The 'Too Much Bling? Give Us a Ring' campaign, relaunched by Leicestershire Police yesterdayWednesday, February 10, is encouraging residents to contact them anonymously if they believe people are living beyond their means from drug money or ill-gotten gains.

Using powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act, police can seize items bought using cash from criminal activity and then sell them at auction or on eBay, with the proceeds going back into community projects.

To mark the launch of the campaign, the Mail was invited to the secret location in Harborough district (see extra piece at the end of this article) in which some of the goods seized from criminals, such as high-performance cars, plasma TVs and expensive jewellery, are stored before being sold on.

Dep Chief Constable Gordon Fraser, of Leicestershire police, said: "This is an appeal to hard-working, honest members of the community to tell us if they have concerns about a neighbour who is living beyond their means. We're asking people with suspicions to tell us what they know so we can investigate."

The campaign was first launched in 2008, when calls from the public led police to seize cash and possessions worth £250,000 from 24 criminals across the county.

Dep Chief Constable Fraser said: "People who live a lavish lifestyle off crime can become icons in their neighbourhood and younger members of the community can start to look up to them.

"It's time to tackle the negative role models in our society."
The cash generated from the sale of the goods seized goes into a national pot for distribution to community projects such as Harborough Be Safe, which recently received £9,000 under the scheme.

The group helps elderly residents feel safe in their homes by fitting alarms, door and window locks and by offering crime prevention advice.
Harborough resident Necia Wolfe received door bars after she got in touch with Harborough Be Safe through her local Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

She also has security lighting and stickers outside her home warning it is alarmed and asking salesman not to call round.

She said: "I feel much more secure now. I would recommend anyone to go to Harborough Be Safe for advice."

Harborough Be Safe project leader Marion Lewis said: "The scheme is making good use of money which has been rightly returned to the community."

Secret location: A reporter's thoughts
IT'S like a scene from a Cold War spy thriller.

The warehouse in which Leicestershire police store luxury items seized from criminals is accessed via a dirt track in a secret location in Harborough district.

Travelling in convoy to the rendevous we emerge into what looks like a scrapyard, strewn with the rusty relics of cars and broken machinery and surrounded by trees.

As if sensing the mood, Mother Nature sends a flurry of snow our way, leaving our little part of south Leicestershire resembling the Russian Steppe in winter.

The building itself is perhaps 20 metres square and unimposing, but once inside I am presented with a kind of miniature car show room.

BMW X5s sit parked next to Land Rovers, a Mercedes, and motorbikes inclduing two Yamahas and a Triumph - all of them seized from their former owners because they were bought using the proceeds of crime.
On shelves next to the vehicles lay all the trappings of the sort of lavish lifestyle enjoyed by the criminals at the expense of their victims.

Home cinema and sound systems sit next to 42-inch plasma TVs, games consoles, computers, digital cameras, power tools, jewellery, even a pool table and two samurai swords.

There must be hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of goods in total.
"These goods have all been seized from people who have been prosecuted in court for various types of offences," explains Dep Chief Constable Gordon Fraser.

"They will be auctioned off and the proceeds returned to the tax payer through community projects.

"We're taking the cash out of crime and reinvesting it in making safer, more confident communities."