Kent Police Update - January 2025

Happy New Year! Many of you may be entering the new year with new year resolutions and goals that you wish to achieve in the coming year. This may include improving your fitness.

Running and cycling have always been popular forms of exercise due to their low cost and convenience. However, there are risks involved with these activities, and you should be mindful of your own personal safety when out exercising.

Be safe, be seen:
The best advice will always be to exercise in daylight hours. However, the opportunity to do this becomes significantly less in the winter months. Try and select routes that are well lit and wear reflective clothing to maximise how visible you are to other users. If you do not have access to this type of clothing, try wearing bright clothing or consider the use of reflective bands that can be purchased at a relatively cheap price.

Securing valuable items:
It has become commonplace for people to use mobile phones when exercising to track activities using the phone’s GPS features or to listen to music. However, having such expensive items on show can make you vulnerable to an opportunist thief who could easily snatch a mobile phone out of your hand. There are several harnesses and straps that can be purchased that will secure your device to your body. Not only does this keep your hands free, but it also makes it more difficult for it to be damaged or stolen.

Safety apps:
There are several apps that can be installed onto your mobile phone that can be useful when out exercising. One of these apps, “ROAD Id” is an app that is able to track your location via the phone’s GPS. If for any reason you are faced with a situation where you feel that you are at risk, you can press the red SOS button which will then send your exact location to nominated contacts on your phone.

As always, we would like to hear from you about any issues you are having, vulnerable persons living in your area and any reports of outstanding community work that have been done. We truly believe working in partnership with the local community to achieve the same common goal of:

Creating a safe, clean and caring community that we can be proud of and for others to aspire to.

Please contact police on 999 in an emergency or via 101 or the Kent Police website for non-urgent reporting.

Written by:
PC Jason Hills 13501
PC for Central Harbour Ward