As young people in Hornsey & Wood Green returned to school, I have been in contact with Haringey Police to discuss their plans for increased patrols.

You can read my summer update here following my high-level meeting with the Police, the Council’s community safety officers, the Head of the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit, and my Haringey colleague David Lammy MP back in July to specifically discuss preventing youth violence and keeping our streets safe over the summer.

Whilst I am pleased to report that Police statistics show fewer reports of robberies in the Alexandra Park and Muswell Hill area over the summer, it’s important that young people can feel safe as they return to school.  Haringey Police have told me they are putting in place a “back-to-school” plan with patrols by officers during peak times to ensure a strong, preventative presence in the area and to reassure children and parents.  School officers and ward teams will also be working together to conduct crime prevention initiatives to help children know how they can reduce the chances of mobile phone theft and how to report to ensure perpetrators can be tracked down as soon as possible.

I will continue to keep this issue high on my agenda in my regular meetings with Haringey Police and I will be holding an advice surgery in Alexandra Park Library in September together with the local Safer Neighbourhood Police Team.  Please get in touch with my office if you would like to book an appointment.

Haringey Police have also provided this information on how to protect yourself against mobile phone theft and what to do if this happens to you:

• Hide it – Keep your mobile phone and valuables out of sight. If you’re using your phone it’s more likely to be snatched from your hand as you’re not paying attention to your surroundings, so look around you.
• Be aware of your surroundings and only use your mobile when it feels safe to.
• When you’ve finished using it, put it away.

If your phone gets stolen:

• Ask someone to call 999 as soon as possible
• Give the police your phone tracking information as soon as possible (see the advice below)

Things to do now that will help if your phone gets stolen:

Secure your phone

Use your phone’s security features to stop someone using your phone if it’s stolen. Choose a strong PIN, passcode, password or pattern.

Get your IMEI number

Get your phone’s IMEI number by typing *#06# on your phone keypad. Keep a note of it somewhere other than on your phone. The IMEI can help track the phone down if it’s lost or stolen.

Use a tracking app

Set up a tracking app on your phone so you can see where it is from another device like a laptop. Use it as soon as possible, before thieves have a chance to disable it.

Turn off message previews

Turn off message previews, so that thieves won’t see any messages about reset or login codes when your phone is locked.

Make sure you can still access your data

Make sure:

• your phone data is regularly being backed up, either automatically over wifi or by plugging it into a computer
• there’s somewhere else you can get access codes sent to (two-factor authentication codes) to access your data from another device
• you keep important information like family and friends’ phone numbers and passwords somewhere else secure, not just on your phone

Help setting your phone up

See your device’s help pages for help with device location tracking, account recovery and message preview settings.

Apple help pages for iPhones

Google help pages for Android phones