Clampdown on con artists forms part of new Garda campaign

As a national Garda campaign is rolled out this weekend with a view to supporting safer communities, the Cavan District Superintendent warned the public to be wary of con artists, purporting to sell laptops and other items. According to Supt Jimmy Coen, people in the Cavan area have been conned out of large sums of cash and are left holding packages of milk cartons or bags of flour. In this con people are approached in public areas, such as business forecourts and pressurised into purchasing a wide variety of items. Typically items include jewellery, cigarettes, mobile phones and laptops. "We are aware of a number of incidents and we are investigating where injured parties have been conned out of significant amounts of cash and received packages with milk cartons, or bottles of water". Gardai are asking anybody that is approached or any business people that are aware of this type of criminal activity going on near their premises, to notify them and there will be an immediate response. The clampdown on con artisits is part of a Garda 'Supporting Safer Communities' campaign will run from Thursday, May 3 to Monday, May 7 nationwide, and Garda District including Cavan, Bailieboro and Ballyconnell will take part. Supt Coen from the Cavan Garda District told The Anglo-Celt that the main focus of the campaign is crime prevention and the reduction of burglaries, road safety, and supporting the victims of crime. With the advent of the new garda rosters which came into place on Monday of this week, Supt Coen gave assurances they have extra personnel available during peak policing hours. Gardai will be deployed on high visibility patrols and checkpoints to increase road safety with mandatory alcohol testing checkpoints, crime detection and prevention. "We are also appealing to farmers and contractors to be aware in regard to the safety of their vehicles, because their activities increase at this time of the year. They are asked to take extra care to reduce incidents of accidents". He said that 27% of burglaries occur by entry through the front door and 32% of burglars enter homes through unsecured or poorly secured doors. A quarter of all burglaries take place between noon and 4pm. Supt Coen said that by simply locking windows and doors, and taking more care, one in three burglaries could be prevented. He also called on people to act as good neighbours and to check for and be aware any suspicious activity in rural or urban areas and to immediately contact the gardai and they will respond.