Wednesday 10 August 2011

Community Message

[Message in response to disorder in London]

Dear residents and businesses of the Aylesbury Vale,

I wish to send out a message to all of you regarding the disorder in London, and how locally we are responding to this. As a force and local area we are supporting the Metropolitan Police with public order teams, using wherever possible officers on rest days so this does not impact on the service we are providing you on a daily basis.

Thames Valley Police has taken action to address the concerns amongst the public and businesses within Aylesbury Vale and across the force regarding the ongoing disorder in London. There is understandable concern about any escalation in violence and we have ensured that locally there will be an increased high visibility policing presence, with additional resources deployed to provide reassurance to businesses and the community. This increased presence should not cause any concern as the intention is to provide reassurance. As a force we have ensured that there is an embargo on all annual leave and have dedicated specialist force resources available to support police areas should any further assistance be necessary across the Thames Valley.

As always, we rely on the support of the public to do our jobs effectively, we would ask the community to work with us and provide us with any information about groups gathering or any suspicious behaviour so that we can respond to any possible disorder quickly.

Thames Valley Police has placed crime prevention advice for businesses and the public on the force website at www.thamesvalley.police.uk

The advice encourages businesses to ensure staff report any suspicious activity to police, ensure regular checks of buildings and surrounding areas are conducted, remove loose objects that could be used as missiles, make sure all service doors are kept locked and secure when not in use, ensure CCTV systems are fully operational, consider removing high value goods from display windows overnight, keep as little cash as possible in the building overnight.

Landlords and residents should ensure that anyone living above commercial premises are aware of risks and ensure that all fire alarms, smoke alarm and fire escapes are fully functional.  Petrol stations are being advised not to sell petrol in small containers. In the event of an emergency call 999.

The advice being issued by Thames Valley Police is a precautionary measure. We are doing everything possible to work with communities to ensure that disorder does not spread within the Thames Valley area. To receive regular updates follow us on Twitter @ TVP_Aylesbury

Regards,

Omar Abu-Rish
Neighbourhood Inspector Aylesbury