Police safety kit is stolen
Monday 18th May 2009, 12:59PM BST.
A £20,000 demountable mock village used by police to deliver personal safety messages to thousands of Shropshire schoolchildren, has been stolen from a storage compound.
The North Shropshire Safety Scene was launched in 1998 and has benefited more than 10,000 pupils from primary schools across North Shropshire and the Oswestry areas.
The scene is based on a theatrical village created to “play act” safety messages to 10 year olds from Year 6 classes. It is run by the police with support from the local community.
But the project’s future is now threatened following the theft of the village which was on a trailer stored at Excel Metal Forms Techniques, Wem Engineering Centre, Church Lane, Wem.
The trailer was reported stolen this morning and may have been taken overnight although it is not known exactly when the thieves struck.
Detective Constable Glyn Teggin, who has been the driving force behind the North Shropshire Safety Scene, said he was devastated and appealed for help.
“The village is absolutely useless to anyone else but it has taken us many years to assemble and would cost around £20,000 to replace,” he said.
“I’m just hoping someone will come forward with information as to its whereabouts. Anyone with information should contact Wem police on 0300 333 3000.”
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Hmmm? Well I can’t say I’m that surprised. But now they have learnt Polish I’m sure its only a matter of time before they give up looking for it.
I wonder if they can remember where they last saw it?
Its probably left parked in a street somewhere and they forgot to bring it back to the compound.
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Lucy ‘Tory Boy’ W. Your racisms showing – armchair whiners need to think, there’s a real world out there, people just trying to do their job despite the lack of help from your self, let alone those who hold the money!
Take a day off moaning and invest time in the community instead of attempting to destroy it from outside.
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Second that DevilsChair
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Devil & LJ: Indeed I have been helping my comunity today but dont need the adoration or thanx to keep me doing it.
Many people do try and help the police but they just don’t seem to want to help themselves. They seem more interested in learning Polish and devising Top Trumps games. Wem police spent a week long blitz on domestic theft which culminated in the grand total of one arrest!
I merely express my experience of the police, and mine is they are muppets who can’t sit on a loo seat the right way without instructions.
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Lucy W having a go at the police and polish again – change the record! My child attended one of these events last year. She talked about it for ages; about walking around this little village where she was met with different scenarios, such as having to dial 999, saying no to a person who was trying to offer them drugs, the dangers of electricity substations, farms,etc. This was followed up with some work in school. An excellent initiative. The school told me how the police are committed to this once a year and 10,000 + is testement to how successful it is as the schools certainly see the benefit. I am sure the police will find a way around it to keep it going – good luck to them but no doubt Lucy W (as always) only wants to say how rubbish it all is – Perhaps Lucy would like to tell us how she has made a difference.
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Diane: Very pleased that your child has learnt these things, however my parents taught me. I was unaware that the police provided such high levels of parental guidance to children who’s parents neglected their safety.
Nevertheless, as a victim of crime, I can’t share your high regard for the police. For legal reasons I am unable to comment on my personal contribution to society.
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Lucy W – You have referred several times to the one arrest. From your earlier and increasingly obsessive comments of disdain for the police (and others) I cannot help but realise that you are relating to the article about a burglar arrested in Wem during this burglary blitz (still on the North Shropshire page). I assume you didn’t read the other articles about the blitz and it is clear there were lots of arrests. I think the local officers have chosen to mention this particular one as he is probably the only serious burglar in Wem – its hardly the crime capital of the world after all… Chill out and stop being so arrogant please.
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Diane – Lucy W makes a BIG difference she dresses up as batman each night to fight crime in telford and Shrewsbury. I myself dress up as Robin. Pray tell what you are doing to fight crime
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Lucy W, I feel from your comments that you feel some unjustice from you incident with the police that you have outlined above, however I fear that may be clouding your judgement of the policing in Shropshire as a whole.
I am shocked that you have commented on an article trying to trace the whereabouts of an educational tool for young children that could help to protect them in the future in an attempt to ridicule the police. You appear to have completely ignored the point of the article. This model helps children. It has been stolen, not lost- something out of the control of the police. I for one would like it to be found in order for it to continue to educate the children in North Shropshire and not be sat in a vile criminals home as a trophy.
I cannot believe for one second that you are debating the policing within North Shropshire, I for one think that every police force makes mistakes however Shropshire policing is a credit to us. I know someone that was attacked recently and they did everything to ensure comfort and support to that person whilst attempting to find the attacker-not to mention the fact that we are lucky enough in Shropshire to feelsafe enough to leave our back doors open and walk about at night – something that a lot of people across the country cannot do. I am very impressed with the blitz, for one serial burglar to be in remand is a credit to the police and makes me for one feel safer!
Perhaps if you feel so strongly about this issue you should sign up to be a councillor and put your thoughts through the correct channels, alternatively become a special police officer and see if you could make a difference. Its the age old argument, if you haven’t done anything to make a difference then you dont have grounds to debate what is currently being done.
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Y Mab Darogan – I don’t recall professing to be a crime fighter but when you base discussions on insults and half facts then you should anticipate being challenged occasionally. AND, if you want to dress up as Robin then whatever floats your boat – but to call Lucy W Batman is a little insulting, surely she is the much more feminine Wonder Woman…
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I went to this the first year it opened, was very informative. Lucy have you ever been? or do you just know everything
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Diane and Y Mab: Time out please. As a matter of fact I dress up as The Joker, but that’s another matter.
I can understand why so much rape goes unreported. I myself have been recently robbed but did not report it as I could not face further humiliation of the police.
Of course I appreciate that this plays into their hands as reported crime statistics falls and they get a pat on the back claiming it’s down to their initiatives such as learning Polish and inventing Top Trumps games.
Until we have a strong government to sort the police out then I don’t foresee any changes with the inevitable rise is people resorting to self-help when a victim of crime.
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Confused: I am merely exchanging my experiences as are other people. Other people have had different experiences; but that does not mean that mine didn’t happen and I do not see any evidence that the police are changing their ways – quite the opposite.
But why don’t you educate your own children to the dangers of the world?
The point of the article is that this went missing from right under their noses and as I said before, I am not surprised as my experience of the police is institutionalised incompetence. I would dearly like to change my view.
As for me joining the police, that would have been like asking Mary Whitehouse to star in a porn film to see if she could do a better job!
Honestly *tut*
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Class 04: Very pleased that you benefited from it. However, as I said before, my parents taught me about dangers of strangers and how I would be killed if I got in the sub-station. As I have respect for my parents, following their instructions was not a problem. Well if you need parental advice reinforced by a police officer, then so be it.
Did they warn you about leaving property unattended? And not locking your doors? Or even not locking up a compound? Hmmm?
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Lucy ‘Tory Boy’ W you can’t even give in gracefully – please wind it in a while and move on.
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LucyW… You seem to be very defensive,attacking anybody that dares to make comment, whether it be to congratulate the police on a worthwhile inniative or to take issue on your anti-police stance. You miss the point of the “village” scheme, not only are the police trying to educate, they are trying to interact and breakdown barriers between them and kids who only see the police on TV and would never, hopefully, need to be in contact with them!! So give them back their trailer please.
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DavilsChair: I have no connection with Tory Boy – sorry to dissappoint. All I can say is if you see a similarity, put it down to great minds thinking alike.
By the way, there is now a rumour that Devilschair is David? hmmmm? [Davilschair!!!]
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Got me.. I clicked post before reading content, I should be more careful.
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Lucy W – Did your parents warn you about keeping your property secure and having anti robbery devices on your person I may ask?
If not you may wish to attend one of these police demostrations to get some helpful tips and advice
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lucy w get over it
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Novarich: It’s merely a free and frank exchange of views based on personal experience.
Y Mab: The thieves who robbed me brought their own metal cutting equipment. So can any policemen tell me how I should prevent that?
Tina: If everyone was so pathetic as you and accepted that being a victim of crime was part of life with no recourse to justice, then just what would the country be like? Well I will tell you – just how it is now.
Would you have told those Suffogetes to ‘just get over it’ and accept that women are chattels of their husbands? Are you saying that getting run over by the King’s horse was dieing in vain?
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Hey!
Everyone stop picking on Lucy!
She has obviously been the victim of crime and received less than satisfactory service from the police, probably along the same lines as you lot: its all HER fault, she was asking for it, she was somehow responsible for the actions of a poor criminal who is just a victim of society/drugs/broken home (delete as appropriate). Your responses are so shockingly similar to the typical police attitude that I actually suspect you are police, sat in an office blogging instead of out on the streets doing your job!
You are the guys moaning, moaning about someone who has the strength to actually raise concerns about the state of our police, I bet you guys dont come across crime much and like to keep your heads in the sand, like the proverbial ostriches and then you will crying blue murder if crime comes to you.
And, I would like to know if the crime prevention officer got to go round the police station telling everyone to keep their doors locked, etc…
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The village does not belong to the police it belongs to North Shropshire Safety Scene whos members worked very hard to raise the money to build the set and even harder to stage the event each year for the hundreds of school children who benifit from it.It is the children of North Shropshire who will suffer as a result of this lets hope for them that it is returned
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g: I hope its also found, and I trust that the Safety Scene people are more careful who they lend Tax Payer Funded equipment to.
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Lucy W – You can prevent crime be the following.
1) Guard dogs
2) security system/burgular alarm
3) CCTV camera’s etc
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Lucy W, Perhaps you could ask the Safety Scene people to make you a larger version that you could turn into your own little world with Emily Pankhurst, the Toll Puddle martyrs and Martin Luther King living in harmony.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d turn the bolt-cutters back on the lowlife who stole from you but I think you need to move on.
Oh, If they do find their trailer please don’t chain yourself to it or, even worse, throw yourself under it!!
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I have moved on, just merely pointing out that the police haven’t.
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