Officers from Harrow's Safer Transport Team attended the Harrow Deaf Awareness Day organised by the Harrow Asian Deaf Club in partnership with Harrow Council.  This was a great opportunity for PC Percy Sillitoe, who is level one British Sign Language trained, to put to good use his skills to communicate important crime prevention messages and to understand the barriers that deaf people face when coming into contact with the police.

This week two elderly men, living at different addresses in the Pinner area, received visits from bogus workmen saying that due to flooding and damp issues in their home or the homes of their neighbours, they needed to have dehumidifiers installed. The workmen were asking for a deposit of £1,800 to hire a dehumidifier. In both cases, thankfully no money exchanged hands. We know that bogus workmen are working on the borough, continually trying various tactics to deceive people and obtain money unlawfully. Please continue to alert your elderly relatives, friends and neighbours to these cold-calling criminals. We are looking for three, white men, aged 30 to 40 with Irish accents who were driving a dark green estate car.

Drug addicts commit crime to feed their costly drugs habit. The Drugs Intervention Programme (DIP) is about reducing crime and helping people to get out of crime - break the drug habit and break the cycle of offending.  We test suspects for drugs, who we arrest for crimes such as robbery, burglary and drugs offences, when we bring them into the police station. Those testing positive for Class A drugs (heroin, cocaine or crack/cocaine) will have to attend an assessment appointment, with a drug's councillor. Failing to keep an appointment is an offence under the 2005 Drugs Act. Officers are working closely with the DIP to enforce this programme.  We arrested and put before the courts six people in the last week for failing to keep their appointments.  The message is, "Take responsibility for your future - keep your appointments or we will arrest you."

CID officers executed an arrest warrant at an address in Shaftesbury Avenue, Harrow under the Misuse of Drugs Act and seized over £16,000 in cash belonging to two brothers who are on bail for possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs.  The magistrates granted the maximum six months' seizure order under the Proceeds of Crime Act.  This investigation is on going and I will keep you informed of the outcome.

Officers from our Community Safety Unit which investigates domestic violence and hate crime carried out arrest enquiries on Friday of last week as part of Operation Athena.  At the time of writing, the operation was still on going; Officers arrested one woman on suspicion of theft from her ex-partner and arrested and charged another woman with domestic violence common assault and assaulting a police officer. More arrests are expected.

Domestic violence affects people from all walks of life, men and women so, it's encouraging news that since April 1 to date, we have seen an 18% year-on-year decrease in reports of domestic violence. Reports of domestic violence with injury are down by 35% and reports of hate crime (race and religion) are down almost 60%.  Overall we have seen an increase of over 80% in arrests. Last weekend officers charged and detained a 27-year-old man for causing actual bodily harm and wounding to his wife and charged a 20-year-old man with assaulting his mother.

Specially trained officers investigate domestic abuse and racist crimes, and deal with victims in confidence and without prejudice. Visit our website for more information.  (As of March 31 the Home Office lowered the age of domestic violence victims to 16, when before it referred to adults only.)