Simple device to stop Slough purse snatchers
Slough police are holding an event in the town centre later this month to help shoppers defeat purse snatchers.
A team of Slough officers including Sgt Adam Wise, PCSOs Jagdip Sekhon and Steve Vaughan, Crime Reduction Officer Jason Ballantyne and a Neighbourhood Warden will set up a stand in The Observatory shopping centre on Saturday 19 May to hand out anti-theft devices.
The devices, called lanyards, consist of a spiral piece of nylon. A catch on one end attaches to a purse and a catch on the other end attaches to a handbag. If a thief tries to snatch a purse out of a bag they will discover it is attached to the bag and will usually drop it.
Police are hoping to fit several hundred of the devices to people’s bags free of charge. They will be in the shopping centre from 9.30am until around 4pm.
Jason Ballantyne explained: “There have been some incidents in Slough shops where people were bumped into, and when they tried to pay for their goods they found their purses had gone.”
The Slough town centre team came up with the idea last year and have already fitted hundreds of the lanyards to people’s handbags.
Jason Ballantyne added: “It’s simple but one of the best things that the police buy. They work and people love them.”
Thames Valley Police ~ Slough