Nottingham City West officers arrested a suspect after receiving multiple reports of someone trying car door handles.
Aspley residents were woken up around 11.45 pm on Tuesday (14 May) by the sound of car alarms.
Within a few minutes of a call coming in, response officers spotted a suspect attempting to open a car door in nearby Minver Crescent.
A suspect was quickly detained at the scene and searched, with a Stanley knife then discovered in his bag.
A 32-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of vehicle interference and possessing a knife in a public place.
This arrest comes at a time when the City West neighbourhood policing team have been leading a targeted crackdown on thefts linked to cars and vans.
Following a spike in offending in Aspley, Bilborough and Leen Valley, thefts from vehicles were selected as a priority policing area for the City West team to focus on.
Extra operations and patrols of locations reported to be targeted by thieves have been stepped up in these areas since January as part of this.
This has led to a 15% reduction in theft from vehicle offences and a 17% drop in thefts of vehicles across the city west, when comparing the last three-month period to the one before.
Sergeant Ian Johnson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Due to the rapid response of both our officers and the public in calling this in, we were quickly able to detain someone we suspect was trying car door handles.
“Over the last few months, our neighbourhood team has been focusing on thefts relating to motor vehicles, particularly those people stealing items from within them.
“We’ve been doing this because our partners and the wider public determined this was an area we should focus on, following a spike in offending towards the end of the year.
“Since taking this on as a policing priority for Aspley, Bilborough and Leen Valley, I’m pleased to report that we have started to see some good results in the form of action being taken and the offence rate dropping.
“We’ll continue to try and crackdown on this through our patrols and targeted operations going forward, while continuing to respond to any reports we receive of this nature.”
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