**SEE BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM SARGENTO GABRIEL

It could be called “an open and shut case.”

We’re talking about the latest bizarre crime to hit the area.

First of all let us assure anyone not au fait with life in the Vale da Telha area that official crime figures here have been falling year-on-year.

And that was coming down from a very low level to begin with, as this is probably one of the safest areas to live, not just in the Algarve but in the whole of Portugal.

But no area is entirely without some problems and our local GNR do have the occasional incident to deal with.

In the last couple of days they had one incident reported on Vale da Telha which fell outside the normal parameter of thefts, although a similar incident occured a week or two earlier in Odeceixe at the extreme northern edge of their territory.

One of our residents woke on on Wednesday morning to find four of his SHUTTERS had been stolen from his windows during the night!

It seems that if you leave them open they can quite easily be lifted from their hinges, and carted away by opportunist thieves who sell them to make a little money.

Needless to say it’s not just worrying to realise that someone has been prowling around your property at night, but two sets of shutters are also expensive to replace.

Aljezur police commander Sargento Gabriel Reis, a Vale da Telha resident and a member of Amovate’s committee, has been talking to us about crime prevention, etc., in his quarterly briefing with the website.

The advice is to make sure all your shutters are closed at night—once closed they cannot be lifted off their hinges. But remember, again, that whilst thefts like this are disturbing for the people affected, they are extremely isolated incidents.

As we said at the outset this is a hugely safe and secure area in which to live. And as we want to keep it that way Gabriel has again been offering some advice to residents about how to achieve that.

He was full of praise, for instance for Amovate General Assembly President John Bergstrom-Potter, who flagged—via his and Sarah Sibbert’s Vale da Telha website—an attempted break-in in Sector E. Bergy was online within a few minutes of the incident occuring, requesting residents to be on the look-out for would-be thieves in the area.

As Bergy also pointed out: Phone the GNR if you suspect anyone of just hanging around or if they trespass on an empty property. Make sure you lock your doors even if you are just popping up to the rubbish bins.

And earlier this year Trevor Herrington in Sector G worked closely with the GNR identifying a property in his road which he felt was the target of criminals, notifying and then working with the GNR to expose an audacious theft of the fixtures and fittings of an empty house where the owners were living in the UK.

The burglar had even drilled out and changed the front door lock!

Eventually, thanks to Trevor’s vigilance, the GNR had a suspect and may even be able to trace some of the stolen property as he was able to identify one of the cars seen at the house.

As Trevor told us: “Essentially residents need to be vigilant of empty properties and report suspicious activity to the GNR.

“It also raises other issues about leaving contact details with someone, especially the GNR.”

That is the kind of thing the GNR encourage—residents working together to keep watch on their own and their neighbours’ properties and alerting the community to any suspicious activity.

If it does happen that would-be thieves come into the area it could be a powerful deterrent that they come to realise they are being watched and their movements monitored and reported.

It would certainly be a help if every one of us had the GNR telephone number readily available by the phone, or—better still—programmed into the phone wherever possible.

They can be found at:

GUARDA NATIONAL REPUBLICANA DE ALJEZUR

Rua da Escola

Igreja Nova

8670-063 Aljezur

Tel. 282 998130

The GNR say people should inform them when they are leaving their villas unoccupied, either going back to the UK, or any other country of origin for a holiday or a visit, or if they are residents in another country and have a holiday house here in the Aljezur area, particularly Vale da Telha and the surrounding areas.

They can call into the GNR office to tell the officers the dates the villa is unoccupied, or e-mail the information to them. Gabriel’s e-mail address at the GNR station is:

reis.jgas@gnr.pt

“We do take this seriously,” he said. “Even if your villa has an alarm or security system the added back-up of a highly visible police patrol checking the property on a regular basis doubles the deterrent.

“It’s not something we take lightly–not only do my officers make these visits, and have to record them on a check-list document, I make my own checks on the property and then ask questions of my officers regarding details they could only know if they had been there themselves.

“This way, I know the property HAS been visited, not just driven past.”

Gabriel also recommends the “Safe Communities” project supported by this website. It was set up by former Interpol, UN and Hong Kong police officer  David Thomas, who now lives near Boliqueime, and has become involved in community work in the Algarve regarding crime prevention.

He has been helping the GNR and the civil authorities here in respect of crime prevention and at the end of last year he launched Safe Communities Algarve a website dedicated to crime prevention, and the only one of its type in Portugal.

David says the working relationship between the Aljezur GNR and Amovate is a model to follow, and has asked us to also work with his project.

His website address is:

www.safecommunitiesalgarve.com

*           *           *           *

Obviously, with summer on the horizon and the warmer weather with us, we should all be careful to make sure windows and doors that are out of sight when we are using our pools or just sunbathing, are closed and secured against opportunistic thieves.

And all garden tools, etc, should be locked away when they are not being used.

Sargento Gabriel says that one of the GNR’s biggest headaches is the issue of people leaving valuables in their cars in full view of anyone passing, especially on and around Aljezur’s beautiful beaches.

He says you might as well put a sign in your car window saying: “Break in and steal me.”

He repeated the advice he has issued before:

“Really, it goes without saying that you should not leave any valuables at all in the car, not just to put them out of sight.

“Opportunist thieves tend not to break into cars where they cannot see anything of value. But there are exceptions to the rule and once a thief has broken or forced a window and got into the car they can then open the boot and take any valuables left there.

“So take only what you need on the beach, and don’t leave any of that in your vehicle.

“And of course, while you are relaxing on the beach make sure that when you go away from your ‘base camp’, to swim or maybe to go and buy a drink or ice cream, at least one person always stays behind to guard your belongings.”

Gabriel also advises you not to leave personal effects like your driver’s licence and passport in your glove compartments.

“When you go out in your car within the Aljezur region you can carry a copy of your licence and your passport, which will service as identification should my officers stop you,” he said. “That will be sufficient in this area, although other areas may want to see the original documents.

“It would also help, but is not absolutely neccessary, that this copy has been signed by a solicitor or notary to help verify the details.”

So, whether you have taken a drive out to one of those beaches, either for a swim or to use of the beach bars, or your visitors and guests are planning a day on the beach, remember Gabriel’s advice:

• If possible leave all your valuables at home.
• Whatever you felt you needed to take to the beach, either lock it in the boot of your car out of sight, or take it with you when you exit your vehicle.

*           *           *           *

One growing problem causing the GNR some concern is the number of cars speeding on the main roads through Vales and Vale da Telha, especially the wide thoroughfare from the Pines roundabout down past the tennis courts heading for Monte Clerigo.

Gabriel says this developing into a serious problem and his officers are now on the lookout for offenders. He warns he could even be forced to borrow a speed radar camera from Lagos if the problem doesn’t cease.

Amovate has talked to the Camara about installing speed bumps much like the permanent fixtures located in Marmelete on the road towards Monchique. But, again, budget issues have raised their ugly head.

Amovate does feel that the considerable sums of money flowing down the hill into the Camara’s coffers from the Vale da Telha area never manage to flow back UP the hill to be spent on improvements in this area.

And that is something we plan to tackle head on with the Camara in the coming months as we feel VdT is wilfully neglected by the Camara President and his officials, despite their high-sounding promises when we meet with them.

Incidentally, while we are on the subject of the road from the Pines roundabout towards Monte Clerigo, residents should realise that you cannot legally park on the far side of the road opposite Roque’s supermarket.

One problem is that the Camara has positioned the sign warning of this too far away and people don’t always realise it is an offence.

And the GNR are concerned about some rather careless parking outside Roque’s even where it is OK to park. To use an expression from back home they want you to “park prettily” and don’t leave your car a few feet from the kerbside, or at an angle, or even double-parked as sometimes happens.

Gabriel also says that they have recorded incidents in the late evenings of cars having to swerve at the last moment to avoid people out walking, or cycling in dark clothing.

Obviously cyclists should ensure they have front and rear lights on their bikes. But both cyclists and walkers can minimise the danger to themselves by wearing brightly coloured clothing or even the fluorescent jackets of the type required by drivers at the site of a vehicle breakdown, and which are cheap enough to buy.

*           *           *           *

One last issue again raised by residents is an old subject but one that keeps coming back – DOGS.

But as Gabriel observed drily when we broached the subject with him: “Dogs are not the problem—owners are!”

He says it is something they are constantly attempting to address, and revealed that Sector E has the biggest problem, with dogs getting loose, chasing cars, foulling the streets, attacking other dogs walking with their owners.

Unfortunately, we understand that the Camara has dispensed with the veterinarian as part of their cost-cutting measures which has effectively tied the hands of the GNR when it comes to dealing with this nuisance.

As an organisation Amovate really feels the Camara should be more pro-active in controlling the problem.

The police go to the villas, talk to the owners and they are even fined –twice in the case of one owner we are aware of.

Gabriel says they will continue to do this. But Amovate’s own advice is for groups of neighbours suffering in this regard to approach the errant owners reasonably and responsibly, ask for a friendly discussion and point out just how upsetting the situation is, asking for the owner’s co-operation in resolving the issue.

If that doesn’t work, they should, as a group, make the owner aware that their next step will be to involve the police. Hopefully, this will be enough of a deterrent to make him control his dogs.

If it doesn’t…then INVOLVE the police!!

Have a safe and enjoyable summer,

THE AMOVATE COMMITTEE.

**Sergeant Gabriel has been back in touch with us to warn us of a potential new threat to home security.

And the bottom line is to check the ID of everyone coming to your home expecting access for one of the utility companies, or a “cold-calling” visitor trying to sell something.

An Arrifana resident, discovering his computer phone connection wasn’t working, rang PT to report the fault.

Two hours later a man came to the door, said he was from PT, stepped into the house, checked the box on the wall, put everything back, gave the resident a number to call, and left.

The connection still wasn’t working, so he rang the number he’d been given, and there was no answer.

He then rang the original PT number and was told no-one had yet been sent out.

It’s difficult to pinpoint what happened—whether the caller had interfered with the line outside the house to disconnect it, before returning later, saying he’d come to repair it, or perhaps he knew with the power failures some houses could have a problem.

Either way, by gaining access this individual could have been “casing the joint” as they say, checking the layout and whether there was anything worth stealing.

Gabriel says it is important that householders allow no-pone into their homes before carefully checking they are who they say they are. It might even mean asking that caller to wait outside while the householder rings PT or EDP to check they have sent someone.

The simple message is—be alert and be careful!