Essex Police is launching a new initiative in the hope of driving bogus callers from the county.

Operation Grizzlybear, launched today, will target the callous thieves who con elderly residents out of thousands of pounds.

The move comes as figures show that the number of so-called artifice burglaries fell in 2002 compared to 2001.

There were 360 last year, compared with 527 the year before.

Operation Grizzlybear means that scenes of crime officers, who look for fingerprints and DNA clues, will give priority to bogus caller crimes.

A designated investigator will visit the scene and a dog unit and the force helicopter could also be called in to search the area.

Any information about the offence will be fed into a countywide database and victims will be offered crime prevention advice and the help of the victim support service.

Det Chief Insp Bob Seals, Essex Police's assistant director of intelligence, said: "Bogus callers are callous criminals who bring misery to innocent people and we are determined to take them out of circulation.

"Householders can do their bit towards the campaign by being on guard if a stranger knocks at their door and reporting anything suspicious immediately by phoning 999 for the police."

Published Monday, January 6, 2003

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