Fifteen minutes per day keeps the violence away

As part of Northamptonshire Police’s week of action against serious violence, a chief inspector is trialling a scheme which has reduced serious violence significantly in neighbouring counties.

Operation Rowan in Bedfordshire involved foot patrols of 15 minutes each day in 30 hotspot areas where a third of the county’s serious violent crime was taking place. The patrols were credited for a 38% reduction in violence and robbery.

In a paper published in the Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing, it was found that even minimal amounts of foot patrol can prevent serious violent crime across a large area, and repeated patrols over several days help even more.

Their findings suggested that, to reduce both violent and other forms of crime, uniformed officers need to patrol hot spots for short amounts of times on consecutive days.

Now, Detective Chief Inspector Dan Finney, who is leading Northamptonshire Police’s matter of priority week of action to tackle serious violence, is trialling the concept in areas of concern across Northamptonshire.

He said: “We know that people like to see officers patrolling their neighbourhoods because it provides reassurance and a promotes a feeling of safety.

“However it is interesting that only 15 minutes of patrols per day in areas where serious violence is likely to take place reduces the chances of these crimes taking place.

“It is important to follow the research and science on matters like this so we are trialling this concept in this county.

“Tackling serious violence is a matter of priority for Northamptonshire Police and we will continue working hard to make this county safer for law-abiding citizens and hostile for those who choose to break the law.”