PC Jo Wakelen

As you can see from the crime figures, burglaries have dropped in the Brookmans Park area.

I do, however, urge residents to be vigilant and lock their doors and windows when they are away or out of their properties.

This is the most effective way of reducing any further burglaries.

Theft of motor vehicles has also dropped quite significantly over the past couple of months.

This might be due to the lighter mornings and evenings; the people committing these crimes tend to like to work in the dark when it is harder to be noticed.

The biggest increase is in cases of cloned credit cards.

Many people have contacted us to say that their banks have contacted them regarding attempted withdrawals of large sums of cash in locations all over the world.

This type of crime is investigated through the banks and not by the Neighbourhood Team.

However, should you be paying for items with a credit card, please make every effort not to show the pin number when you are paying and if you do believe this is happening in a particular place, pay with cash or do not use the store.

It is also the time of year when people are having parties and enjoying the summer months.

Recently there has been an increase in calls about rowdy or nuisance behaviour.

Please consider your neighbours when having parties; let them know it's going on as a matter of courtesy.

The crime figures for March to June 2007 are mixtures of different crimes, most notably cloned credit cards.

Crime Figures

The following are the latest crime figures for March 2007 to June 2007.

Crime	Total (last quarter)
Assault	4 (0)
Cloned Credit Cards	15 (0)
Domestic Dispute/violence	3 (5)
Theft from motor vehicle	4 (4)
Theft of motor vehicle	1 (2)
Burglary (dwelling)	3 (7)
Burglary (other)	1 (0)
Damage	2 (0)
Class 'C' Drugs	0 (0)
Deception	0 (0)
Theft Other	2 (4)
Nuisance & rowdy behaviour	9 (0)

Suspect firm

A Brookmans Park resident received an unsolicited letter offering them a huge windfall if they replied giving their bank account details.

Please do not answer these letters. They are a scam set up in order to aquire bank details for possible fraudulent use.

Empowering our communities

Dog owners should ensure that they do not leave their pets in cars during the hot weather. I have not had any cause for concern regarding this in the Brookmans Park area, but if you do see or have any concerns when out and about, please contact both the police and the RSPCA.

In my newsletter, I gave out a mobile number for people to contact me regarding any issues they may have. Unfortunately my mobile has now been recalled by Herts Constabulary. If people do need to contact me, please call 01707 638112. This number comes straight through to the Neighbourhood Teams office.

Traffic issues

The neighbourhood team is continuing to carry out traffic controls in the area and the main problem is speeding. Most drivers were pulled over and given words of advice.

There have been reports that motorbikes have been seen tearing around farmers fields. In one case a farmer had two fields of crops destroyed. If anyone sees this happening please call us on 01707 6638112 or 0845 33 00 222 Jo Wakelen 2460 Neighbourhood Officer Hatfield Ext. 8112.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and incident free summer. WPC Jo Wakelen