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Kevan introduced our Guest Speaker for the evening, Colin Stiff, Colin is a Crime Reduction Officer (CRO) employed by Essex Police, as this is a civilian post and he has no more power of arrest than any other citizen. Essex has six divisions including Stanstead Airport which is funded by BAA. Each of these divisions has its own CRO. Colin began his talk by posing a few questions relating to dictionary definitions for those gathered, for example one definition of a crime is a wicked act, which is still statute.
Colin reported on the success of the Neighbourhood Action Panel (NAP’s) which are community based groups and include various organisations such as local councils and residents groups working in partnership with the Police in reducing crime.
Colin quoted some interesting statistics during his talk, most worrying of these related to distraction burglaries, or bogus caller crimes. It is thought that only one in four crimes are recorded, but it is feared the percentage of unreported crimes falling into this category is much higher as the victims, often elderly or vulnerable are reluctant to report them as they feel ashamed to have been conned. Colin also brought along a selection of truncheons old and new giving an interesting potted history of how these have changed over the years. Colin was thanked for coming along and giving an interesting and informative talk
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