Police support 'Nominated Neighbour' scheme

Police are asking the public to help look after vulnerable residents

Police in the Causeway Coast and Glens region are asking residents to look after their more vulnerable neighbours.  The PSNI are promoting a 'Nominated Neighbour' scheme to deal with potential cold callers.

The nominated neighbour scheme allows older or more vulnerable residents to designate somebody to handle callers to their house.  That way the 'nominated neighbour' can then go about checking the caller's identity on their behalf

In practice, the scheme allows a vulnerable resident to supply a caller with a card, informing them of their designted neighbour.  Then the caller can go about confirming their identity with a neigbour.  That means the vulnerable resident need not open their door to a caller they do not recognise.

Police also have a 'Quickcheck Number on 0800 013 22 90 to check if a caller is genuine. The 24-hour freephone service enables householders to challenge and independently verify the identity of anyone calling at their door.

The call is free and will be answered by a trained operator. They will take the details of the company, which the caller claims to be visiting on behalf of, and then contact the organisation to determine if the caller is genuine. If there is anything suspicious the operator will contact police directly.

The advice comes on the back of incidents such as last week's 'distraction Burglary' of an elderly woman in Ballycastle.  Furthermore, Police received several reports of cold callers in the Ballycastle area last week.

And while they did say that there was nothing to suggest the latter callers weren't genuine,  police are simply advising greater care of our more vulnerable residents.

The police have also provided a series of guidelines for people to deal with callers they aren't fully aware of:

•             Think before you open the door – use your chain and spy hole or look out of the window to see if you recognise them.

•             Ask callers for proof of identity. Genuine tradesmen should carry a photographic identification card. Check this carefully.

•             Be wary of callers who attempt to distract you by claiming that they have seen something untoward in your rear garden or somewhere that may encourage you to leave your house – they may have an accomplice who is waiting to act upon this distraction.

•             If you are not convinced of the identity of the caller, don’t let them in. Ask the caller to come back later and arrange for a friend, relative or neighbour to be present on their return.