Community Crime Prevention Programmes

Neighbourhood Watch

Neighbourhood Watch is a crime prevention and community safety programme for urban areas. It operates as a partnership between An Garda Síochána and the public. It works on the basis that every member of a community can help to improve the quality of life in the area by keeping a look out for neighbours and reporting suspicious activities to the Gardaí.

Neighbourhood watch programmes aim to improve community safety,  prevent crime,  develop Garda and community links, increase public confidence in An Garda Síochána, foster a caring environment for older and vulnerable people and  reduce anti-social behaviour, including graffiti and harassment.

 To set up a scheme in your area, contact your local Garda Station

Community Alert

Community Alert is a community safety programme for rural areas with an emphasis on older and vulnerable people. It operates as a partnership between the community, An Garda Síochána and Muintir na Tíre. It works on the principle of shared responsibility for crime prevention and reduction.  Community Alert programmes aim to foster the process of community development, reduce opportunities for crimes to occur, unite communities in a spirit of neighbourliness and community service and to devise programmes to improve the quality of life for all in rural communities.

There are over 1,250 Community Alert Schemes. To set up a group in your area, contact your local Garda Station or your local the Muintir na Tíre Community Alert Development Officer (Tel: 062-51163 or view a list of Development Officers).

Text Alert

Text Alert enables communities to set up a group to receive alerts advising them of suspicious or criminal activity in their area. As well as ensuring awareness among users of the service, it can also lead to them reporting suspicious activity to Gardaí. Sending the information by text means that it can be disseminated rapidly to a large amount of people in a cost-effective way. Text Alert is a one-way system, and operates on the following principles:

• Member(s) of the public reports incident to the Gardaí (24-hour Garda District -Telephone number which is widely advertised)

• The reporting Garda verifies details and determines that the "Text Alert” system should be utilised

• Garda sends text or e-mail out to each registered "Community Contact” in their Garda District

• Each "Community Contact” forwards the text to their "Community Group” to advise the public to watch out and report any developments

• If the information is received by e-mail the Community Contact may forward the e-mail or convert the content to SMS Text and send to their Community Group.

Campus sites are busy places with large numbers of people going about their daily routines. They form a concentration of a vast range of people from: campus staff, workers, visitors, to the students themselves.

The very nature of a campus, where unfamiliar faces are common and accepted, lends itself to the work of the criminal who can blend in quite easily around halls of residence. For example, it is not unusual to see people carrying backpacks and other items without suspicion.

For students on tight budgets, expensive items are difficult to replace, and it is highly advisable to spend a short time considering how effective measures can be taken to reduce the possibility of theft. The good news is that there are a number of actions you can take to reduce the chance of becoming a victim of crime.

Campus Watch is similar to a residential Neighbourhood Watch scheme in that it is a crime prevention and community safety programme. It operates as a partnership between An Garda Síochána and the Campus occupants. It works on the basis that every member of Campus can help to improve the quality of life on site by keeping a look out for students, staff and visitors, and reporting suspicious activities to the Gardaí.

View the Campus Watch booklet here. 

Mobile Phone Safety

The following practical measures can help in preventing and reducing mobile phone theft:

• Register your mobile phone with your service provider.
• Take careful note of your unique 15 digit mobile phone International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. By pressing *#06# on your phone keypad the IMEI will appear on the screen.
• Enable the PIN Security feature and keep your phone locked at all times.
• When out and about, keep your mobile phone out of public view, be streetwise and always be aware of your surroundings.
• Never leave your mobile phone behind in an unattended vehicle.
• If your mobile phone is lost or stolen, contact your mobile phone service provider immediately to suspend your service and prevent unauthorised calls being made and billed to you. Your provider will block your SIM card and IMEI number to prevent your phone from being used on the mobile network.
• Report the loss or theft to An Garda Síochána, providing identification numbers for your SIM card and IMEI number. This information may assist in the recovery of your mobile phone. 

Advice on bike theft

An Garda Síochána is appealing to cyclists to take extra precautions in keeping their bicycles safe by locking them in the most secure way possible.

Crime Prevention Advice:

• Spend 10% to 20% of the value of your bike on two locks.
• Lock your bike tightly to an immovable object.
• Keep the lock off the ground.
• Take a photo of your bike, note the serial number and email it to yourself so that you have a record of it.
• Lock your bike indoors or in well-lit areas if possible.

Property Marking

Property marking is a process where a physical mark is etched onto a piece of property such as a bike, laptop or tools.

For more information on property marking click here.

Theft of Farm Machinery 

Trailers are the most commonly stolen item of farm machinery.

Facts about Theft of Farm Machinery:

Increased amounts of these thefts occur in Spring and Autumn, which may be related to peak farming activity.

Thefts can occur at all hours and days of the week.

Simple, effective Farm Machinery Theft Prevention Advice:

Access to your property:

• Restrict access to your yard. Install gates and fix them to a sturdy concrete or metal post. Keep the locked. Consider appropriate signage such as “private property”.

Vehicles:

• Lock vehicles. Remove keys from all vehicles and equipment and store in a secure location.

Boundaries:

• Fencing, hedges and walls should be robust, well maintained and checked regularly for breaches.

Alarm/CCTV:

• Consider installing an alarm in vulnerable areas. An Alarm will emit an audible warning and CCTV will provide surveillance on places out of view of the farmhouse.

Lighting:

• Illuminate areas which are overlooked from the dwelling or covered by CCTV.

Outbuildings and property:

• Store your tools and smaller machinery items in a building with enhanced security features close to the farmhouse.
• Photograph machinery and tools. To get an idea of scale have someone stand beside larger items such as quads, trailers. Use a ruler for smaller items.
• Make and keep a register your property, e.g. Make, model, serial number, colour, any unique, unusual features on equipment. keep a detailed record of make, serial number and colour. Consider using the Garda Property App. https://www.garda.ie/en/angardasiochanaapp/
• Mark the property with a uniquely identifiable brand in both obvious and secret locations.
• For firearms storage use a secure firearms cabinet, secured to a solid wall.

Consider joining a Community Alert scheme or starting your own.

Report suspicious activity to local Gardaí immediately. For further information on farmyard security visit our Crime Prevention page under www.garda.ie.

Farm Safety

An Garda Síochána and Agrikids encourage safe  practices on farms.

This #SpeakUp for #FarmSafety video is calling on the public to help reduce farm accidents and fatalities on Irish farms.

iTunes Card Scam

Gardaí seek to warn the public, in particular vulnerable older people, about a scam tricking them into purchasing iTunes gift cards.

In recent weeks, a number of people have fallen victim to this scam. In counties Wicklow and Tipperary two individuals fell victim to the scam and purchased in excess of €1,000 of vouchers. In Co. Galway another victim was scammed out of €2,200. In Dublin, one person attempted to purchase €1,000 in iTunes gift cards at a supermarket, before a member of staff became suspicious and contacted Gardaí.

The scam works as follows: The victim will receive a phone call or voicemail from the scammer, claiming to be a representative of an organisation which they claim the victim owes money. Upon contact with the victim, the scammers will insist immediate payment is required, suggesting the payment needs to be made by purchasing iTunes gift cards from a retailer. In some of these cases, victims are told they are facing criminal charges. Once the victim has purchased these cards, the scammers will ask the victim to share the 16-digit code on the back of the card over the phone. The scammers will then use this code to purchase goods online.

Gardaí are advising people to be vigilant and suspicious of any calls or voicemails from people claiming to represent a company or organisation you may be a customer of. The caller may have some information about you, so don’t trust them just because they use your name or other personal information. No company will request payment via iTunes or any other online vouchers. If you receive a call like this, end the call and contact Gardaí.

Crime Prevention Advice 

Always say "NO” to unsolicited callers or texters seeking private information about you. Private information includes your name, address, date of birth, family details, bank account numbers, PIN, Passwords.  

Independently verify any requests for information and never use the contact details supplied to you by the caller or texter. Independent means independent of the caller or texter.

The caller may already have some information about you so don’t trust them because they use your name or other personal information.

If you are NOT purchasing an item from the iTunes Store, App Store, iBooks Store, or an Apple Music membership, do NOT make a payment with iTunes Gift Cards. There's no other instance in which you'll be asked to make a payment with an iTunes Gift Card.  

An Garda Síochána or your bank will never look for your Banking PIN number or Password or ask you to transfer money, or come to your home to collect your payment card, cheque book or cash.

Garda Park Smart Appeal - Theft from unlocked Vehicles

-      38% of all vehicles broken into were left unlocked

-      Driveway is a common location for these thefts

-      Over 50% of these thefts occur overnight (midnight to 7am)

Tips to Prevent Theft

-      Whether you park your car or van, take your property with you

-      Ensure your car is locked, alarmed and parked in a safe location

-      Store your keys safely, away from windows and letterboxes

An Garda Síochána is appealing to motorists to park smart as new figures show that one-third of all vehicles broken into in residential areas had been left unlocked by the owner.

Figures from the Garda Analysis Service released today show that 8,571 vehicles parked at residential locations were broken into between 2015 and 2017. Of those, 2,824 were reported to be unlocked.

The analysis also shows that the most common location for these thefts was in driveways, and that half of the thefts occurred between 12midnight and 7am. Such thefts are happening throughout the country.

On average, over €340,000 worth of property was stolen from vehicles each year. Property stolen included cash, laptops, tools, sunglasses, jewellery and sports equipment.

Gardaí are appealing for all vehicle owners to ensure they lock their vehicle no matter where it is parked. Do not store valuables in the car, but if you do have to, keep them out of sight.

Sgt Kelvin Courtney from the Garda Crime Prevention National Centre of Excellence said, "Wherever you park your car or van, we would always advise you to take your property with you and ensure the vehicle is locked, alarmed and parked in a secure, well-lit location.

"Many of these thefts, particularly at residential locations, are avoidable with an average of 33% of vehicles being left unlocked in the last three years. Unfortunately, this poor practice has risen as 38% of vehicles were unlocked when they had property stolen from them in January 2018. We’ve even seen cases where two vehicles from the same household were unlocked and broken into.

"Sometimes it is impractical to remove tools and equipment from vehicles. In these cases, owners should take extra steps to ensure the safety of their property. Additional locking mechanisms to vehicles should be fitted. Consider a monitored vehicle alarm and tracking devices for valuable property. Reduce the payoff to the thief by marking and photographing the property and take a record of serial numbers, makes and models.  Download the household property register for free from the Garda Website for your records.”

According to the Garda Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit, the vast majority of cars illegally entered or stolen from are done so using the vehicle’s key. The vast majority of vehicles stolen continue to be taken with keys obtained in burglaries.

An Garda Síochána’s advice surrounding any vehicle keys would always be to avoid leaving them on the hall table or near a door/window where they could be easily taken.

The regional breakdown of thefts from unlocked vehicles between 2015 and 2017 is:

• Dublin: 1245
• Eastern: 532
• Southern: 411
• Western: 261
• Northern: 234
• South Eastern: 141

We also wish to make the public aware of the fact that persons who collect cash from financial institutions/banks/ credit unions/ post offices leave the cash in their vehicles and leave the vehicle unattended as they deal with other business.

Below are some examples of cash stolen from vehicles in recent times: 

January 2018- Clondalkin Area- €1000 taken from unattended car
February 2018-Galway area-€5000 taken from unattended car
March 2018 – Limerick area-€300 taken from unattended car
 
• Avoid using cash if possible
• Conceal all cash when entering and exiting the bank/post offices/credit unions
• Do not leave cash in unattended vehicles
• Be aware of your own personal security, and report anything suspicious to the Gardaí as soon as possible