Posted 04/03/2010

A TRIAL scheme using mobile phone texts to get police messages across will be rolled out across West Oxfordshire.

West Oxfordshire Safer Communities Partnership — a partnership between Thames Valley Police and West Oxfordshire District Council — has invested in two Bluetooth kits, costing almost £2,000.

Those with Bluetooth activated on their mobile phones will receive messages reminding them to use licensed taxis, to keep their belongings safe, and to watch that their drinks don’t get spiked.

It could also be used to appeal for information about crimes in the area.

Bluetooth was used for the first time by Thames Valley Police in Witney in November.

Ron Spurs, principal community safety and licensing officer at the district council, said: “The trial was to hit a hard-to-reach age group, 18- to 30-year-olds, as most mobile phones are Bluetooth-enabled.

“It’s everyday stuff that you would think that people would take as the normal, but it’s reinforcing the message that not everybody gets into licensed taxis.”

The messages can be picked up by anyone within a 300 sq m area.

Community warden Kathryn James, who can move the Bluetooth kits to different areas, said: “When I was that age, it certainly made me think twice if something popped up about taking a licensed taxi home.”

The kits, which can be set up in a permanent location as well as being moved from place to place, will be used straight away.

Posters will be put up across the district telling people about the messaging system, to ensure that they turn on their Bluetooth.

Simon Collins, West Oxfordshire schools officer, said: “If people do have Bluetooth on their phones, one of things that will stop us from getting the hits is if people don’t have it enabled.”

More than 2,000 Bluetooth messages were sent out in November, when the scheme was first trialled in Witney.

It was also used in December by police in Oxford to remind women of the dangers of falling victim to drunken sex attacks.

The technology was used by police on Merseyside to appeal for information to help find the killer of schoolboy Rhys Jones. Sean Mercer, 18, was subsequently convicted of shooting dead the youngster outside a Liverpool pub in 2007.