In the know

Debbie Haylor, a well-respected PCSO for the borough of Runnymede, has been recognised by the Force with a Victim Care Award for her contribution to the local community. Some of the great work Debbie has been involved with included dealing with persistent anti-social behaviour which was affecting the welfare of local residents. Debbie went above and beyond to work with partner agencies to get the issue solved and give proper support to those affected. Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s) are truly invaluable in providing support to the local community.

We have continued to patrol the areas in which known poaching is occurring into the night. This has been amongst traversing the County ensuring domestic violence victims are safe, and ensuring that the community see us out and about within the towns and villages of our borough. If you see anyone out with equipment, such as lamps, nets and snares do let us know via our online reporting system where there are contact centre operatives monitoring 24 hours a day. Whilst we can't always be there, this information helps us target our response and coordinate our approach.

Officers attended Pine Court, Addlestone during the early hours of Monday (13 March) and forensically seized a white Ford van containing a stolen BMW motorcycle which had tracked to the location.

Officers from the Neighbourhood Patrol Team (NPT) arrested a male on Egham High Street following multiple reports from members of the public regarding his aggressive and inappropriate behaviour towards other people including a number of female college students.

We are investigating following complaints about overnight vehicle interference in the Egham Hythe area. 
 

Your mobile phone, coins for the car park, sunglasses, packs of medication or other items that can earn quick cash are irresistible to the opportunist thief. Remember, the cost of replacing a window is often much more than that of what’s stolen. Never leave wallets, handbags, purses and credit cards in an unattended vehicle. Get into the habit of locking your vehicle. If your vehicle has wing mirrors that fold in automatically when locked, make sure you lock it properly. Criminal gangs are looking for vehicles like these where the wing mirrors are still out because it is clear to them that the vehicle has been left unlocked.

Hughie Smith, 49, from Fernlands Close, Chertsey is facing the next 8 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to a number of fraud offences at Hove Crown Court on Friday, 3 March. This sentencing comes as a result of joint working between Surrey and Sussex police forces as well as Trading Standards. Smith approached an elderly couple in Knaphill in 2015 offering to fix a brick wall in their front garden. This led to him intimidating them to having more work done around their property that they did not need charging them obscene amounts of money for poor quality work. The money taken from this one couple built up to £180,000 with Smith continuing to scam his victims with follow up calls which led to their son becoming suspicious and calling the police. Further investigation revealed this to be part of a large scale ‘rogue trader’ style fraud operating across Surrey and Sussex with Smith at its head. Officer in charge, Detective Constable Barnard, said: “This is a great result following a very thorough investigation carried out in partnership with Sussex Police and Trading Standards. The lengthy prison sentence demonstrates that this sort of criminal behaviour will not be tolerated and should act as a deterrent to others who believe they can con vulnerable people out of huge sums of money and get away with it.”

14 March marked the 19 year anniversary of the death of Surrey Police officer PC Richard Gunn who was sadly killed on duty whilst responding to an emergency call. We will never forget the sacrifice and dedication of all of our officers who have lost their lives while on duty. In his memory, the PC Gunn Funn Runn has been established to raise money for police charities with all the money raised this year going to National Police Memorial Day, which commemorates all police officers in the United Kingdom who have died or been killed on duty. The run will be taking place on Sunday 14 May 2023 and will start at Surrey Police Headquarters, Mount Browne.

Our Chief Constable Gavin Stephens is sadly preparing to leave us for an exciting new role. Over the last 26 years, Gavin has held every rank in the force and has worked in a multitude of exciting roles including as a PC, a detective, the head of the serious and organised crime unit, and head of professional standards. Gavin’s long and varied career is a perfect example of how at Surrey Police we encourage our colleagues to try their hand at all sorts of different roles, find out what their passion is and build a career for themselves which is truly unlike any other.

“There is absolutely no place for this kind of behaviour in policing and it needs to be stamped out.” Surrey’s Assistant Chief Constable Alison Barlow responds to the national report on police violence against women and girls (VAWG). In Surrey, during the timeframe, there were 11 conduct cases involving VAWG with allegations ranging from the use of inappropriate language to controlling behaviour, assault, and domestic abuse. Of these, two remain ongoing but nine have concluded with seven (77%) resulting in sanctions – almost half of which barred those individuals from working in policing again. You can read our full response to the report here - https://www.surrey.police.uk/news/surrey/news/2023/03/response-to-national-report-on-police-violence-against-women-and-girls/

To mark National Careers Week, we spoke to colleagues who have enjoyed several different roles within the Force to see what their careers at Surrey Police have looked like so far: one Cyber Crime Officer for both Surrey and Sussex Police, supporting individuals and businesses to stay safe and feel safe online and using technology, said there first experience with Surrey Police was in high school as a civilian actor to help train special constables. Then in 2018 they joined as a member of staff working in IT and in 2021, became a data analyst. They have also been a volunteer cadet leader since 2021. Their favourite part of working for Surrey Police is being able to work with such inspirational people motivated by public service. Knowing the work they do can help keep someone stay safe means the world to them and their colleagues. A Communications Officer said they first joined Surrey Police in March 2016 as an assistant on the HR Desk and was in that role for almost a year and a half when they saw an internal role advertised for a 6-month secondment within the communications team. They joined the communications team in September 2017.  A Team Leader in the Victim and Witness Care Unit said they first joined Surrey Police in 2017 as a communications assistant before moving to the Victim and Witness Care Unit in 2019 as they wanted a slightly more front-line role helping people. The Victim and Witness Care Unit support people who are victims of crime, keeping them informed of updates, as well as supporting witnesses through the court process. 


 

Drones help us to use our resources more effectively, enhance the safety of the public, provide good quality evidence to assist in the apprehension and prosecution of offenders, enhance joint working with other Emergency Services, and more. We use drones for a variety of reasons including: searching for missing people and suspects; assisting with investigations into Road Traffic Collisions, Major Crime and Industrial Accident investigation; supporting event planning and management; providing situational awareness to officers and commanders in a variety of spontaneous and pre-planned policing situations.


 

This weekend sees the launch of Operation Makesafe, a national police initiative focused on empowering businesses and industries to tackle child exploitation through increased awareness and training. The campaign works within business sectors – hotels, licensed premises (pubs and restaurants) and the taxi industry – to make them aware of the early warning signs of both Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE).