I came to Broughton Astley to view the scene of a ram-raid attack carried out by a gang of four men on a shop in February. Most of these crimes are carried out by organised gangs. This was clearly a group of professional criminals who no doubt are responsible for other bank machine attacks around the country.
The advent of County Lines drug networks has brought gangs and organised crime to new areas. Our objective must be to make sure that crime does not pay – by convicting the criminals and disrupting their activities. Continued co-operation with the National Crime Squad [NCS] and East Midlands Special Operations Unit [EMSOU] is essential.
I want to see our police:
- Ensure good communications between public and police at a local level so that the police know where the problems are, and so that the public know what the police are doing about them;
- Build on the successful Neighbourhood Policing model to ensure that local police have the training and equipment that they need to tackle ASB;
- Target places with a particular ASB problem and disrupt the activity with randomised police visits and other tactics;
- Provide adequate support to Neighbourhood Watch schemes to boost their ability to help tackle ASB;
- Look at establishing a Drug & Vice Squad;
- Ensure that intelligence is shared with partners such as licensing authorities, housing bodies, and environmental health in each Neighbourhood Policing Area to ensure a co-ordinated response and firm action;
- Maintain an enhanced database that is shared with partner organisations to ensure co-ordinated responses to patterns of criminal behaviour and target peak times and problems areas;
- Ensure that those responsible are prosecuted and punished whenever possible.
