Chief Constable's Annual Report 2021/22

*All performance data April 2021/22

All crime

• Increase of 1.1%

Increases were generally seen from improvements in ethical crime recording, auditing and proactivity.

With the country coming out of COVID restrictions, it was expected demand would increase above the 1.1% recorded.

Offences

• 61,868 offences recorded this year

This is an increase of 706 offences from the previous year.

Northamptonshire Police saw the smallest increase nationally, the national average change was +15.9% year on year and the East Midlands region was +12.4%.

Northants had the smallest increase in crime that year and ranked 1st in the country.

Each year the Force undertakes a Strategic Threat and Risk Assessment (STRA) to identify its priority areas. This allows senior leaders to work across their respective commands to target activity and campaigns to ensure maximum efforts are made to tackle the crime that harms the communities of Northamptonshire the most.

The STRA, coupled with the feedback and information we received from the public, and your locally identified priorities, coupled with our force management statement, led to the following Matters of Priority;

• Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)
• Knife Crime
• Domestic Abuse
• Serious and Organised Crime (SOC)

This resulted in almost all 24 outcomes being achieved.

ASB

• Total ASB incidents are down 9,594 and non-COVID ASB incidents are down 1,188 (for 21/22)
• ASB has seen a continued reduction in demand in 2021/22
• Total ASK incidents for the 21/22 period are down by 9,594 incidents
• Non-COVID ASB incidents have decreased by 1,188 incidents and demand from repeat victims of ASB has remained stable
• The percentage of incidents resolved by attendance or over the phone has been liable to change over the past year, leading to the target not being met. Attendance in person has seen the main decrease over the year but with improvements in crime recording of neighbourhood offences, neighbourhood resources have been attending in person more crime-based incidents than previously
• Focus on ASB over ASB in the next three years as a continuing Matter of Priority, combined with the focus on neighbourhood offences, should lead to further service improvements
• This was a clear priority for the public across Northamptonshire and the force will continue to develop local plans to tackle the issues that matter most to the public

In my last annual report I was delighted to update you on Operation Revive, which was delivering dedicated multi agency work to tackle knife crime issues in key areas of the county

Knife Crime

• There are two ways of identifying knife crimes, through a national and a local definition. The Home Office definition of Knife Crime considers not just knives but any instrument that is used as a weapon that is sharp and capable of piercing the skin
• The Force has seen large reductions in the serious harm demand and also witnessed positive decreases in both volume demand and increased identification of perpetrators
• Significant progress has been made since the summer of 2021 with an 8.2% decrease in offences recorded. We have recorded 59 less offences this year. The North LPA (Local Policing Area) has seen the largest decrease in offences (-16.4%) with Wellingborough itself seeing a decrease of 29.5%
• Increased police activity in removing knives from the community has proved successful. The Force has also recorded a doubling of stop-searches conducted for a blade or point with a 15.9% find rate
• A total of 1,176 knives were seized as property (not including knife bins/amnesties), an increase of 17.4% from the previous year. Fewer weapons in the hands of offenders protect the public

Serious and Organised Crime

• High levels of policing operations have resulted in a large increase in the number of firearms being taken off the streets, protecting the public from harm in the process
• The continued and relentless activity of the Force in 2021/22 has led to clear improvements in performance. The Force has continued increased intelligence-gathering against SOC offenders and, as a result, we saw an increase in drug trafficking offences recorded. This ranged from cannabis grows to Class A drugs supply including the largest haul in the Force's history in Northampton in November 2021.
• The volume of human trafficking offences has seen an increase (38.4%) leading to a rise in the number of victims being identified
• The Force has seen a significant rise in firearms being seized in the past 12 months with some significant results from operations targeting SOC. Taking firearms off the streets and out of the hands of perpetrators protects the public from harm