From attending murder scenes and assaults, to homes and commercial properties where burglaries have taken place, the main job of a Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) is to gather information and evidence.

But unlike a popular television programme of the same name, real crime is not solved in 45 minutes.

Once the Crime Scene Investigators have recovered the evidence it goes to various departments for analysis. They don’t go back to a lab and put the evidence through a database. The results of the tests are then provided to investigators.

CSI Fact File:

• There are 45 CSIs working for the Police Service

• On average a CSI attends 400 crime scenes in a year

• A CSI can collect between one or several hundred items from one crime scene

• They are available to our officers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Keeping People Safe

To get in touch and find out more

Real life Crime Scene Investigation

Following on from its launch last year, we would like to remind you of the 101 non-emergency number to contact the police. Since March 2014, our call handlers have received numerous calls to 999 that should have been to the 101 non-emergency number.

Call 101When sharing or seeking information or reporting:

• Minor traffic offences

• Minor damage to property

• Theft of property (when a crime has already taken place)

• Giving information about issues affecting your community (including drugs and anti-social behaviour).

Call 999When sharing or seeking information or reporting:

• When there’s a danger to life

• When violence is used or being threatened

• When someone is injured

• When a crime is in progress

• When there has been serious damage caused to property.

For more information about when to call 101 or 999 visit psni.police.uk

101IN AN EMERGENCYALWAYS CALL 999

CALL THEPOLICE

Keeping People Safe

Domestic abuse is a crime that affects and can be committed by both men and women, and is one we take very seriously. We are committed to the protection and welfare of victims, and will continue to help and support them.

Domestic abuse is an under-reported crime, with victims often sustaining prolonged episodes of violence or abuse before seeking help against the perpetrator.

We would strongly encourage anyone suffering from domestic abuse to contact police in an emergency on 999 or the non-emergency number 101.

A 24-hour Domestic and Sexual Violence Helpline is available to anyone who has concerns about domestic or sexual violence, now or in the past, on 0808 802 1414.

Reportingdomestic abuse

Social media

If you would like to stay

updated with what we’re

doing in your community,

search for ‘PSNI’ along

with your area on

Facebook and Twitter.

Engagement and communicat ion are at the

heart of policing and social media is enabling

us to do this on a much larger scale than

previously possible .

We now have an audience of over 370,000

users across our Facebook pages and

Twit ter feeds, prov iding us with huge

opportunit ie s to share, consult, inform and

discuss ways of improv ing the ser v ice we

de li ver to local communit ie s.

Like www.facebook.com/PoliceServiceNI

Followwww.twitter.com /policeserviceni

Watchwww.youtube.com/user/PoliceServiceNI

Click www.psni.police.uk

Call101

To access a copy of this document in an alternative format (including large print, audio CD or in minority ethnic languages) email: section75@psni.pnn.police.uk or call 101.

Keeping People Safe

Keeping People SafeApril 2015

Meet your local team

Left to right: Chief Inspector Catherine Magee, Superintendent John Magilland T/Chief Inspector Mark McClarence (not pictured).

Our new Policing Districts will refl ect the new Council titles. Therefore the names of our Districts may change depending on forthcoming local government decisions, but were correct at the time of going to print.

in Causeway Coast and Glens District

Our job is to keep people safe. We want to do that by policing alongside you, providing a speedy, effective service but also taking the time to listen to you and play our part in making our communities safer and more confi dent places to live and work in.

We are changing your policing to be more responsive to the needs of your community.

Across Northern Ireland our 26 Local Policing Teams will work with local detectives to tackle crime in your communities. Your Local Policing Teams will be based in Coleraine and Limavady and will be available 24/7 to come to help you. They will work with you on community problems, provide advice and reassurance and spend time learning about what most

affects your community and how we can work with you to improve your safety and quality of life.

Across Northern Ireland,there will also be 34 dedicated Neighbourhood Policing Teams which will be focussed on tackling the most diffi cult crime and safety issues faced by communities.

They will be committed to building long term relationships, addressing complex anti-social behaviour problems and helping communities resolve confl icts in the areas most affected by high levels of crime.

Your District will have two Neighbourhood Policing Teams based in Ballycastle and Coleraine stations. They will be mobile and sent to areas where they are most needed.

We will be working closely with your local council, health trusts, schools and other key organisations to ensure that we provide the very best service to you and your community.

Your new District Commander for Causeway Coast and Glens District is Superintendent John Magill. He is supported by Chief Inspector Catherine Magee and T/Chief Inspector Mark McClarence.

They will be responsible for all aspects of local policing and setting the District’s policing priorities along with the Policing and Community Safety Partnership.

An emerging threat for all of us is cybercrime.

A recent survey indicated that one in three people here has been a victim of online crime, yet just under half of these reported the crime. We have specialist teams in Serious and Organised Crime Branches working with partner agencies across the world to reduce the threat and identify those responsible.

You can help yourself Get Safe Online by following these simple steps.

Our Air Support Unit (ASU) is a vital tool that we use to keep people safe. We’re proud to have the most diverse ASU in the UK, consisting of two fixed wing planes, three helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

In 2014, our Air Support Unit received over 4,000 requests from District colleagues, ranging from following suspects from crime scenes to robberies, vehicle crime, casualty evacuation, missing people cases, public order situations and terrorist incidents.

The addition of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to the fleet has increased our efficiency and effectiveness. We will continue to deploy new technologies such as these to help us keep up with the varied demands of the Service and the community.

The Rowan is a specialist regional centre in Northern Ireland that provides a range of support and services for victims of sexual violence, including rape and sexual abuse, whether this has occurred recently or in the past.

The purpose of the Rowan is to provide a one-stop location for all victims, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, ability or sexual orientation. The state of the art facility provides 24 hour care and support, 365 days a year to victims in the aftermath of sexual assault, including access to specially trained doctors and nurses.

Victims will have telephone access to a trained Rowan nurse, who will arrange an appointment to attend the centre.

Freephone 0800 389 4424 or visit www.therowan.netfor more information.

Keep contact details up-to-date: ensure your bank has up-to-date mobile/telephone contact numbers for you so they can speak to you if they spot unusual or suspicious activity on your account.

Get up-to-date security software: make sure your computer and web-enabled phone are protected with up-to-date internet security software.

Look for the ‘S’: always ensure when transacting online that the URL starts HTTPS rather than HTTP or has the gold padlock icon. Only use official Apps for mobile banking.

Treat all unsolicited emails with caution: don’t click on links or open attachments in emails you weren’t expecting or are not sure about. Only ever access your internet banking or shopping sites by typing the address into your browser. Never go to a website from a link in an email and then enter personal details.

Use strong passwords: passwords should have a mix of letters (upper and lower case), numbers and symbols. Avoid obvious things like your name, birthday, pet’s names or phone numbers that others can easily guess.

Be cautious with online auctions: for higher value items, such as cars and other vehicles, make sure you always see the items before sending any money and always use the insured methods of payment for the internet site rather than sending direct payments to a seller.

For more tips on staying safe online, visit www.GetSafeOnline.org

Get Safe Online

The RowanCentre

Close it, Lock it, Check it

Nearly half of all burglaries in Northern Ireland are

walk-ins, where thieves get into homes through unlocked

windows and doors.

By taking a few minutes each day to properly secure your property, you can help protect your home from burglars. Our ‘Close it, Lock it, Check it’ campaign identifies some quick and easy steps you can take to look after your property:

• Close, lock and check all windows and doors every time you leave your home

• Always lock garages and sheds

• Never leave keys in visible sight of thieves

• If you are going on holiday make sure you cut the grass, cancel milk and paper deliveries and use timer switches to turn on lights

• Make a note of your belongings, serial numbers and mark your property in a way that makes it unique to you

• Ask your neighbours to keep an eye on your home, and do the same for them.

High flyers

Road SafetyLast year, 79 people were killed on our roads in collisions and many more seriously injured.

Inattention, speed and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol are consistently the principal causes of the most serious road traffic collisions in which people are killed or seriously injured on Northern Ireland roads.

By working together, we can all help make our roads a much safer place. We will continue to enforce the law and run road safety operations across Northern Ireland to highlight the road safety message. In addition, we will be working alongside our An Garda Síochána Traffic Corps colleagues to ensure a coordinated operational approach in the border counties, specifically looking for road users and pedestrians taking unnecessary and potentially life-changing risks. But our role is very much secondary.

We can all play our part in helping to reduce avoidable road traffic collisions by remembering the following advice:

• Don’t speed

• Always wear a seatbelt

• Never drink or take drugs and drive

• Don’t use your mobile phone

• Pay greater attention to the road and your surroundings whether you’re driving, cycling or crossing the road.

Drugs are an issue across all communities and whilst police work hard to tackle drug dealing, we continue to need the support of local communities in doing this.

During the first eight months of this financial year we seized more than £10 million worth of drugs. There have been 3,489 drug seizure incidents and 2,149 people arrested for drugs offences.

Policing and Community Safety Partnerships, Crimestoppers, local communities, police and partner agencies are working together to highlight drug-related issues. We are raising awareness, enforcement and rehabilitation, and reminding communities that they hold the key to taking drug dealers off the street.

If you have any information about drug dealing in your area, call the police on 101, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A wake up call for drug dealersEffective policing is about working in partnership with communities to help identify and solve local problems.

You can have a say on how policing is being shaped in your local community through the work of Policing and Community Safety Partnerships (PCSPs). PCSPs hold a range of events, meetings and consultations in your community so you can have a say on the policing and community safety issues that affect you.

Following the Local Government Reforms in April 2015, councils will reduce from 26 to 11, as will PCSPs. Although the structure of the PCSPs will be changing, the important work they do in the community will stay the same.

You can stay updated at: www.pcsps.org on www.facebook.com/pcsps or on Twitter: @pcsp_s

Working together in the community

PCSP Members launch a campaign to raise awareness of Child Sexual Exploitation.

During 2014 we performed 12 casualty evacuations and participated in over 250 missing people searches.

Hate crime is a strategic priority for police. As part of

our commitment to tackling all forms of hate crime, we work closely with multi-agency groups to encourage greater reporting and increase support for victims. We have specific aims to increase reporting, ensure high quality responses and investigations, support victims and bring offenders to justice. But our policing response can only be as successful as the information we receive.

To do this, we need as much information from the public as they can provide so that our response is as effective as possible. We are also encouraging all victims to feel confident enough to contact their

local police and report these incidents so we can deal with them effectively.

There are a number of ways to report a hate crime to us – via our 101 telephone number and selecting option 2 – it offers a function to translate calls from both victims and members of the public into nearly 50 languages.

Hate crimes can also be reported online via our website: www.psni.police.uk

Alternatively, information can be given anonymously through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Tackling hate crime

Hate crime is unacceptable.

Nobody deserves it. To stop it, report it.