Rushcliffe Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Tim Cuthbert updates the community on priorities and results across the borough.
Tim writes:
‘This month sees a refresh of our quarterly priorities, so we’ll start with them, and a quick explainer as to how, and why we’re focusing on these areas.’
- ASB in Parks & Green Spaces. We anticipate an increased use and enjoyment of the parks and green spaces in Rushcliffe over the summer months. An increase in events, footfall, and with the school holidays too, we see increased calls for service during the better weather. In order to ensure people are able to enjoy the spaces safely, we will seek to prioritise officer visibility and patrols in such areas, and along with Rushcliffe Borough Council, seek to disrupt and deter those who would spoil the enjoyment of others in such spaces.
- Shop Theft. As we are seeing nationally, shop theft is a persistent problem for our town centres and retail premises. This takes up a huge amount of officer time as we seek to manage the issue, so reducing the numbers encountered is a priority. We will continue to work with retail outlets in a variety of ways, including target hardening, plain clothes operations, and targeting persistent offenders through an array of measures and orders on conviction.
© westbridgfordwire.com
- Vehicle Theft. Whilst our numbers of vehicles stolen are relatively low compared to previous peaks, I’m conscious that we have a trend of similar incidents in the borough linked to a small group of offenders. We will continue to support the investigation teams who are collating and enforcing on these issues, and seek to prevent further offences by target hardening, crime prevention advice, as well as pro-active patrols and stop searching of persons who we feel may be involved in such offences where grounds allow.
‘Closing off our last quarter priorities, we saw a strong reduction in dwelling burglaries following the actions of my team, and some outstanding work from the CID burglary team too with key arrests and charges.
‘We have also seen some excellent results from some warrants executed over the last quarter to tackle drug crime, and most recently in June, we saw two males detained by the Neighbourhood Policing Team on suspicion of Possession with Intent to Supply Class A & B drugs in West Bridgford in an operation where tens of thousands of pounds worth of suspected crack cocaine and heroin, as well as cannabis, was discovered.
‘The males were also detained for assaulting emergency workers too, though thankfully no serious injuries were received. Well done to those involved in that job from the West Bridgford Team.’
© westbridgfordwire.com
‘As we come in to the summer period, we inevitably see an increase in demand for service from the Police.
‘This is due to people being out and about more, school summer holidays, increased numbers of events, sporting events, and alcohol related incidents. When demand peaks, our resources become stretched.
‘During this period, it is inevitable that front line police officers will need to be flexible about the types of demand they deal with, and my officers are no different. There will be occasions where the neighbourhoods team will be abstracted from their core duties to deal with serious offences outside of their usual remit, however this is a necessary process, and it’s what the public expect from Police… to adapt to, and deal with the most serious issues first. We will continue to deal with our local priorities as normal, however please understand that we cannot support every engagement request we have over the summer due to increased calls for service.’
‘You may have seen recently on our communications pages a reminder about the risks of swimming and jumping in to open water during the hotter weather. Last summer saw a significant decrease in the numbers of calls we had relating to this issue compared to previous years, specifically around the Holme Pierrepont area. I want to maintain that low number, as the risks lurking under the water are largely unseen, and underestimated. We don’t want to be utilising our Police diving unit or the Fire & Rescue service this summer to recover people who have got in to trouble or worse this summer.’
Take care.
Tim Cuthbert
Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Rushcliffe
