Op Workforce netting results against anti-social behaviour in first week of action

The opening week of a policing operation focusing on driving down crime in Northampton’s Market Square area has already made an impact in addressing anti-social behaviour.

Operation Workforce is being led by Northamptonshire Police in the run-up to the reopening of the regenerated Market Square, following concerns from business owners and residents about police visibility and key crime types in the area.

Taking place over eight weeks, the project is focusing on two four-week cycles of targeted work with partners to tackle anti-social behaviour, retail crime, drugs and serious violence.

The opening week of Operation Workforce was all about addressing anti-social behaviour, and resulted in eight arrests, with six people going on to be charged with offences, and one recalled to prison.

Officers also issued community protection warnings (CPW), community protection notices (CPN) and made one application to Northampton Magistrates’ Court for a community behaviour order (CBO) – all aimed at addressing and preventing problem behaviour in the town centre.

Chief Inspector Kim Jackson, who leads Response and Local Policing (West), said: “Operation Workforce is all about listening to our communities and taking robust action to tackle the issues that have been negatively affecting people who live, work and visit Northampton town centre.

“We want people to feel proud of our town, and we understand just how much anti-social behaviour can impact on people’s confidence and enjoyment of an area.

“We’re determined to play our part in ensuring everyone can feel safe and confident in our town centre, and I’m keen to stress that anyone causing issues in the Market Square area and beyond can expect to be brought to account, as our use of CPWs, CPNs and CBOs demonstrates.

“All these measures are designed to prevent unwanted behaviour and give us a structured way to both offer support to individuals involved to break the cycle, and take action against them if it continues.”

Alongside the community protection work, officers also seized alcohol from those causing issues during their patrols, with outreach sessions also taking place to offer support to vulnerable people.

Joint patrols also took place with Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and West Northamptonshire Council to identify and address any areas likely to attract anti-social behaviour.

Northampton Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant Aaron Dilley said: “This work focused on the Emporium Way area, we were looking for any insecure buildings, issues with rubbish building up – basically anything that could contribute to anti-social behaviour or could be a fire or arson risk.

“From this work we arranged for one insecure building to be made secure, reported an area of rubbish to the waste management team for clearance, and also checked on vacant buildings in Sheep Street which were happily all found to be secure.”

The response to this initial week has been positive, and the team are continuing to work hard to drive the operation forward.

Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Nicola Davis-Lyons said: “We couldn’t have asked for a better week to kick off Operation Workforce. We’ve already had good feedback from members of the Northampton Business Improvement District, including retailers who have mentioned how nice it is to have more people in the town centre and were already noticing the positive impacts of the work we’ve been doing.

“Members of the public have also been really engaged with us, and even just passing through the area felt different as the week went on, it is feeling nicer already.

“The week gave us a really good platform for revisiting our anti-social behaviour work in a few weeks, so I’m looking forward to seeing our partnership work starting to come to fruition for the longer-term too.”