CCTV to combat distraction thefts

Date: 13/12/2006
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BOGUS callers out to rob elderly people in west Suffolk could well find themselves captured on camera in future as police unveiled their latest weapon to beat the crime.

Suffolk Constabulary is one of the first forces to launch a new initiative using hidden cameras in the homes of vulnerable elderly people to protect them from distraction burglars who trick their way in.

Bob Taylor, partnership manager for Suffolk Police, showed a demonstration of the technique staged by police officers, using a camera with an aperture no bigger than the LED light on a car key.

Mr Taylor said: "We are trying to come up with a new way of fighting this crime. On thing which worries us is that vulnerable adults feel safer when they have their cash at home and with closures of post offices you will have even more older people keeping their cash at home and making even better targets for these offenders.

"These are tiny cameras which can easily be concealed, but produce high quality images. It will be like Candid Camera, they won't know where they are being recorded, and I think it could prove a very useful tool. We want to create a doubt in their minds which could lead them to go elsewhere rather than come to Suffolk."

The camera produces images clear enough to identify criminals and it could be adapted to provide sound as well if required.

The demonstration showed a woman coming to the door, the woman inside following her out of the building and a third person going in to steal from her handbag.

Mr Taylor said there had been 31 offences in Suffolk so far this year and offenders travelled significant distances to commit such crimes.

Bogus callers have been a constant problem in Haverhill, Newmarket and surrounding villages over recent years, often posing as "water board" or "gas board" officials. One offender duped elderly residents out of thousands of pounds last year, including victims at Mildenhall and Wickhambrook, near Haverhill.

Mr Taylor said the camera equipment could be set up in areas where elderly people had been targeted in the past or where it was feared they could be in the future.

It was hoped to let the public know that this new tool was available to beat such crimes and also to encourage criminals to avoid the area.

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