Crime Alert for the residents of Southport and Ainsdale Ward from Merseyside Police

A message from your Community Policing Team

We are appealing for information to help identify the person/persons responsible for multiple incidents of criminal damage to cars in the Sussex Road/Norwood Road area of Kew and surrounding Southport area.

A number of incidents have been reported to the police, while some others have been posted on social media but not reported. Over coming duties, officers from the Local Policing Team based at Southport Police Station will be out in plain clothes and unmarked cars in addition to normal duties, in attempts to catch those responsible.

It is important that all incidents of this type are reported to the police, in order to help us put patrols in the right places at the right times. Not reporting to the police also means crime statistics for the area will be inaccurate.

The harsh reality is that, often, these types of crimes go unwitnessed and if there is no CCTV of evidential value, we are left with nothing to investigate. This is when victims are given a crime number for their insurance, because there is nothing to investigate. We understand how frustrating this is. That is why we are appealing for anyone with any information as to who is responsible to report it to us or to Crimestoppers on ‪0800 555 111‬ or at https://crowd.in/wqBfnS You can report to Crimestoppers anonymously and may even receive a reward of up to £1000.

Should you witness anyone in the act of causing criminal damage to cars or any other crime where the offender(s) is present, dial 999 straight away.

For incidents where damage is found at a later date, such as in the morning, report this via 101 or, if 101 is busy, you can report via the social media methods listed below.

To reduce the risk of damage to your own car, park off road if possible. If you have gates but don’t normally close them, consider this and even locking the gates with a chain or cycle lock. Pathway alarms are available from hardware stores, which will send an alert if someone walks onto your driveway. Make sure security lighting is working and consider adding a doorbell camera.

Please help us to be in the right places at the right times by reporting all crimes through the correct channels.