West Midlands Police launch new website to encourage young people to protect their valuables
Tuesday, 13 January, 2009
WEST Midlands Police have launched a new website, www.keepitsafe.biz , to encourage young people to think about how they can keep themselves from becoming victims of robbery.
The New Year can be a profitable time for opportunistic robbers, who will be on the look-out for expensive gifts, particularly mp3 players, hand-held game stations, mobile phones and other expensive electronic items.
Pupils in particular, though the public in general, are urged to keep expensive valuables well hidden when they are out and about, especially while on or waiting for public transport or while travelling / walking to and from school and work.
www.keepitsafe.biz is full of fun and interactive ways to communicate safety tips to viewers. To help promote the site officers will be distributing 'Keep it Safe' comics in secondary schools and on public transport across the region.
The front page of the comic contains a cartoon strip of two pupils who become victims of personal robbery. Inside the comic is a 'top 10' list of ways to keep safe and prevent becoming a victim of personal robbery and a competition to win an IPOD.
Chief Inspector Mark Payne, from West Midlands Police, said: "By following simple crime prevention measures people can help to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of crime at the start of the New Year.
"The best plan is not to take new Christmas presents or expensive items to school in the first place but to keep them safely at home. However, we know that lots of parents encourage their children to carry a mobile phone at all times so they can be readily contacted. In these cases, our advice is to keep those phones well hidden and try to use them only when absolutely necessary and in as safe and secure a place as possible.
"We are working hard to buck the seasonal upward trend in robbery normally seen in January but we would still urge members of the public to continue to protect their valuables at all times."
A poster campaign urging members of the public to 'keep valuable and presents out of sight' has also been launched across shopping malls, police stations, community centres and the West Midlands Police Facebook site.
