POLICE WARNING ABOUT DISTRACTION BURGLARS POLICE are warning householders to be on their guard after two distraction burglaries were carried out on the same day. The first incident happened near How Wood, Park Street, St Albans when two men posing as gardeners tricked their way into a pensioner's home at around 4.30pm on Saturday, July 5. Two men came to the 77-year-old victim's home and claimed to be gardeners who needed access to the back of her property to cut down overhanging trees. They then entered the property and made off with an amount of money. The first suspect is described as a man aged 18 – 25 years old, 5ft 8ins tall, of medium build, with short brown hair approximately three of four inched long, which he wore parted on the right hand side. He was wearing a T-shirt and blue jeans and gave the name “Ray”. The second suspect was a man aged between 18 and 35 years old, about 5ft 10 ins tall and of medium build. He had dark hair and was wearing blue jeans, dark coloured trainers and a white T-shirt which had yellow and red horizontal stripes. It is believed this incident may be connected with a similar burglary, which happened an hour later, at 5.30pm on Saturday, July 5, in the Birchwood area of Hatfield. During this incident, two men claimed they needed access to the victim's home in order to fix a water leak. They entered the property and made off with an amount of cash. The first suspect was described as a man aged around 30 years old, about 5ft 7ins to 5ft 9ins tall, with short dark hair and wearing a stripy top. The second suspect was a man of around 5ft 7 ins to 5ft 9ins tall, with cropped, light-coloured hair. Detective Constable John Phillips said: “We are appealing for anyone to come forward if they have information about either of these crimes. We would also like to speak to anyone who saw men of these descriptions acting suspiciously in the area at the time of the incidents. “If you can help, please call the non-emergency number on 0845 33 00 222. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.” How you can help: • You can help us catch criminals by contacting us as soon as possible. • If you see or suspect anything suspicious, you've had or seen a suspicious caller ring us straight away on 999. • Ring us on 0845 33 00 222 if you have any information about burglars. • If you have any information about those committing crimes you can also ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to give information anonymously. • We'd rather you report it and the activity turns out to be innocent than not reporting it at all. Police have issued the following guidelines to residents to prevent them from becoming a victim of crime: If you are not expecting anyone and you don't recognise them, don't let them into your home. If you can't see who is calling and need to open the door, use your door chain. Stop, Chain, Check - Only release your door chain when you are happy that you know the person. Anyone you don't know, but are expecting, should provide you with relevant identification or give a pre-arranged password before you let them in. Never keep large amounts of cash at home If you ensure that large amounts of money are securely in a bank or building society account and any valuable jewellery is safely and discretely locked away then, even if a criminal cons their way into your home, there is nothing of value for them to steal. Additional Advice for Carers and Neighbours Everyone should be on the look out - report any suspicious activity to police straight away. Take note of vehicle registration numbers and a description of any possible offenders. Call 999 if you suspect a crime is in progress. If a friend or relative lives in an area where there are a large number of elderly people, contact their local Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) who could approach Trading Standards with a view to setting up a 'No cold calling' zone. Call 0845 33 00 222 or log onto the Constabulary's website: www.herts.police.uk for more information. If you care for an elderly person or relative it may be wise to arrange to be with them when they have an appointment. You can help check their credentials and keep an eye on them when they are inside the home but it may also help the person you care for to be less likely to answer the door to a stranger when you are not around. Water Board Modus Operandi The most often used excuse is for a bogus caller to say they are from the ‘water board' but Three Valleys Water, the providers for the whole of Hertfordshire say that it is very unlikely that their staff would ever need to cold call. If anyone knocks on your door saying that they are from the water board; be alert. Three Valleys Water Managing Director, Andy Smith, said: “We remind all our customers not to open the door if they are not expecting a representative from Three Valleys Water. “If the caller has not made an appointment, ask them to wait outside and contact Three Valleys Water on 0845 782 3333 to confirm their identity – genuine callers will not mind waiting. Three Valleys Water staff wear uniforms bearing the company logo and will show an identity card at the door. “In an emergency, such as a burst pipe, engineers or staff from Three Valleys Water do not need to come into your home.” July 2008