can do so by clicking on this link: https://www.met.police.uk/a/your-area/met/harrow/pinner/ or https://www.met.police.uk/a/your-area/met/harrow/pinner-south/, depending on where in Pinner you reside.

N.B. Please note that Waxwell Lane car park is sadly now permanently closed and awaiting development.

Kind regards,

Lee O’Brien PCSO 7562NW