Warrants, arrests, people safeguarded – first week of action gets priorities off to a flying start

• 12 warrants
• 50 arrests
• Nine schools visited
• 2,720 leaflets delivered
• Chief Inspector Nathan Murray – "We hope our work sends a message to those thinking of exploiting vulnerable people and dealing drugs in this county – your behaviour will not be tolerated and you will be brought to justice."

Northamptonshire Police’s first #MatterOfPriority week of action against drug harm secured some fantastic results for the Force with multiple arrests, charges, warrants and safeguarding referrals.

In May, Chief Constable Nick Adderley announced the four crime types that Northamptonshire Police would be focusing on over the next three years. These were - violence against women and girls, drug harm, serious and organised crime and serious violence.

A 12-week surge to tackle Northamptonshire Police’s four matters of priority started last week, with the first one led by Chief Inspector Nathan Murray and focusing on drug harm.

During the week, 12 warrants were executed across the county, 50 arrests were made, 16 charges were secured, and 41 stop searches took place.

This enforcement activity led to a number of seizures including four firearms, five knives, 31 mobile phones and a large quantity of drugs and cash.

As well as the enforcement side of things, prevention work also took place including nine school visits, 2,720 leaflets delivered by the Northamptonshire Emergency Services’ Cadets, and 95 intelligence reports submitted.

An operation against cuckooing also took place which involved officers visiting vulnerable people whose homes were suspected to having been taken over by drug dealers. These people were safeguarded and the drug dealers arrested.

Chief Inspector Nathan Murray said: “I am really pleased with the way our week of action went and it was really important to me to focus just as much on prevention and safeguarding as on enforcement.

“Tackling drugs requires a holistic approach and this is something that, as a Force, we are going to continue focusing on. 

“We hope our work also sends a message to those thinking of exploiting vulnerable people and dealing drugs in this county – your behaviour will not be tolerated and you will be brought to justice.

“Finally, I just want to finish by saying thank you to everyone across the Force, and our partner agencies, for their support and for making these great results happen.”