Plans for 'ring of steel' around Nottinghamshire as plan to tackle crime is published

Caroline Henry, Nottinghamshire police and crime commissioner, has launched her first police and crime plan, which determines how money will be spent on policing up to 2025.

Called Make Notts Safe, the plan explains which areas of crime will be targeted and how Mrs Henry will measure performance.

Its key aims include reducing the level of violent knife crime across the county by 10 per cent, as well as cutting the number of first-time entrants into the youth justice system by the same amount.

Mrs Henry also wants to increase the proportion of rape offences which result in a charge or summons and invest in more technology to fight crime.

She said: “It is my vision that by the end of my term in office there will be fewer victims, greater trust and confidence in the police and criminal justice system and a stronger and more resilient network of services supporting victims to recover from harm.

“I am committed to prioritising the issues we know are causing the greatest harm and concern to our communities – including serious violence, domestic and sexual abuse, substance abuse and neighbourhood priorities such as anti-social behaviour, speeding and rural crime.”

As commissioner, Mrs Henry sets the budget for Nottinghamshire Police and lays out its local priorities.

Day-to-day operational control lies with the Chief Constable, Craig Guildford.

The force will receive about £245 million this year, which includes an increase in the annual council tax police precept to £9.99 for a Band D property.

Safety

Key aims from Mrs Henry’s plan include:

Increase safety and feelings of safety across Nottinghamshire – particularly among women and girls;

Make £800,000 available for crime prevention initiatives to increase neighbourhood safety;

Ensure all primary schools in Nottinghamshire are offered specialist healthy relationship programmes, which include issues such as consent and coercive and controlling behaviour;

Expand the force’s digital media investigation team to enable better outcomes for victims of online crime;

Establish an anti-social behaviour taskforce which will work to increase public confidence in the response to ASB;

Develop Operation Reacher, which disrupts drug dealers, by increasing the number of officers and resources available;

Improve the recording and reporting on specific rural crimes, such as farm machinery theft, fuel theft and fly-tipping;

Make an additional £400,000 available to tackle rural crime such as equipment like drones, hardware tracking and off-road stingers;

Provide £500,000 to expand the use of automatic number-plate recognition technology, creating a ‘ring of steel’ around Nottinghamshire to help to stop criminal use of the road network;

Launch a £1m Make Notts Safe grants fund for organisations to take action to address community safety issues they face.

Mr Guildford said: “The nature and complexity of the crimes we deal with continues to change, which is why we have invested in more specialist posts to tackle online and serious organised crime.

“We must balance addressing the visible impact of crime such as anti-social behaviour and burglary with tackling the often hidden impact of organised crime or crimes committed behind closed doors, such as domestic and sexual abuse, which can lead to great harm and vulnerability.”