Friday, December 01, 2006

The bells..the bells...

Yep.. we have ticked over into December and its the start of the Christmas run in.
Its a busy time of year particularly to those who are deft of hand.
The run in to Christmas brings a large rise in crimes such as .. 'Pickpocket' (Dip) ..or.. 'Other Theft' type of offences.
As the shops bars and restaurants fill it becomes less of a 'Ho Ho Ho' and more of a 'Who Who Who' as bags/ purses/wallets disappear whilst the owners attentions are distracted elsewhere.

In response to this I understand that this year the Met are handing out 'Anti theft bells'
The bells are basically a clip attached to two small silver bells . The idea being that if a 'dipper' sidles up and tries to filch your bag and contents then the sound of the bells will immediately..
1.Cause the said Felon to drop the property and make off and or
2.Attract the attention of the victim who will challenge the said Felon who will resort to action 1.

I have seen the said 'Anti theft items' and they are best described as 'discreet'

The problem with this is (despite its best intention) is that it resembles the usual stuff that people attach to their person/clothing/accessories at this time of year .. be it tinsel.. red noses ..snow paint..

I have yet to see my first drunk punter with the pointy red hat ( fake white fur bottom, bell on top).... but I'll give it till Sunday.

Shops, bars and restaurants are crowded this time of year ..alcohol imbibed at larger quantities than usual.. I doubt that the tinkling of two little bells as the bag is slid to one side is enough to cause the victim to turn around.. in fact in some bars I doubt whether a herd of Reindeer rampaging through would cause most to look up...

Officer Dibble offers his own Crime prevention 'clip on' alternative... for next year of course .. These things take time to develop and market..... I suggest the clip is attached to a chain which is itself attached to half pound of concrete wrapped as an Easter Egg.
It serves two purposes
It is sufficiently 'not seasonal' enough to attract attention .. and its 'not discrete' enough to deter a dipper trying to 'cuff it' under their coat before they try and walk off..

Patent applications are in the post and Crime prevention can contact me at this Blog when I have eventually worked out how the HTML stuff on the Blogger Help notes works...

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