Paul O'Reilly

No More Updates

pauloreillywmp — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:44:56 +0000

There will be no more updates to this blog, however, all previous posts will still be available for reference.

Best wishes

Sgt Paul O’Reilly

Helmet Watch 2011

pauloreillywmp — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:03:09 +0000

Helmet Watch 2011
Community Winner

West Midlands Police are rewarding safety conscious young cyclists for using their heads as part of a charity initiative.

During the up and coming weeks officers from Neighbourhood Policing Teams across the West Midlands will be supporting the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust’s ‘Helmet Watch 2011’ campaign.

The Trust is a charity that is committed to saving young people’s lives by promoting safer cycling, particularly the use of cycle helmets.

Helmet Watch is run every year and the charity has provided the force with giveaways for youngsters. Children who are seen wearing a cycle helmet will receive an envelope which contains a small gift of a highlighter pen, a bookmark, advice about cycle helmets, and a free entry form for a prize draw, with prizes including a game console, digital camera, computer games.

Wearing a cycle helmet is just one factor in helping you cycle safely. You should also:

· Make sure you have the right gear. Wear light coloured, fluorescent or reflective clothing so other road users can see you.

· Make sure your bike is road worthy and has working lights and reflectors.

· Cycle safely on the roads, look and give a signal as necessary before you start, stop or turn – don’t expect a driver or pedestrian to know what you are going to do.

· Don’t listen to your Ipod, MP3 player or use your mobile phone whilst cycling, as you need to be able to hear what is going on and what is happening around you.

The Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust’s “Helmet Watch” campaign promotes the use of cycle helmets, particularly for children. For further information about the Trust please visit www.bhit.org.

Shirley West and East Neighbourhood Policing team have a small supply of these envelopes and will be on the lookout for worthy winners, up to the age of 16 years old.

Make sure you wear your cycle helmet at all times when riding your bicycle to be in for a chance to be a winner.

Shirley West and East Neighbourhood News – Sept 2011

pauloreillywmp — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:33:47 +0000

Well, September closed with a bit of a heat-wave, didn’t it? The trouble with the warm weather is that it creates opportunities for burglars and thieves as people leave windows open in homes and vehicles. Please ensure that you do not become a victim while teasing out the last minute of sunshine 2011 has to offer. Hints and tips can be viewed on the West Midlands Police Safer Homes web page.

Property Marking Drive
As reported in the last issue, September started with the team encouraging people to protect their valuables by having them property-marked and recording serial numbers and IMEI (mobile phone identification) numbers on the Immobilise register at Immobilise.com. A good number of adults and juveniles accepted the offer and the team marked phones, mp3 players and bicycles with the UV pens, while patrolling parks and boarding buses at school start/end times.

Crime Update
As usual, the official latest figures can viewed at the police.uk website. Provisional figures, however, show that a similar number of offences were committed in September as in the previous months, with slight variations in the classifications of those crimes. For example, 25% fewer people were victim of house burglary, while an extra three motorists were subject of vehicle crime. Four people were victims of robbery, alongside a reduction in offences of assault. “Stick-on” vehicle number plates were stolen during four incidents, double that of August 2011.

Road Safety Update
Drivers are still continuing to ignore speed limits around Shirley. Six motorists received endorsable fixed penalty notices from PC Cairney for exceeding the speed limit in September.
A gentle reminder for motorists that the Stratford Road, through Shirley, from Robin Hood Island to Comet, is 30mph. There are two speed advisor signs along this stretch to remind you of this. Exceed the speed limit and risk earning penalty points on your driving licence.

Farewell To Sharon
The team lost one of its officers to Solihull Town Centre last month. PC Sharon Doherty, who only joined Shirley West/East Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) from St. Alphege NPT in June 2011, returned to them during a recent reshuffle of a few officers. I wish to take this opportunity to thank Sharon for the work she did for the Shirley community while a member of our team.

Beware The Opportunist
At approximately 4.20pm on Friday 30 September 2011, a white male in his late twenties saw fit to deprive an elderly gentleman of his money and bank cards when he stole the victim’s bag from the front passenger seat of his vehicle, as the victim sat in the driver’s seat! Now this was broad daylight and the victim had just visited a local bank and was sorting things out in his unlocked car when the offender struck.
Anyone with any information into this crime should contact Solihull Police, 0345 113 5000, or CrimeStoppers please on 0800 555 111.
In the meantime, please be aware of your own personal security and safety at all times of the day and all situations, especially when in possession of money or valuables in a public place.

Halloween and Bonfire Night
Both of these events occur in the next five weeks, and with them come the annual challenges for the emergency services and distress for vulnerable residents and for animals.

Parents of children who are looking to go out Trick Or Treating are asked to remind them that they should not be going to homes of people they do not know. For their own safety, as well as the potential harassment, alarm or distress (HAD) of the occupier, and that they should not throw any items at houses or vehicles, however amusing they may think it could be.

Causing criminal damage, and conducting behaviour that causes HAD, are offences that may lead to arrest and a criminal record. Something I am sure no parent wants for their child.

Fireworks also become popular among the youth at this time of the year, and retail outlets in the Solihull Borough are to be visited by the Fire Service and local police, to ensure licence compliance, and to remind retailers of their obligations and responsibilities. Please contact the Fire Service if you see any sale of fireworks to children. I am sure they would like to review that retailer’s licence.

Please contact your local council neighbourhood team if you see a potential unauthorised bonfire site in Shirley, Solihull, as the dangers associated with this could have life changing effects for some people.

A public, organised, fireworks display is probably one of the safest ways to enjoy the evening.

Further information and advice is available from the websites of Solihull MB Council, and the West Midlands Fire Service.

You can keep up-to-date with events in the Shirley West and East wards through this site, through my twitter ‘SgtWestMidsPol‘ and via the teams West Midlands Police websites at West / East.

Until next time, take care, keep safe, and thank you for reading.

Sgt Paul O’Reilly

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If you need to report a crime, call 999 in an emergency or 0345 113 5000 for non-emergencies.

Solihull Police Go The Extra Mile For Charity

pauloreillywmp — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:40:07 +0000

by Ann Strachan

Solihull Police officers and staff proved their fitness during a treadmill marathon which saw them pip a leisure centre team to the finish line – and raise £1,600 for charity.

A team from the Homer Road station took on Tudor Grange Leisure Centre in the 10-hour Treadmill Challenge on Friday (Sept 30) in Touchwood Shopping Centre.

Tudor Grange racked up 118km over the allotted time but it wasn’t enough to top Solihull Police’s combined 121km effort.

The event was arranged in aid of Brain Tumour UK – a charity close to Solihull Police Sergeant Ann Strachan’s heart as her nine-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour four years ago.

She said: “We are fortunate that, four years on from the diagnosis, she still leads a very full, energetic life. There are many others who are not so fortunate; that’s why funding for research is vitally important.

“The duration of the challenge was 10 hours because my daughter had to undergo a 10-hour brain operation in 2007…I wanted to mark the bravery she had to go through during that time.

“We are grateful to Touchwood Shopping Centre for supporting the event and for the tremendous support of colleagues, everyone at Tudor Grange and the community for their kind donations.”

The event will now become a yearly challenge known as the Solihull Treadmill Challenge with the winners retaining an engraved cup for that year.

PC Toby Cross (circled) pounds the treadmill during the challenge

Footnote: Shirley West and East Neighbourhood Policing Team member, PC Toby Cross, was one of those representing Solihull Police in the challenge. You can see him here on the treadmill.

Heard the one about the 80mph motorway speed limit?

pauloreillywmp — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:38:05 +0000

I normally try to avoid posting on political stories as I wish to remain unbiased towards any particular party. In fact, at the moment, I can positively say I have no allegiance to any party. Good news for my wards’ local borough councillors, who represent Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.

Last night, however, I heard the most ridiculous statement ever, from the Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond. I even had to rewind the news footage and listen to it again and again to make sure I had not misheard what he was saying.

The topic?

Well most will have seen or heard it by now as it featured strongly on today’s (Fri 30 Sep 2011) websites and papers . . . The proposed increase of the motorway speed limit to 80 miles per hour.

The BBC, whose news I was watching at the time, have repeated the article on their own website.

The rationale behind the statement by Mr Hammond?

“. . . the current limit has lost its legitimacy. We all know that many, many motorists who are otherwise law-abiding citizens routinely ignore the 70 miles per hour limit.”

“What we are doing here, is bringing a lot of drivers who currently, routinely break the speed limit, back on the right side of the law – and that has to be a good thing.”

So, Mr Hammond, what you are saying is let’s make something that was illegal, legal, so that those that break the law, now don’t!

What area of business will he move this rationale into next?

The drink/drive limit perhaps?

The already highly-motivated/debated topic of cannabis use/misuse?

Plenty of people still flout these laws, so if we move the goalposts then fewer will be committing an offence and so, ah . . . the penny drops . . . we reduce crime further at a time of reducing the number of police officers and police staff.

Interesting.

Mr Hammonds strange comments continue, “Cars are much safer, they have more sophisticated equipment now than they did 40 or so years ago. They are capable of driving safely at higher speeds.”

Now please correct me if I am wrong, but is it not the motorist, the person behind the wheel with foot/feet on the pedals, that actually drives the car? And the car is then only as safe as that person’s driving skills, attitude and behaviour.

I am sure many readers will have experienced the occasion where they were driving at 60-65mph in the nearside lane (often incorrectly classed as the slow lane), and been flashed by the HGV or commercial vehicle travelling directly behind them as they believe you are going too slow.

And if motorists are already driving at 80/90 in a 70mph speed limit, what speed does the Government think they will drive at in an 80mph limit?

I hope this Consultation stays at just that and does not pass for law.

What’s your view?

Update: Poll closed. Click here to see the result.

Google Plus: A Useful Addition To Social Media Tools?

pauloreillywmp — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 23:16:56 +0000

On 20 September 2011, Google opened its Google Plus Social Network to all-comers.

Having seen a recorded version of a “hangout” involving West Midlands Police’s Coventry Chief Inspector, Kerry Blakeman, and West Midlands Fire Service’s Operations Commander for Coventry, Simon Shilton, hosted by Michael Mozart (Jeepers Media) of Connecticut, USA via Mike Downe’s wiKenilworth.com page, I decided to open a work-related Google Plus account on 21 September 2011 to see what it was all about and whether it was for me.

Coventry Police and Fire UK Hangout

I do not have a Facebook account, having relinquished mine over two years ago after becoming bored with it, so wondered how easy it would be to set up a new account on Google Plus.

It was simple. Enter email address, select a password, and away you go.

Adding text to my profile and uploading a few photos was also a simple feature.

Now to the Circles element. Any issues there? No, not really. I knew some people on Google Plus already, entered their details in the search field, found them instantly (probably because not too many on Google Plus yet) and then clicked or dragged them into the Circles, which could have been called Groups, but hey ho.

All that done, I sat back and thought “Now what?”

The Hangout feature was the item that had fuelled my interest, yet my work’s desktop PC did not have a webcam attachment, it had a disabled USB, and probably not a great video card either.

And there, for now, it stops. Can I see myself using it regularly? No. Can I see it as a potential way to hold community engagements in the future? Possibly, but first a lot of work would need to be done in ensuring that the right target audience can join in, otherwise, as a local feature, it would be pretty useless.

As I said earlier, I do not have a Facebook account and, if I am honest, if I had got one I doubt I would see the point in trying to run with two social network accounts, on top of my Twitter feed, which I surprisingly have taken to. At work more so anyway.

So what is your view? Google Plus – A way forward, or another gimmick featured social network in the mass of available Social Media?

Please feel free to let me know.

For anyone interested, here are the Twitter names for the people mentioned in this article, and any Google Plus names.

Twitter: @kerryblakeman @spshilton @JeepersMedia @wiKenilworth

Google Plus:
Kerry Blakeman
Simon Shilton
Michael Mozart/JeepersMedia
Mike Downes

APPEAL: Caravan Stolen – Solihull Lodge

pauloreillywmp — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 18:41:23 +0000

Between Wednesday 31 August 2011 and Friday 2 September 2011, offenders have entered a caravan storage park in High Street, Solihull Lodge, and stolen a 26.5 feet Compass Rallye 650 Caravan, despite it having three security devices attached to it and an active alarm system.

Where is this Compass Rallye 650 caravan now?

It would appear that the perpetrators would also need some previous experience or skill in manoeuvring this large caravan from its location, through a narrow gate opening, and on to the High Street. The sheer size and weight of the caravan would also suggest that more than one person would be required to move it.

Should anyone see this caravan, or think they may have seen it at the time of the offence, please contact Solihull Police on 0345 113 5000, your local police station, or CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111.

I am sure you can imagine the delight it would bring the true owners to have their caravan restored to them.

Thank you.

Sgt Paul O’Reilly

Shirley West and East Neighbourhood News – August 2011

pauloreillywmp — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:13:38 +0000

So, September is here already and with it the return to school for pupils across the UK. For some it is the move up to ‘big’ school and can be quite a daunting process in its own right.

As is normal at this time of year, our focus is on reinforcing the message of personal safety to school children and the security of their property. Mobile phones are a popular accessory nowadays, regardless of age, and they are becoming more and more like personal computers as development progress. With that comes the desire for the ‘have-nots’ to steal from the ‘haves’, sometimes using force. Here within Solihull Borough, Operation Scholar commenced on 1 September 2011, with a strategy of measures to prevent, educate, enforce and reassure.

I have noticed numerous people, adults and children alike, walking along in the hours of darkness with their eyes firmly affixed to their glowing phone and not paying any attention to what is going on around them. Add to that the numbers who will jog or walk with their hearing impaired by digital music and the scene is set for a theft, or worse still, a robbery.

Our attention will be on schools, phone outlets, parks and open spaces, travel network, in order to engage with all elements of the community to reduce the opportunities for committing crime and of disposing of any ill-gotten gains.

Readers, wherever you are, can support this initiative by looking at their own personal security/behaviour when out in public, and also keep warning and/or advising their children, grand-children, nephews, nieces, etc. of the potential hazards or dangers.

There is a FREE UK national property register on the internet at www.immobilise.com, where people can register their personal property so, if your phone, bike, computer or any other registered item is lost or stolen, Immobilise instantly informs police, insurers, and the second-hand trade. These actions help greatly in the recovery of your property and capture of thieves.

All property can be marked using special UV pens that may be available from your local police station, or any good stationery shop.

Mobile phones should be marked on the area underneath the battery, and on the battery itself. Do not mark on anything that can be ripped or peeled off. Access the phone’s IMEI number by dialling *#06# and then make a note of the long number that is revealed. That way the phone can be blocked by the provider in the event of loss or theft.

In Shirley, we will be out and about in the Mobile Police Station, pens in hand, so please visit the ‘bus’ with your property and we will mark it for you. Dates will be posted on the West Midlands Police, Shirley East and Shirley West web pages.

August was a busy month, as everyone will know, with events in Birmingham having a ripple effect to local policing. Our own PC Toby Cross was frequently on the van deployments to Birmingham, while the rest of the team were strategically deployed about the Borough of Solihull, including Shirley, to ensure that it was ‘Business As Usual’ for our local communities. See and hear the views of Solihull Commander, Sally Bourner, in her latest video.

The support that the police received from the local communities last month was overwhelming and was truly appreciated by all police staff. Thank you.

Last month I held a meeting with Liz Harsley, the new Community Champion for the Tesco store on Stratford Road, Shirley, (near Robin Hood Island), to see how we could work together to engage with the local community and help improve its environment. It was a useful provisional meeting and further meetings will follow, as well as joint community engagements. Please monitor the Shirley West and East WMP web pages for engagement dates, times, and locations.

Provisional figures show that there was a slight increase in the number of house burglaries during August 2011, with nine complete offence and one attempt recorded. Entry continues to be predominantly from the rear by forcing patio doors. Please review your home security. The majority of offences committed last month were during daylight hours. Report any suspicious people as soon as possible to your local police. Very often, if their behaviour looks odd, it is because they are up to no good. I would rather have ‘false calls with good intent’ than someone become a victim of burglary any time.

Vehicle crime is down on the previous month at 17 offences, and I am very pleased to report no robberies in Shirley West or Shirley East wards in August 2011.

Criminal damage offences were almost halved in August compared to July.

ALL crime classification of offences were also reduced with 93 recorded in Shirley West and East wards.

You can keep up-to-date with events in the Shirley West and East wards through this site, through my twitter ‘SgtWestMidsPol‘ and via the teams West Midlands Police websites at West / East.

Until next time, take care, keep safe, and thank you for reading.

Sgt Paul O’Reilly

Subscribe To This Blog – You can subscribe to this blog by clicking on the link in the right hand column.

Solihull Police Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/solihullpolice

If you need to report a crime, call 999 in an emergency or 0345 113 5000 for non-emergencies.

APPEAL: ATM Theft Shirley 29 Aug 2011

pauloreillywmp — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 08:42:15 +0000

I regret to have to report that, once again, an elderly visitor to our ATM cash machines on Stratford Road, Shirley, has become a victim of a distraction theft which resulted in the loss of their bank card and subsequent funds.

The latest incident occurred on Monday 29 August 2011 at the Nationwide ATM. Between 11:00 and 11:15am, the 73-year old victim was using the ATM to access his account when he was distracted by Asian males who were stood very close to him. He promptly told them to go away, however, when he returned his attention to the machine, his bank card had been removed.

The images below show two men that we would like to speak to as part of the investigation.

Should anyone recognise any of these males, please contact Solihull Police on 0345 113 5000 and quote incident number 771 of the 29 August 2011. You can also offer any information anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

Thank you for your support.

Poll: Parking Issues – The Result

pauloreillywmp — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:29:00 +0000

Click here to see the result of the recent poll on the acceptance of motor vehicles being parked on footpaths and pavements.