Early warning system to target criminals (From Gazette & Herald)

Early warning system to target criminals

AN EXCITING new system is about to be piloted in two Ryedale market towns to clamp down on crime against businesses.

Communi-txt is an early warning system that uses mobile phone text messages to tip off shopkeepers, licensees, taxi operators and other groups that criminals or troublemakers are in Malton and Norton.

At present, businesses in the Shopwatch scheme use a two-way radio scheme whereby members relay voice messages to one another. The radios cost £20 to £30 a month to hire and users have to pay a Government imposed £15 annual licence fee.

A similar scheme, Pub Watch, relies on a system of landlords making phone calls to one another in a pyramid system.

Glenn Eddery, who has brought the system to Ryedale, said that with the Communi-txt, business users registered their details. If an incident happened on their premises - for example a shopkeeper was visited by a suspected shoplifter - they would be able to let businesses in their area and the police know by sending a single text message.

The system can send up to 150,000 messages to one group of users in one minute.

It uses Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) to determine where the text was sent from and the information is added to the message, so users do not have to type out where they are.

All six major mobile phone networks - Vodaphone, Orange, 3, O2, T-Mobile and Virgin - have agreed to give text messages sent to different networks from phones enrolled on the scheme the same priority as those sent from the same network. There were 20 billion text sent this year. It is predicted that there'll be 30 billion texts sent this year and 133 million texts were sent at New Year, so the nation is well aware of how to text. This is a system that can be used by both young and old and uses the most utilised electrical device in Britain today. It's also low cost and very effective," said Mr Eddery.

Mr Eddery said that the system could be used to improve local Farm Watch and Neighbourhood Watch crime prevention schemes.

Peter Mudge, of Malton and Norton Initiative, said: "We're not saying that this is better than the system already in place, it's just more cost effective."

For more information about Communi-txt, phone the Malton and Norton Initiative office on 01653 692999 or e-mail office@maltonandnorton.com

Updated: 12:02 Wednesday, January 12, 2005