Rushcliffe Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Tim Cuthbert writes his monthly update.
Tim writes:
‘This time of year is always a poignant time as we remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defence of their country. There will be a large number of Remembrance Day events across the borough, and I’ll again be attending the event hosted by Rushcliffe Borough Council in West Bridgford on the morning of 11th November.
‘We do have several requests to attend and support events across Rushcliffe, however we are not always able to get to them all, as there are simply too many. If you do organise an event, and require any roads closing, or traffic marshalling, you need to contact Nottinghamshire County Council via their website for details as to how to go about that rather than the Police.
‘In line with one of our priorities, our Neighbourhood Policing Team will be joined by the Road Crime Team for several shifts in the coming weeks. You may be familiar with their exploits from the TV series ‘The Interceptors’, and the team will be targeting cars unlawfully on the road, drink drivers, and all manner of criminals who are active utilising the road system.
‘November also sees a focus on crimes which impact on businesses. Safer Business Action week will bring the spotlight on local businesses who are subject to thefts or other offences, and operations will be taking place to target retail crime offenders, as well as working with shops and businesses to ‘target harden’ where possible. This week will also support another of our local priorities, shop theft, as we also seek to utilise more innovative Police practice in order to save officer time, with such initiatives as direct charging. This practice could save several hours of officer time, freeing them up for more crime prevention patrols or other incidents, so I’m hoping the new scheme will be of benefit to the officers involved.’
‘The West Bridgford team have been busy dealing with several prisoners in the last few weeks linked to shop theft, with some superb results as listed in some of our other Facebook posts. This has led to a sustained reduction in shop theft numbers in the last two months, something we’re keen to maintain.’
‘Our Cotgrave teams have had some great results following the Op Dawntreader enforcement, leading to a three years and nine months sentence for Shawn Bancroft. Some great work done on that job, with more results likely to follow.’
‘In other crime updates, following a review, we have achieved around a 20% reduction in the reports of Anti-Social Behaviour year on year. ASB is one of the core focal points of our NPT work, and it’s pleasing to see the results which we’ve achieved so far. We will continue to pursue offenders linked to ASB where it is reported, and work with Rushcliffe Borough Council as well as organisations such as Positive Futures who support some of the young people in the area who have been involved in ASB, or linked to crime.
‘We have seen some instances of hare coursing in recent weeks. My team have been out and about speaking to those impacted, as well as seeking to disrupt those engaged in this activity, which can cause significant damage to land and property which can have a huge impact on rural businesses. Where you believe hare coursing is occurring, I’d urge you to report it, and we’ll do what we can to locate and detain those involved, and seize their vehicles too.
‘On a sad note, we’ve said goodbye to PC Matt Wilkinson who has transferred to Lincolnshire Police having served on the Op Reacher team in Rushcliffe, and more latterly, the Neighbourhood Policing Team at Bridgford. I’m sure Matt will take his pro-active mindset, and strong work ethic with him to Lincolnshire, and I wish him all the best in his new force area.’
Inspector Tim Cuthbert
Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Rushcliffe
