Business cards with the web address ‘almoststolen.uk’ on them were left on pub tables where belongings had been left unattended as part of a county wide crime prevention campaign.
In other ‘in your face’ measures to get over their message, police also issued ‘fixed penalty notices’ offering security advice on vehicles they described as “vulnerable”
More than 5,000 crime prevention leaflets, 4,000 security products, 80 PCSOs, 40 officers, 20 cadets, 12 Specials and eight crime prevention officers were involved in the day of action named Operation Oculus.
Superintendent James Sutherland, who led the operation, said: “In 24 hours we security marked several hundred items, tagged 750 bikes with lock advice, registered 326 people on Immobilise.com and 50 to eCops.
“We also carried out over 50 home and shed security surveys, delivered 100 van crime prevention kits, hosted five crime prevention workshops, brought the vulnerability of people’s belongings to their attention and arrested a well-known, outstanding burglary suspect.
“Our hashtag CrimePreventionDay was picked up nationally and internationally with other police forces, charities and public sector organisations raising awareness of crime prevention.”
The day saw six teams, focused on particular crime types, encourage people to protect their homes and belongings with 24 hours of activities across the county.
They marked property, spoke to people about how to protect their belongings and reduce opportunist crime, and sold security products at cost price.
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