An awareness campaign to help reduce doorstep crime has been launched today (Wednesday, May 26th 2010) at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
The fully bi-lingual campaign will beam TV ads into living rooms, and post mailers through hundreds of thousands of letterboxes throughout May and June this year.
The campaign offers advice in the form of three clear steps which have been developed to help decrease the number of rogue trader and distraction burglary victims across Wales, and to increase the reporting of suspicious doorstep incidents.
The three-part message to the public is:
- If in doubt, keep them out!
- Be prepared, be in control
- Call a neighbour or the police
The campaign is the All-Wales Doorstep Crime Group’s response to an agreed call for action, following concerns that many – if not most doorstep-type crimes – are going completely unreported.
According to statistics, doorstep crime is no more prevalent across Wales than any other part of the UK. There were 104 incidents reported in 2009, which is actually the lowest recorded across Wales for five years. But, in contrast, calls to Trading Standards shows a 10 per cent increase in reports year on year, signalling a possible rise in some activity. Females over 80-years-old who live on their own are especially vulnerable.
South Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Richard Lewis said:
“Doorstep crime is an insidious and deceitful act. Those who carry out these crimes have no place within our communities. The police service fully backs this campaign which not only supports the vulnerable and elderly in our communities, but also targets those who commit the crimes.
“Victims of doorstep crimes are our parents, grandparents, friends and neighbours. I would urge everyone who knows somebody they think is vulnerable to help us spread the messages and the advice carried by this campaign. It is also vitally important that people provide the police service with information about suspicious incidents, to us to help us remove those who commit these crimes from our streets.”
The Social Justice Minister Carl Sargeant (pictured) said:
“Doorstep crime is particularly appalling as it targets the most vulnerable people in society, making older people feel afraid to open the door.
“The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to tackling doorstep crime, by providing £1.8 million for an initiative aimed at crimes of concern to older people, including this ‘All-Wales Doorstep Crime Campaign’.
“This campaign is important as it raises awareness of the dangers of doorstep fraudsters, and offers clear advice on how to react if a doorstep caller knocks at the front door. My advice to people worried about doorstep fraudsters is, if in doubt keep them out!”
David Cornock, who lost his 76-year-old mother Anne to cancer shortly after she was cheated out of hundreds of thousands of pounds, when she became the victim of a doorstep crime, said:
“Neither I nor my sister knew our mother had become a victim of crime until we noticed something suspicious about her financial situation. A letter revealed that she was overdrawn at a time when she should have been living comfortably off her pension.
“When we asked her about it she was devastated that we had found out. She was totally embarrassed and ashamed. It soon became apparent that her final months were spent juggling the serious realities of cancer with what was unbelievably, her more pressing need, to sort out the financial state that she was tricked into.”
Over the period of a year, Anne Cornock was conned out of more than two hundred and seventy thousand pounds – her life savings – after she agreed to have her driveway paved by tradesmen who turned up unannounced at her address in Sully, South Wales.
He added, “The offenders destroyed the last year of my mother’s life. She was too ashamed and intimidated to tell anyone, which had a huge impact on her health. By the time she saw a doctor, it was too late.
“Our mother was a devoted mother and grandmother, a decent woman who worked hard all her life. She an intelligent, sensible woman – if she could fall for this, anyone could.
“My advice to other vulnerable people out there is that if somebody unexpected knocks your door, just be extra cautious and very careful. In fact the safest option is not to even open the door and engage with them, because there really are some evil, nasty people out there preying on vulnerable people,” said David.
The main target audience for the campaign are people over 65-years-old as records show they are the most vulnerable. Their middle aged children, who are arguably in the best position to empower and influence their parents, are also targeted by the campaign.
In line with a cold-caller theme, an animated ‘ice-man’ character features most prominently throughout all the elements of the campaign, including a TV ad which goes live on May 31; a direct mail campaign targeting people living in Wales aged over 65; radio ads which go on air half way through June; and bus panel and press advertising throughout June and July.
At the centre of the campaign will be a dedicated website www.doorstepcallers.co.uk which offers advice about how to deal with unannounced doorstep callers, and also explains how people can help others. It will be rich in content providing case studies and opportunities to download items which can be used to help tackle the problem.
The campaign, which has been funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, has been developed by the All-Wales Doorstep Crime Group, a partnership comprising of the Police Service, Local Authorities, Trading Standards and support groups such as Age Cymru.
Dave Riley, Chair of Welsh Heads of Trading Standards said:
“Rogue traders are unscrupulous criminals who take advantage of householders by pressurising them into making hasty decisions. Trading Standards services throughout Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom are working together and in partnership with the police to protect and inform the public and to bring the criminals to justice. This campaign is an important step forward in our work in Wales.”
