LAST week Inspector Paul Freeman completed his last day on duty before his retirement from the Met Police after over 30 years’ service.

The Deputy Borough Commander Neil Wilson and I persuaded Paul’s wife to arrive at the police station at 6.30am on his last morning serving as a police officer and we surprised Inspector Freeman, interrupting him as he was conducting his last briefing to his team.

I was pleased to say a few words of thanks to an outstanding officer.

On behalf of Harrow Borough I want to wish Paul and his family an enjoyable retirement and wish him well for the future after a varied police career working across London and in Royalty Protection.

This week both Detective Superintendent Neil Wilson and I have been on patrol on our bicycles carrying out anti-burglary patrols.

Unfortunately we tend to see an increase in burglaries during the autumn across London and in Harrow.

We are encouraging people to take three simple steps to reduce significantly the chances of their homes being broken into:

1) Use a combination of lights, radios and timer switches to make your home look occupied when you are out.

2) Ensure you lock doors and close windows when you leave your home (52 per cent of burglaries are committed through unlocked doors or open windows)

3) Fit a burglar alarm and set it. Burglars don’t like them.

This week’s police officer of the month is Sergeant Mark Pullen who leads the Greenhill Safer Neighbourhoods Team.

Last week Mark and his team executed a search warrant at an address in Harrow and discovered over 100 mature and immature cannabis plants.

The plants and the drugs paraphernalia have now been taken away and destroyed. Enquiries are ongoing.

If you have any information about cannabis factories or drug dealers on your street please, call police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Last week I attended the monthly Crimefighters meeting with all of London’s 32 Borough Commanders where I am held to account for crime reduction on the borough.

I am pleased to say that so far this year burglary is 12 per cent down in Harrow – this is a credit to all the officers and staff here at Harrow, but it is important that we are not complacent during the coming weeks and months and keep up the pressure on burglars.

I had a meeting with the UK Border Agency on how we can work more closely – they are assisting Harrow Police locate a foreign national who is wanted for attempted burglary.

The police will telephone local Neighbourhood Champions if a burglary occurs in their street – this enables the police to have ‘eyes and ears’ in more than 1,200 streets in Harrow.

Finally, I am meeting a member of the public who took decisive action against a burglar who was clearly not the sharpest tool in the box or, to be more accurate, not the sharpest tool in the shed.

On being discovered trying to break in to the man’s home, the burglar decided to hide in a garden shed to avoid capture.

The quick-thinking member of the public had the presence of mind to lock our ‘master criminal’ in the shed and call police, who were on patrol nearby, to arrest him.