Reporting suspicious activity

[Daydream believer]

Today 3 foreign guys with limited English language skills turned up at our club. They spoke to a club member who told them about membership cost. then they went off in an inflatable RIB
Apparently they were allowed to drive their car onto the dinghy park & they were allowed to launch from our ramp
I saw them as they were packing up after their return.. I questioned them about where they had come from - London- was the best i could give. As we are a non motor boat club I asked if they had a sailboat & they did not know what that was. They said that they had another RIB at home.
The Inflatable they had was brand new with new large out board. They had a large electric depth sounder unit - not the sort of thing one might normally have on a small RIB, with GPS viewer which they said was a fish finder. I asked if they had seen & caught any fish. They said they had not caught any fish but later I realised that I had seen neither rods nor bait . They said that they had been along the other side of the river.
Everything was brand new & my friend tells me it was all packed into a container & placed into a new expensive car. The outboard was placed upside down so will have oil leakage issues.
the whole thing . Everything was one of types totally ignorant of using the RIB for normal use.
I have the suspicion that they were possibly searching the other side of the river where the creek runs into the shore & make landing easy at night onto a pretty deserted area of land.
Unfortunately I did not take any pictures
Would forumites report this to border force & if so is there a local bobby that one can just chat to because from looking on the internet it seems one has to put the event details online etc
I just have the feeling that something is being set up & it might be worth someone keeping an eye out.
Am i wasting my time?

 

[sarabande]

CCTV in any adjacent properties ?

 

[Poignard]

I think you are right to be concerned and if you give the car registration number to the police they can investigate.

 

[tillergirl]

DON'T DELAY!

"Unfortunately with lock down lifting and boat owners returning to their boats a number of thefts and instances of damage have occurred…

Essex Police encourage all Marine Watch members to think about what you are actually seeing as you are out and about, at the marina, your moorings, on your boat or indeed anywhere else.

• Did anything catch your eye in particular?
• What made you look?
• Was it suspicious?
• What time did it occur and where?
• If you thought it was suspicious then report it as soon as possible. It is easy to convince yourself after the event that what you saw was wasn’t suspicious.
• Do not put yourself at risk from harm.
• If you have information in relation to a suspicious vehicle or boat, please provide us with description details including Make, Type, Colour and Name or ID markings where possible.

Please do not feel that you will be wasting police time. The information you provide may proof useful in an investigation, or as intelligence for future response. Remember to tell the call taker that you are part of a Watch scheme and be proud that you are looking out for others."

For Crimes and suspicious activity NOW phone	999
For other non-urgent contact and reporting a crime that has already happened	101
Alternatively you can report non-urgent incidents or suspicious activity and crimes online at https://www.essex.police.uk/ and click on the appropriate button

@EPMarine is the Essex Police Marine Unit

 

[Plum]

Today 3 foreign guys with limited English language skills turned up at our club. They spoke to a club member who told them about membership cost. then they went off in an inflatable RIB
Apparently they were allowed to drive their car onto the dinghy park & they were allowed to launch from our ramp
I saw them as they were packing up after their return.. I questioned them about where they had come from - London- was the best i could give. As we are a non motor boat club I asked if they had a sailboat & they did not know what that was. They said that they had another RIB at home.
The Inflatable they had was brand new with new large out board. They had a large electric depth sounder unit - not the sort of thing one might normally have on a small RIB, with GPS viewer which they said was a fish finder. I asked if they had seen & caught any fish. They said they had not caught any fish but later I realised that I had seen neither rods nor bait . They said that they had been along the other side of the river.
Everything was brand new & my friend tells me it was all packed into a container & placed into a new expensive car. The outboard was placed upside down so will have oil leakage issues.
the whole thing . Everything was one of types totally ignorant of using the RIB for normal use.
I have the suspicion that they were possibly searching the other side of the river where the creek runs into the shore & make landing easy at night onto a pretty deserted area of land.
Unfortunately I did not take any pictures
Would forumites report this to border force & if so is there a local bobby that one can just chat to because from looking on the internet it seems one has to put the event details online etc
I just have the feeling that something is being set up & it might be worth someone keeping an eye out.
Am i wasting my time?

Please always report such worries. See here Report suspicious behaviour at sea: Project Kraken

www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[jon and michie]

something doesnt add up and sounds dodgy.
you say new expensive car and ribs - I take it when you say creek I we talking the river roach - which is only a stones throw from the north sea.
if they are planning anything this could be anything from people smuggling, drugs to terrorism.

if your gut instinct is telling you something isnt right then it generally isnt -- call the essex plod even if it is all innocent then nobody has anything to hide.

 

[Daydream believer]

something doesnt add up and sounds dodgy.
you say new expensive car and ribs - I take it when you say creek I we talking the river roach - which is only a stones throw from the north sea.
if they are planning anything this could be anything from people smuggling, drugs to terrorism.

if your gut instinct is telling you something isnt right then it generally isnt -- call the essex plod even if it is all innocent then nobody has anything to hide.

Stone Sailing club is on the Blackwater, not the Crouch. There is a small creek that runs in behind the sand banks ( I assume it still does) just to the west of the Thistlet.
Many years ago a fishing boat used to anchor there. There is a small area of shingle on the shore shore & presumably a road nearby, because one would sometimes see people sunbathing by the sea wall

 

[Scotsailor]

So some people go boating on the Blackwater. If they had dubious intentions why would they launch in such an obvious place. And ask about membership. … I can’t see that the police would have any reason to be interested.

 

[Black Sheep]

I asked if they had a sailboat & they did not know what that was.

That's the problem - if you'd asked about a sailing boat they'd have understood!

 

[Adios]

So some people go boating on the Blackwater. If they had dubious intentions why would they launch in such an obvious place. And ask about membership. … I can’t see that the police would have any reason to be interested.

its impossible to launch a large rib without a slipway. Membership would get them a key for 24 hour access. If its the smallest least CCTV covered slipway its ideal. The police have plenty of reasons to be interested in the eastern european mafias sex traffic of children. Heroin smuggling. etc

 

[snowbird30ds]

I'd have spoken to borderforce and police before even thinking of asking here, sounds way too dodgy.

 

[Adios]

Unfortunately I did not take any pictures

"Hey nice boat" pull out phone to take a photo of them with their boat... How angry they got would have told you everything you needed to know.

 

[johnalison]

"Hey nice boat" pull out phone to take a photo of them with their boat... How angry they got would have told you everything you needed to know.

You would need to survive to make use of the information.

 

[Adios]

You would need to survive to make use of the information.

They'd either stand proudly next to it or be some shade of uncomfortable/upset about it. At most they might take your phone but even that will draw more attention to themselves. Either way probably not come back rather than murder someone and have the trouble that would cause.

 

[jon and michie]

Stone Sailing club is on the Blackwater, not the Crouch.

Ah - I didn't see you mentioning that in your original post - I did see your based in Southminster hence taking a calculated guess it had to be either the black water or the crouch.

 

[Capt Popeye]

My take is that the Club should really have CCTV plus other Audio Alarms fitted up; In this Day and Age guess that the club is a sitting duck for theft without such devices for protection

My guess is that anybody turning up the first thing they will ask if approached is - whats the membership fees ? - its a very good opening gambit that would often put anyone off their guard, a sort of Disabling The Club Member stroke at first blow

 

[PeterWright]

The police guidance which Tiller girl posted above is clear:

"Please do not feel that you will be wasting police time. The information you provide may proof useful in an investigation, or as intelligence for future response. Remember to tell the call taker that you are part of a Watch scheme and be proud that you are looking out for others."

In my view you should follow it without further delay - you have nothing to loose - their website is the modern equivalent of the local bobby to talk to.

Peter

 

[AntarcticPilot]

If in doubt, report it.

 

[tillergirl]

A reply to Scotsailor: the police will be very interested. The Marine Unit is small, covering a vast area. Land based police are hugely overstretched. Marine thefts will seldom be successfully investigated after the event: there will be no eye witnesses, and forensic very unlikely. So for the police, if the theft is a one off spontaneous event, the chances are now zero.

The Marine Unit is small as I said, indeed land based police are overstretched so it is essential for them need to know as much information as possible to enable them to make judgments about deployment - regular or special. Even an unsuccessful attempt to steal from a boat MUST be reported even if the owner shrugs his or her shoulders and gets on with life. It is all about trying to enable the Police to build up a picture. 'DB' thread might be innocent, it might not. It might be terrorism, it might be about trafficking (peeps or property). Please, please do NOT think that criminal are sloppy and incompetent. Some may be but most NO. Some of them are highly skilled at that job. They research every aspect of what they intend to do - so example if you wanted to land an RIB full of immigrants how about 'innocently' mouching around looking for the ideal spots. Note for example traffickers will know that the common Calais - Dover route is receiving special attention. They will want to retain their livilihood so they will cast around to a more successful route. So they need to research. And note the spate of dinghy and other thefts last autumn. It could be for Boat Jumbles but another scenario is the trouble that organsers will have with the precursors - i.e. small dinghies that are dropped mid channel for punters to aim for Dover. Each such small dinghy is seized by us so they need more. We can be sure that the French Police are trying to stop such thefts on their coats - indeed there may be few left to steal! So when we were attacked the primary object was dinghies and outboards. Another scenario could be wealthy punters want to avoid being collected by the authorities and made to go through the ayslum rig. They would pay for a larger RIB that lands them safely where they are met by a car. Other scenarios will exist. The Police have to try and work out where their resources are deployed for trafficking/smuggling, thefts etc. Unless we provide the raw material - information - they will be significantly hampered.

Sorry to drone on. I tried to give this up after 40 years.

 

[Daydream believer]

As an update - i spoke to the lady who let them in to the club. They offered to pay the £ 290-00 club membership fee there & then . Also I thought they had been fishing & when I asked them if they had seen any fish they said they had. I then asked them if they had caught any, but they said that they had not had any luck. It appears that they did not actually have any fishing rods whatsoever.
We are looking to see if their brand new 80 grand merc appears on the club CCTV