Category: Neighbourhood Watch

Police Forces across England & Wales are using a new system called Single Online Home (SOH). This is a policing portal which allows the public to easily report crimes, incidents and information online.

The police non-emergency phone number 101 remains available if personal contact is required. However, using SOH significantly reduces wait times for those reporting crimes or incidents, or if you simply wish to provide some information to the police. Reporting online via SOH is easy and effective. It has been positively endorsed by a number of Neighbourhood Watch members who have had the opportunity to use it.

The new portal can be found on the home page of the recently updated Sussex Police website www.sussex.police.uk. In addition to the Report area, here you will find a new box “Tell us about …”. There is a drop down from which you can select, for example, “Something you’ve seen or heard”.

We have given you this information as we know that some people are rightly cautious about clicking on links in E-mails. However, there are some shortcut links available as below, which we have tested for you.

If reporting a crime or incident which has occurred in Sussex, SOH is available directly viahttps://sussex.police.uk/contact-us/report-online/. You can scroll further down that page to see other options.

If reporting a crime or incident which has occurred outside of Sussex, SOH is available viahttps://report.police.uk.

If it’s something that you’ve seen or heard the link ishttps://www.sussex.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/soh/something-youve-seen-or-heard/.

SOH should not be used for an emergency – dialling 999 remains the means of contact if there is danger to a person or if a crime is being committed.

All reports submitted via SOH will receive an immediate acknowledgement message. Reports are reviewed in live time, and within 48 hours Sussex Police will provide a personal response from a named staff member.

A lady in the village has received a ‘phone call purporting to be from an officer at Charing Cross Police Station asking if they have a friend, or know of an acquaintance with a certain name.
The lady fearing the call may be a scam put the phone down on the caller before he had finished talking, then, having second thoughts that the call may be genuine rang the Metropolitan Police back asking if the call could possibly be from someone at Charing Cross Police Station only to be told that as the Charing Cross Police Centre was so large they were unable to confirm!
It’s not known of what form the scam may have been had the caller been allowed to finish what he was saying or if it was actually a scam?
Anyone who has received similar calls or may have any other information please contact Hadlow Down Neighbourhood Watch at nhw.hadlowdown.com

Someone is targeting our area with a new ‘phone scam!
The caller says his name is Jack and is ‘phoning from a company called JPG (or similar) regarding insurance cover on a washing machine that has expired,   If the call is allowed to continue you will be asked for payment to renew insurancw cover by giving bank or credit card details.
The non-reply number from which the call is made is 02838190145.

More chainsaws have been stolen from outhouses in Hadlow Down!
This time from a building in School Lane just north of the school.   And another further down the hill.
If you saw anything suspicious while the firework celebrations were taking place on Saturday please advise police on 101 or Hadlow Down Neighbourhood watch nhw@hadlowdown.com for onward report to police.

Power cuts don’t happen very often these days, but if there’s a power cut, have you ever wondered how some people would cope?
The electricity network is built to be resilient but extreme weather, including storms, heavy summer rain and lightning, can affect overhead power lines. The public should stay well clear from power lines, and anyone spotting a damaged power line needs to report it immediately by calling 105. More information about power cuts and reporting faults can be found athttps://www.powercut105.com .  Continue reading “Finding Additional Support in Event of Power Cuts”

The following self explanatory email has been sent to Greg Smith the Sussex Police 101 Contact Handler and it is hoped that we will be able to publish a reply shortly:

Hello Greg
Many thanks for your reply and to the original switchboard operator for her advice when I was trying to make contact on 101 last week.
As the village Neighbourhood Watch coordinator I am extremely concerned about the high number of negative comments that are coming back from members of the community when advising them to ‘phone 101 to report non urgent incidents and suspicions etc.  Words and phrases such as ‘Useless’, ‘Waste of time’, ‘Pointless’, ‘Frustrating’ and ‘Annoying’  are constantly being repeated and often posted on our Social Media pages.  More than a few report that they have been hanging on the line for anything between 30 to 60 minutes to have their call put through.
Is their anything I can tell our members to reassure them that the use of the 101 number is still of value and importance to local policing and that the current problems with reporting incidents using the number will be resolved?
Regards
Eddie Westfield
Hadlow Down Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator