CSP

Community Safety Plus CIC

Proudly sponsored by

WB Motor Services Huddersfield

West Yorkshire

Community Safety Plus CIC www.csplusonline.co.uk

About us

Community Safety Plus (CSPlus) CIC was

founded to give support to community groups

and individuals. We offer free advertisement to

your community group while highlighting issues

that affect all communities. We also want to

highlight success stories so if you have any

ideas and want to share them with like mined

people then don't hesitate to contact us.

We also offer training and full time and part time employment to

individuals whether this is working from our office or from home. We give

everyone a chance and give our staff the opportunity to work flexible

hours that suit their lifestyle. If you are looking to get involved and

believe you can gain support for our company then get in touch today.


What is a Community Interest Company (CICs)?

Community Interest Companies (CICS) are

limited companies, with special additional

features, created for the use of people who

want to conduct a business or other activity

for community benefit, and not purely for

private advantage. This is achieved by a

"community interest test" and "asset lock",

which ensure that the CIC is established for

community purposes and the assets and profits are dedicated to these

purposes. Registration of a company as a CIC has to be approved by

the Regulator who also has a continuing monitoring and enforcement

role.


Crime Prevention

It has often been said, a man‟s home is his sanctuary, a place of recuperation enjoyable

past times. However, once this sanctuary has been broken, it becomes almost untenable to

remain, people feel violated within their own home and decide they require a move away

just to feel safe again. Yet this is a dilemma that many victims of crime within the home face

on a daily basis. So the question remains, „what can we do to make our homes more

secure so we do not fall victims to crime ourselves?

The Metropolitan Police Service offers many guidelines and tips to assist in crime

prevention within the home. With the further development of current technology it has

become even more difficult to protect one‟s home with the most flagrant of crime associated

with the home being burglary. Burglary victims often wonder why the burglar picked on

their house. To find out you need to consider how a burglar‟s mind actually works.

Burglary, on the whole, is an opportunist crime. A burglar will select his target because it

offers him the best opportunity to carry out his crime undetected and with the fewest number

of obstacles in his way. A building that presents itself as unoccupied and insecure is far

more likely to be targeted than one which is properly secured:

side gates open

accessible windows open

ladders left out, allowing access to otherwise inaccessible windows

garden tools available to force entry

untrimmed hedges or high fences preventing natural surveillance

Each of these makes access to the building far simpler and is an indication to the

prospective burglar that it's worth a second look. Residents of multi occupancy dwellings or

flats should be mindful not to grant entry to people via an entry phone system, if they do not

know them, and to be cautious of people seeking to 'tailgate' them into buildings.

One of the easiest ways for a burglar to spot if there are people within a property comes

from the simplest of observations, milk bottles or parcels on the doorstep; newspapers and

mail in the letter box; unlit houses after dark and all windows shut in very hot weather.

These are signs telling the burglar that he is unlikely to be disturbed in the course of his

work.

Naturally, circumstances may arise when such situations may be unavoidable. If we can take

measures that tell the burglar


that this building is too difficult or too risky a target, he will hopefully move on.

Many homeowners believe it is safe to leave a spare key lying around in case of

emergencies. The simple truth is never leave a spare key concealed anywhere near the

front door - burglars know all the hiding places. Prevent letterbox burglaries by storing keys

away from the front door. Do not label your house keys in case you lose them and they fall

into the wrong hands.

There are also other simple guidelines to help minimize the chances of being a victim of

burglary. Remove temptation where possible; try to keep valuables out of sight from

windows. Make it look as though your house is occupied by installing timers which switch

lights or radios on and off automatically; have a neighbour or friend pop round to clear

your letter box or doorstep; encourage a neighbour to park on your drive; if going out after

dark, draw the curtains, leave some lights on and a radio

playing.

Another thing to consider is if you are going away on holiday or

leaving your home for a prolonged period of time.

Cancel the delivery of milk and newspapers; disconnect the

telephone answering machine, or re-word your greeting

message to give the impression that you are only temporarily

unable to answer; enlist the help of a neighbour, friend or

relative to keep a regular eye on your property and keep the

front door clear of deliveries; if you are prepared to leave a key

with a willing neighbour/relative, ask for curtains to be drawn

and lights to be put on at night. If snow is on the ground a few

footprints will make the house appear inhabited; check your insurance policy. Some

insurance policies for contents don't cover you if you are away for more than 30 days; set

your burglar alarm and if you do not have an alarm, consider investing a few pounds in a

dummy alarm box. It may well deter the opportunist thief.

These are all simple things that you would think everyone would consider in the protection of

their property, however it is such simple acts that an opportunist burglar would notice. The

key is to not make your house stand out as a target.

One of the easiest ways for a burglar to spot if there are people within a property comes

from the simplest of observations, milk bottles or parcels on the doorstep; newspapers and

mail in the letter box; unlit houses after dark and all windows shut in very hot weather.

These are signs telling the burglar that he is unlikely to be disturbed in the course of his

work. Naturally, circumstances may arise when such situations may be unavoidable. If we

can take measures that tell the burglar that this building is too difficult or too risky a target,

he will hopefully move on.

Many homeowners believe it is safe to leave a spare key lying around in case of

emergencies. The simple truth is never leave a

spare key concealed anywhere near the front

door - burglars know all the hiding places. Prevent

letterbox burglaries by storing keys away from the

front door. Do not label your house keys in case you

lose them and they fall into the wrong hands.

There are also other simple guidelines to help

minimize the chances of being a victim of burglary.

Remove temptation where possible, try to keep

valuables out of sight from windows. Make it look as

though your house is occupied by installing timers

which switch lights or radios on and off automatically; have a neighbour or friend pop round

to clear your letter box or doorstep; encourage a neighbour to park on your drive; if going out

after dark, draw the curtains, leave some lights on and a radio playing.

It is quite simple. Anti-social behaviour hurts everybody involved, both the perpetrator and the victim. This may sound a strange concept, but often the reasons for members of the public acting out in this way is due to underlying problems in their lives which although may not be forcing them to act in such a manner, carries enough weight for them to be crying out for attention. A cry for help of sorts. It is because of this that we believe it must be stopped early, before too much damage has been done and a positive solution can be found.

Because of that, we rely on early interventions, including police visits and warning letters, as these can nip many problems in the bud before they develop into much more serious issues.


Drink Driving

Although the government has recently embarked upon a much publicised campaign to raise awareness of the legal limit of alcohol that can be consumed if a person wishes to drive, there still remains much confusion over how this correlates to an individual drink.

The UK legal limit for drivers is 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, often referred to as a BAC or blood-alcohol concentration. In US terms this would be expressed as 0.08%. This is alternatively expressed in terms of breath alcohol - 35 µg (micrograms) per 100 ml (which is now the usual official measure in the UK), or alcohol in the urine - 107 mg per 100 ml.

This is often reckoned to be equivalent to two pints of ordinary strength beer which, for a man of average weight, is broadly true, but should not be used as a general rule.

It is impossible to draw an accurate

correlation between the amount of alcohol

consumed and the resulting peak BAC,

and anyone trying to "drink up to the limit"

runs a serious risk of exceeding it.

It is also possible to be charged with

driving or attempting to drive under the

influence of drink or drugs even with a

BAC level is below 80 mg. Such cases are

rare but not unknown. In addition, a BAC level not far below 80 mg is likely to be regarded by

the courts as an aggravating factor if charges are brought for causing an accident.

In 1998, the UK government issued a consultation paper proposing the reduction of the UK

legal limit from 80 mg to 50 mg, but after lengthy deliberations announced in March 2000

that they were not going to proceed with this for the time being, pending a European Union

Review.

So how do the police go about enforcing this limit on road users who are under the

influence? For the police to be able to require a breath test, a driver must have either:

(a) committed a moving traffic offence, e.g. speeding, failing to observe a stop sign, having

a defective light etc.,

(b) have been involved in an accident to which the police were called, or

(c) have given the police grounds to suspect they had consumed alcohol above the legal

limit, e.g.

by driving erratically or walking unsteadily before getting into the car. It is questionable

whether the mere fact of having driven out of a pub car park constitutes reasonable grounds

for suspicion.

Although there have often been calls for the police to be given "unfettered discretion" to

administer breath tests, this has never been implemented. However, in practice the police

interpret the powers above very liberally - and who never exceeds the speed limit by at least

a few mph? It is difficult to conceive of circumstances under which the current law prevents

police from carrying out a breath test where they believe there is any chance of obtaining a

positive result.

Although there are restrictions on police powers to require breath tests, the police are

entitled to stop any vehicle without giving a reason. This allows them to operate anti drink-

driving roadblocks, particularly over the Christmas period.


Anti Social Behaviour

Anti social behaviour (ASB) has become a prominent issue in today‟s society in which almost every member of the community will at some point suffer as a victim. Anti-social behaviour is defined as “virtually any intimidating or threatening activity that scares you or damages your quality of life.” Examples of this include: rowdy, noisy behaviour; 'yobbish' behaviour; vandalism, graffiti and fly-posting; dealing or buying drugs on the street; fly-tipping rubbish; aggressive begging; street drinking or setting off fireworks late at night.

Anti-social behaviour doesn't just make life unpleasant. It holds back the regeneration of disadvantaged areas and creates an environment where more serious crime can take hold. It has a negative effect on many people‟s lives, and we as a community have to be committed

to tackling it to provide positive solutions and negate the effect that this unsavoury attitude from members of the public has on our community. So the question has to be what can we do about such behaviour in order to eradicate it from our lives?

One of the first steps the government took to combat anti-social-behaviour was to introduce the ASBO. An Anti-Social Behaviour Order or ASBO is a civil order made against a person who has been shown, on the balance of evidence, to have engaged in anti-social-behaviour in the United Kingdom and the Republic Of Ireland. The orders, designed originally by Tony Blair in 1998, were designed to be imposed after minor incidents that would not ordinarily warrant prosecution. The orders restrict behaviour in some way, by prohibiting a return to a certain area or shop, or by restricting public behaviour such as swearing or drinking. As the ASBO is a civil order, the defendant has no right to evidence that might disprove the assertions of the plaintiff, though violating an ASBO can incur up to five years imprisonment.

The government have shown a clear dedication to dealing with the issue and have offered the following procedures and measures as a manner of control for ASB.

Individual support orders: These court orders target 10-17 year olds, imposing rules designed to address the problems behind the bad behaviour, and stop that behaviour immediately.

Agreements and contracts: These are formal non-legal agreements, contracts and warnings. We're also ensuring that social tenancy agreements have rules forbidding anti-social activity.

Youth specific interventions: These include youth inclusion programmes that involve teenagers 13 - 16 years old who have already committed crimes, or who are believed to be at risk.

This list is not exhaustive however and various other tools are put in place to assist in the control of ASB. The police in particular have been afforded certain tools and measures to aid them in their mission to limit the impact that such behaviour has on our local communities.

Community Safety Plus CIC

www.csplusonline.co.uk

Follow these top tips:

1. Secure All Doors and Windows.

2. Install Vertical Bolts on Sliding Doors.

3. Indoor Lighting - Use Timers.

4. Outdoor Lighting - Motion Censored Lights.

5. Keep House Keys Safe.

6. Have Some of Your Curtains/Blinds Open

7. Don’t Let People Know When Your Not at Home.

8. Join Your Local Neighbour Hood Watch.

CSP

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