Chief announces new year crackdown on crime following success of last summer’s surge in activity

Northamptonshire Police will start 2023 with a further three-month campaign of intensive activity targeting the Force’s Matters of Priority.

Twelve weeks of so-called “surge activity” will see another sustained focus on the Force’s priority crime areas – drug harm, serious violence, serious and organised crime and violence against women and girls.

Working with partners right across Northamptonshire, communities will see heightened law enforcement, increased visibility and the execution of dozens of operational warrants targeting known offenders.

The New Year push follows on from a hugely successful campaign during the summer which saw relentless disruption of those involved in criminal activity and included:

• 22 firearms and numerous ammunition seized along with 32 weapons/knives
• 39 vehicles, 127 mobile phones devices and nearly 1,500 drug items all seized, and all linked to criminality
• £270,000 confiscated from criminal activity
• 34 warrants executed with large quantities of stolen property recovered including high value vehicles, clothing, and plant machinery
• 181 arrests made including individuals wanted on warrant and key nominals linked to organised crime groups
• At least 16 County Lines disrupted

Each week a Chief Inspector will lead a programme of activity focusing on the priority areas and the crimes linked to them including drug offending, anti-social behaviour, modern slavery, domestic abuse, stalking and harassment and knife crime.

In addition, the Force intends to publish the names and faces of the most wanted criminals still at large in Northamptonshire.

Another key aim of the surge activity will be to increase further the Force’s engagement with local communities so as well as events on the ground there will be a big push on social media using the #MattersofPriority hashtag.

News of a second prolonged campaign of activity comes just days after Northamptonshire Police was named as the only Force in England and Wales to have reported an actual fall in crime in the year to June 2022.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed crime fell by 0.6 per cent during that period compared with an average increase nationally of 12.9 per cent.

Those figures included sharp drops in incidents of burglary, knife crime and anti-social behaviour as well as marked increases in the arrest rate for domestic abuse offenders.

Chief Constable Nick Adderley, who earlier this month saw his contract extended until at least August 2025, said: “The Force is gearing up for another sustained surge in activity designed to target and disrupt those criminals who choose to cause misery in our communities.

“During the summer we had tremendous support from the public with whom we engaged, and we are making the same ask again as we go into 2023.

“You can do this in so many ways, from simply sharing our messaging, by helping us gather intelligence which enables us to target offenders or learning about why these are the priority areas identified.

“Criminals should be under absolutely no illusion that we will pursue them relentlessly in our mission to fight crime and protect law-abiding people in our county. We intend to make it a very unhappy New Year for them.”

For more information about Matters of Priority, please visit our website.

12 MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SUMMER SURGE

• 15 new individuals identified that were connected to gangs or organised criminality
• 397 intelligence logs submitted, and a new organised crime group identified
• 76 vulnerable individuals visited and supported
• 13 new PPNs (public protection notifications) submitted for vulnerable people not previously known to police
• 55 knives surrendered via knife bins within the community
• At least 1.2m social media impressions and nearly 40,000 engagements with our posts
• Nearly 1,650 people signed up to Neighbourhood Alert
• 39 DVDS (Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme also known as 'Clare's law') served – allowing individuals to ask police to check if a new or existing partner has a violent past
• 387 businesses visited or written to in relation to how they can raise awareness around issues such as modern slavery and human trafficking
• At least 22 community events attended including various locations for the Beat Bus
• 15 new referrals made to CIRV (Community Initiative to Reduce Violence)
• 18 uses of “Ask Angela” initiative to help people who feel unsafe at a pub or venue and get help from staff.