National expert praises Lincolnshire’s doorstep crime campaign

Lincolnshire’s Operation ‘REPEAT’, trains professionals and carers of elderly and vulnerable people in what to look for and the advice they should be giving if they think someone is a victim of doorstep crime, rogue trading or scams.

It is a collaborative project between Lincolnshire Trading Standards and Lincolnshire Police and has, to date, trained 831 professionals, who, on a daily basis, work with over 7,000 older and vulnerable people within Lincolnshire.

Expert Brian Steele said: “Doorstep crime continues to blight our communities and leaves many of our most vulnerable citizens scared, scarred and bankrupt.

“Tackling it is everyone’s responsibility. Lincolnshire is a great example of agencies working together in helping to inform and protect elderly people, and its Operation REPEAT is one of the best in the UK.”

Sergeant Caroline Broughton at Lincolnshire Police, said: “We are honoured that Brian has visited us today. He has so much experience and expertise in the area – having dealt with the murder of Isobel Gray and his subsequent research into doorstep criminals, so it was great to hear his thoughts on what we were doing – and on how we can improve further.”

Sally Gray, Senior Trading Standards Officer at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Rogue traders can be very persuasive and convincing in their approach and it can be very distressing and frightening and even life changing for an elderly or vulnerable person who is unaware of how to protect themselves, so the more we can do to help protect them, the better.”

Reg Burrell, Operation Repeat Director, added: “We know that vulnerable people are continually targeted by ruthless rogue traders, and we know that health and social care professionals are some of the best placed people to monitor those at risk of this type of crime.

“Research shows us that 80% of all such victims are already in receipt of health and social care services. As such our Operation REPEAT, which works directly with carers, is a key way of getting our safety messages to the right audience.

For the latest advice on doorstep crime and scams follow @lincsts @lincspolice.