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Young people to become Fearless in fighting crime

Young people in Hertfordshire are being urged to be fearless in the fight against crime as crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers launches its new service for young people.

Fearless is the new youth brand that introduces young people to the service provided by Crimestoppers. It consists of the website, fearless.org, where young people can get information about crimes that affect them and also gives them the opportunity to pass on information about crime anonymously.

Speaking at the site's launch in London, Matt Wilk, Head of Youth at Crimestoppers, said: "Young people are one of the most important audiences for Crimestoppers to communicate with, but they haven't always understood or been willing to interact with the charity. One of the key reasons for re-launching Crimestoppers for young people is to empower them to be 'fearless' in passing on information about crime anonymously, safe in the knowledge that their identity will never be revealed and they will never have to speak to the police.

"We want to reassure young people that information they give us about crimes is taken seriously; everyday 20 people are arrested and charged as a result of information given to Crimestoppers which proves our service is effective in fighting crime. It's vital that everyone realises that they can play an important role in helping make their communities better places to live."

Gary Trowsdale, Managing Director of the Damilola Taylor Trust said: "The Damilola Taylor Trust recognises Crimestoppers as one of the most significant independent resources available to young people to help protect them individually and also provide them an option to help them protect their local community. We feel that all organisations such as the DTT who are engaged in the process of bringing positive change to local communities so that they can be safer environments for young people should engage with Crimestoppers interactively.

"This new project is bright and original and something young people can identify with. We cannot allow the feral minority who hide behind the invisible cloak of silence to threaten our local communities, so promoting positive options like this is very important."

Murder of Gary Bennett

Hertfordshire Crimestoppers have offered a reward of up to £1000 for information leading to the arrest and charge of the person responsible for the murder of gentle giant Gary Bennett.

Forty-six-year old Gary was found dead with severe head injuries by members of the public in parkland near a disused kiosk, adjacent to a car park on Dagger Lane in Aldenham Country Park, Elstree, at approximately 8.50am on Wednesday, February 24.

Gary, who lived with his mother in Little Oxhey Lane, South Oxhey, is described as a white man of large build, approximately 6ft tall with short dark hair. He was found wearing a yellow high visibility jacket, with grey cargo bottoms and black boots.

It is believed that Gary was attacked at some point between 5am and 8.50am and police are keen to track his movements between these times.

Police believe the motive for the murder could be the theft of one or two of Gary’s chunky, gold neck chains and his brown leather wallet, which were missing from his body when he was found.

Police have also released an artist’s impression of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the enquiry. The man, who was wearing a high visibility jacket, was seen at 5.45am leaving Aldenham Country Park via the pedestrian ‘kissing gate’ that leads onto Dagger Lane on the morning of Gary’s death.

The artist’s impression and a picture of a gold neck chain, similar to the chains believed to be stolen from Gary, can be found by visiting the Constabulary website by clicking here.

Crimestoppers is a separate organisation from the police and all calls are dealt with anonymously.

Peter Camilletti, Chairman of the Hertfordshire Crimestoppers Board, said: “We are pleased to be working with Hertfordshire Constabulary to help solve this awful crime and I would ask people to make contact by dialling 0800 555 111.
“I would like to stress that there is no chance you will be identified. There will be no ramifications as there is no chance you will be identified. Your information about Gary’s killer or last movement could really make a difference.”

Hertfordshire Crimestoppers offer Reward to catch Blue Badge Thief

Hare Coursing

What is Hare Coursing?

Hare Coursing is an illegal pursuit, under the Hunting Act of 2004. It involves groups of people with dogs, usually Lurcher type dogs gathering on farmland. They do not have the Farmers permission but even if they did it is still illegal. Using beaters they then put up hares to run in front of the dogs, the winner is the dog making the kill. These are wild Hares who live in our countryside.

Many Hares can be killed during a Course. The people who run these events have no respect for the law and the animals they kill.

Do not approach them, just collect as much information as you can, location, car registrations, number of people present and phone the Police or to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Don't get caught out!

Crimestoppers Scams
Crimestoppers has received reports of a number of scams in which people claim to be representing the charity. Below are details of these scams. If have been a victim or know of any other scam (including ones involving Crimestoppers), you can report this to Action Fraud.

Crimestoppers email scam
A number of individuals have received emails claiming to be from Crime Stoppers discussing a credit/debit card scam. [February 2010]

The email states that Crime Stoppers will be depositing £10,000 into the bank accounts of individuals and asks for confirmation of bank account details. This is not genuine; Crimestoppers has and will never send emails to individuals asking for bank account details.

One such email claiming to be from a Neil Gibson states that the recipient's credit/debit card details had previously been obtained by fraudsters.

The email says that Crime Stoppers is offering £10,000 compensation to those effected. The email requests that the recipient reply with their name, address, date of birth, phone number and bank account details. It says that these details are needed to pay the compensation money.

If you receive this or a similar email, please do not respond to it. Never provide your bank account details to anyone by email, no matter where they claim to be from.

This incident is currently being investigated.

Read more about phisting scams.

Crimestoppers diary scam
There have been reports of a caller posing to be working on behalf of the charity Crimestoppers, canvassing financial support for Crimestoppers diaries. This is not genuine, so please ignore any such callers. [May 2008]

In one reported incident, the caller claimed to be working for Regents Press on behalf of Crimestoppers. He asked the victim to support the Crimestoppers diary for the forthcoming year by buying a message in it for £149.

The victim queried the caller and asked for a telephone number, which the caller would not reveal. The victim became suspicious and the caller subsequently hung-up the phone.

This incident is currently being investigated.

These callers are not genuine. Crimestoppers has no knowledge of this product and would urge anyone who receives a call from these people to ignore them. Do not part with any money as it wil not go to the charity.

Read our crime prevention advice about how to deal with bogus callers

Fraudulent Phone Call Warning

Officers from Serious and Organised Crime are renewing an appeal after a number of incidents of suspected fraud in the county.

The team are currently investigating a number of incidents whereby a man purporting to be a police officer investigating a fraud calls an elderly resident and asks them to provide their bank details, including Personal Identification Numbers (PIN).

In one day alone six calls of this nature were reported to the constabulary from people in Borehamwood, Kings Langley and Rickmansworth.

In five of these incidents the residents suspected the call was not legitimate and did not pass on their details to the caller. However, in one case in Borehamwood the resident gave their details and a large amount of money is believed to have been taken from their account.

A police spokesman said: "We are investigating in excess of 50 similar incidents which we believe are linked. We believe this is an issue which is not exclusive to Hertfordshire as similar offences are being investigated in other areas of the country.

"In the majority of cases the attempts to obtain bank details have been unsuccessful. However I am very keen to prevent further victims. A police officer would never ask for bank details so, if you have a call of this nature, do not give any personal details to the caller and call police as soon as possible.

"Please pass this message on to your friends and relatives and if you have had a similar phone calls to contact police as soon as possible on the non-emergency number 0845 3300222."

If you know who is committing these offences and cannot talk to the police then call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. We will not ask for your name, simply what you know.

To read more about fraud nationally click here

Robber Convicted After Call to Crimestoppers Following Appeal in Local Press

A robber, who brandished an imitation handgun at staff at BP Express in Watling Street, was jailed for three years at St Albans Crown Court on 7th January.

The court heard that staff at the store had refused to sell alcohol to the accused because it was after midnight.

After being rebuffed three times, he left the store but came back with a stocking over his head, brandishing an imitation handgun.

He took four bottles of wine and pointed the gun at one of the assistants who tried to intervene before making off.

Staff recognised him because he was still wearing the same clothes as the first time he entered the shop. The case was solved when detectives released a CCTV still from the offence to the press. Local media published the picture and a member of the public called Crimestoppers anonymously to identify him.

Sentencing him the Judge said the accused had caused "serious distress" to the staff in the store because he was "drunk and desperate for alcohol".

A police spokesman said said: "This offender was brought to justice after the picture was picked up and published by the local media. We would really like to thank them for assisting us in this way - and of course we would also like to thank the member of the public for coming forward."

An excellent year from Crimestoppers in Hertfordshire.

Between April - November 2009, Crimestoppers passed over 624 pieces of 'actionable intelligence' to Hertfordshire Constabulary.

This is information which can help Herts Police form an investigation and take action against criminals.

Some of the information we receive may be a bit vague and without a named person or address to work on. However, these will still be logged and may well turn into something useful at a later date. All information passed to Hertfordshire Constabulary is corroborated to ensure its validity.

Of the information which was followed up, 71 people were arrested and charged so far with over 100 offences. These range from drug dealing to robbery, burglary, theft, and wanted people. During searches over £4,500 worth of stolen property and drugs with a street value of nearly £0.6m were recovered.

This is what the community of Hertfordshire, the local media, Hertfordshire Constabulary and Crimestoppers have achieved to make our county a better place to live, work and visit, as well as one of the safest places in the country.

Remember that anyone who calls Crimestoppers will never be asked their name or any other information which might identify them. Our freephone number is 0800 555 111. You can call it any time of day or night, even on Christmas Day, and one of our call handlers will be happy to take your information. Nobody will ever find out who made the call. Our call handlers do not have the means to trace the call. The number will not appear on your itemised bill. Remember to delete the number from your mobile phone if you call from it and are worried about someone else seeing it.

We will publish end of year statistics sometime in May 2010.

THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US AT CRIMESTOPPERS.

Herts Police Tells Residents To Avoid Boiler Room Scam

Residents across Hertfordshire are being told to be on their guard against a 'Boiler Room' scam to prevent themselves from becoming a victim of a fraud.

Detectives from Hertfordshire Constabulary's Fraud Squad want to help people to avoid falling for the scams, which typically begin over the telephone, where someone will receive a call and is offered to buy shares in a company at a discounted price.

In reality, the company is based outside the UK, and is employed to promote the shares of another company. The salespeople use high pressure tactics, often calling people several times a week in order to get them to buy shares.

Once the caller agrees to buy the shares, they are first asked to send a large quantity of money to release the shares, which are either worthless or of little value.

Detective Constable Jim Frost of the Fraud Squad said: "It really is a case of if it sounds too good to be true, then it really is. These unscrupulous people usually prey on the elderly or vulnerable, spend large amounts of time on the phone, pressuring them to buy worthless shares. Please don't fall for it."

DC Frost continued: "It is highly unlikely someone will call with a genuine opportunity to sell you shares - if you're interested in using these services please go out and seek them yourself. These fraudsters might direct you to a glossy website, which may seem genuine - but you can validate their claims by logging on the Financial Services Authority's website and checking out whether the company you are being offered shares in actually exists. "

If you feel you have been a victim of a fraud, please call the Fraud Squad immediately on the non-emergency number 0845 33 00 222. Alternatively call Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111

Crimestoppers Trust is a Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No. 5382856. Registered Charity No. 1108687 (England) and SC037960 (Scotland). Registered Office: Apollo House, 66A London Road, Morden, Surrey, SM4 5BE