Serious and organised crime takes centre stage for third week of action

The third week of a twelve-week surge to tackle Northamptonshire Police’s four Matters of Priority begins today with the spotlight moving to the complex world of Serious and Organised Crime.

In May, Chief Constable Nick Adderley announced the four crime types the Force will focus on over the next three years. They are violence against women and girls, drug harm, serious and organised crime and serious violence.

Thousands of lives are damaged every year by serious and organised crime, which includes fraud, modern slavery, drugs gangs and cybercrime.

Often criminals will exploit vulnerable people, whether that’s in order to commit offences on their behalf, work illegally or to take over their homes from which they can operate.

Chief Inspector Pete Basham is leading this week’s activity and has urged members of the public to report any concerns they may have about serious and organised crime.

CI Basham, said: “Criminal gangs operate like a business with the sole intention of making money at the cost of other, more vulnerable people.

“They use various tactics to make money, from drug dealing to labour and sexual exploitation and cybercrime offences.

“We’ve invested extra time, resources and expertise to tackle the many strands of serious and organised crime and will continue to work with partners to target those people who insist on committing this type of crime.

“This week we’ll be going into more detail about serious and organised crime, what the signs of offences are and how you can help us to tackle this pernicious crime.”