But, it … there’s a slight increase this year over last year’s figures.
OK, you mentioned some of the victims
being elderly. What other people are
targeted?
Well, unfortunately, with this type of offence, it is the vulnerable in society and the elderly. The, the national average, if there’s such a thing as a, a victim for this type of crime, is a white female aged 81 years.
And what about things that people can do to prevent it happening, basically?
Well the things they can do are very, very simple. The difficulty comes, is that some of these people, er … it’s very difficult for them to remember what to do. But the three things we, we always say is: stop, chain and check. And that’s stop before you open the door to make sure who’s on the other side. Always apply a chain. If you haven’t got a chain, fit a chain to the door, or a door bar if you’ve got difficulty in handling a chain with arthritic fingers.
But also when you answer the door, check the identity of the person there. Generally the offenders say they are from the Water Board or from utilities. They may say they’re from a charity or even from local authority. But generally, a utility will be in uniform.
Ask for their identification. A genuine person will not mind you doing that and will wait until you can check them out. If you do need to check them, phone the number on, on your last bill. What won’t happen is that if it is a bogus caller, they will become unnerved by this reaction and they will leave.
Presenter
OK and there’s also a couple of gadgets new on the market that also can help as well. Just talk us through that.
Ian
Holt
Certainly, yes. The … a spy er … viewer is fairly standard. But for elderly who may have poor eyesight there’s a spyscope which actually makes it a lot easier for them to see who’s outside.
As I mentioned before about the door bar, again, it can be easier to apply than the chain. Very reasonable priced er, and something that is fairly new … as I mentioned before it’s very difficult for some of these people to remember what they have to do when they go to the door and that’s why they become victims.
And this item is called a Memo Minder and actually you can record a message on there and it’s nice to have a grand-daughter or somebody to record a message, but every time the person approaches the door it reminds them with a voice to say “Put your chain on.”
Listening in
Passage1
Patrick ：I read a funny story today in the paper – true story.
Steve ：Go on, then.