Police and businesses have joined forces to hold crime reduction and safety events in Basildon town centre. Hundreds of free safety chains to foil purse thieves are to be handed out, bicycles will be security-coded to beat thieves and a Child Safety Day will help to prevent young children from going missing in the busy shopping district.
The events are being organised by the town policing unit, based at Basildon police station, with backing from business leaders. Managers at the Eastgate Centre have donated money to buy 1,000 steel chains which can be attached to purses to foil thieves and pickpockets.
The project was launched before Christmas after a series of incidents in which female thieves followed elderly people from shop to shop to catch them off guard to grab their purses.
In one case a woman in a wheelchair had her purse taken and one of her credit cards was used seven times in 90 minutes to obtain £2,300 worth of goods from town centre shops.
The Eastgate Centre donated cash for 200 chains which were handed out by officers and police community support officers (PCSOs). The project proved so popular that Eastgate management donated money to buy a further 1,000 chains. They will be handed out during crime prevention days on Saturday, March 29 and Saturday, April 12.
The Child Safety Day will be held inside the Eastgate Centre on Saturday April 5th. There will be activities for children, and youngsters will also be given ID wrist bands, showing their parents’ contact numbers, so that they can be quickly reunited if they become separated.
PCSO Danielle Edwards, who is organising the event, said that children often go missing in the shopping centre, especially during busy summer days. “The bands will help us identify ‘lost’ children and get them back to their mums and dads,” she said.
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