The Eastbourne Crime Reduction Partnership’s Anti-Social Behaviour group are working hard to reduce the number of young people who become victims of crime. The group agreed that a targeted campaign against mobile phone crime aimed specifically at young people would be a real benefit.
Following the Christmas break when many young people have new phones, all the local schools have signed up to take part in the immobilise phone crime campaign. The partnerships Prevent and Deter Officer has co-ordinated the approach in all the local schools either visiting them alongside a Community Enforcement Officer or running the campaign through the Schools Liaison Officer from Sussex Police.
Immobilise is a nationwide campaign supported by the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit. The campaign will allow all pupils with a mobile the opportunity to register their phone on the immobilise website. Immobilise, as the name suggests, will cause all mobile phones that have been registered and subsequently reported lost or stolen, to be immobilised and for both the SIM card and handset to become useless.
Eastbourne Technology College, Ratton School, Hailsham Community College and Willingdon School have all been targeted so far with further schools planned for the coming weeks. It appears to have been very successful, with large numbers of young people registering their phones. Acting Chief Inspector, Julia Pope, highlighted the importance of the immobilise campaign: “The more individuals who register their phones, the greater a success the scheme will be and in doing so will help us to reduce phone crime.”
Although this campaign is targeting young people, it is a benefit for anyone who owns a mobile phone to register their phone free of charge at www.immobilise.com. It only takes a couple of minutes and is completely free. To register all you need is your mobile phone. When you register, you will need to enter your contact details and your phone’s 15 digit IMEI number (this is your phone’s unique serial number). The IMEI number normally appears underneath the battery in the phone, but on most phones can also be viewed on screen by pressing *#06#. Reporting your phone as lost or stolen will enable both your SIM card and your handset to be blocked, just like a stolen credit card. Once you have registered your phone you will have a better chance of getting it back if it is lost or stolen. The more people who register, the more people will get their phones back and the better chance the police have of catching the offender.
