Horsell hit by burglaries

May 20, 2010 — simonashall

The Surrey Ad is carrying a story highlighting the fact that residents along Horsell Moor have been hit by a series of burglaries and thefts from vehicles. I met Josh Parish, the Horsell beat officer, at the May Fayre and his team is doing a great job to target offenders and get results in the courts.

But he can’t win them all and occasionally the law is stacked in the favour of the criminals. We had a similar thing in Grange Road last year and these people tend to work a patch, looking for soft targets like open windows and unlocked cars. Don’t let yourself become a victim – make it not worth their while by taking all the simple security measures.

You’ll not only thank youself but Josh will thank you too because it’s his job to keep the crime figures down and one spate of thefts can damage months of hard work.

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Visit from the police

November 27, 2009 — admin
We're lucky to have PC Josh Parish in Horsel

We're lucky to have PC Josh Parish in Horsell

No, not like that - sorry to disappoint. PC Josh Parish knocked on my door about half an hour ago while I was emptying the dishwasher (good job I didn’t have the meat cleaver in my hand when I opened the door) and just wanted to pass across details of the Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team in Horsell, which is basically him and PCSO Kimberley Muir.

I’d be stretching it a bit if I said that I regularly see Josh patrolling these parts but then I’m not here all the time and I know from my experience elsewhere that Surrey Police faces a struggle against budgetary constraints to provide the presence they’d ideally like. Josh and Kimberley can’t be everywhere all the time and they do a very good job for the village – attending HRA meetings when they can, working with councillors and making an effort to communicate with residents to get to the heart of problems before they get out of control.

Around Grange Road, I have to say that we have almost no trouble at all but I’m told that there have been a couple of burglaries in the area of late, which given the time of year and the nature of the area is not hugely surprising. It’s good advice to residents across Horsell as the nights draw in – make sure your windows are closed and preferrably locked, that gates are secured and valuable goods not left in sight. Use your alarm if you have one and if you don’t have one think about it -  we paid £600 for ours a year ago and while it’s not a small sum, you’ll gladly pay it to get your sentimental items back if you fall victim to these people.

Burglars are often real professionals and they can sweep through a house, pick out the valuable, re-sellable items and get out again in under 10 minutes before your neighbours are even aware they have arrived. The vast majority are highly opportunistic and attracted by open windows, doors, loosely secured entry points and obvious means of easy escape. Don’t get scared; get secured and do everything you can to make your house a risky proposition for them.

I’m grateful to Josh for dropping round to point out an open window on our out-house – while there’s nothing of value in there anyway because it’s unsecure even with the window closed, I’ll be closing it tomorrow so it doesn’t give any unwelcome observers an invitation to visit that they don’t deserve.

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