Deb Thurgood
Hello again everyone
I hope you are having a good week. I wanted to acknowledge the increased reporting we are seeing from the Cambridge community. It really helps us to get a true picture of the level and nature of offending when suspicious behaviour, thefts, burglaries, family harm and more are being accurately reported as they occur.
When it comes to the lower-level thefts, prevention is even better than reporting, however. One example is that we continue to see a stream of complaints from people being ripped off when buying items off Facebook Marketplace. You pay your money, and the item never arrives in the post.
In most cases, the item never really existed, and the image used may simply have been obtained from the Internet. The seller is a fraudster out to take your money and run. The hard lesson to learn is that any moderately high value item should be collected in person and cash paid only on pickup. Even when pickup is seemingly arranged, a seller may still come up with last minute excuses as to why it cannot occur and why they need you to pay them so they can courier or post the item. If you cannot afford to lose the money, don’t take the risk and buy elsewhere. Trade Me for example offers greater security and traceability around transactions, seller behaviours and history.
If you experience a retail theft, please contact Police immediately on 111 and provide full details of all offenders and any vehicles involved. We are a lot more likely to locate offenders and gather strong evidence of the commission of the crime if we can do so when they are still in the local area. This also prevents further harm to other local businesses.
When it comes to reporting, you can call 111 if offending is in progress, 105 if it is a historic matter or visit our station front counter. Please remember that if you choose to come into the station, it is a requirement that you scan in, (correctly) wear a facemask, hand sanitise and follow social distancing guidelines.
If you do not want to follow these rules or are unable to wear a mask, you will need to either use the intercom located to the right of the station front door, or ring 105. This is clearly noted at the station entrance.
