By Matt Jarram, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottinghamshire Police will focus some of its attention to ‘traditionally under-reported crimes’ this year, including sexual offences and online fraud which targets vulnerable people.
Force Chief Constable Craig Guildford outlined some of his plans to target criminals in 2022 – a year in which police officer numbers are due to reach 2,380 in March. This has gradually increased from 1,824 in February 2017.
A government uplift of more than 300 new officers has been achieved a year earlier than planned, with the force in a “much heathier” workforce position.
Mr Guildford told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “With new recruits, the workforce is less experienced than they were five years ago, so we need to work hard to make sure they are trained.”
The force is about to open a £18.5m joint police and fire headquarters at Sherwood Lodge, Arnold, by this April, which will include a brand-new call centre, shared offices, and training school.
It is hoped the shared headquarters will reduce costs in the long run and allow both forces to work better together when dealing with major incidents.
The force also plans to invest in technology to be “one step ahead of the criminal” with software already in place to better retrieve evidence from criminal’s mobile phones and laptops.
He said: “We have been hugely successful in driving down burglary and we want that to continue. Burglary has reduced by 40 per cent compared to pre-lockdown periods. That’s a significant achievement.
“We have some of the lowest levels of homicide in the UK and we now have less knife crime compared to Derbyshire and Leicestershire, and less overall crime than Leicestershire.
“We know, and from the surveys with the public, that the increase in local officers is welcomed and we will continue to invest in local policing.
“I think what we have also got is a strong focus on drug dealers and you can see that against the large conspirators that are coming to court.
“I want to target some crimes that have traditionally been under-reported, in particular sexual offences and fraud, especially where vulnerable people have been conned out of their savings online.”
Mr Guildford said more about the area’s policing plans for 2022 and beyond will be revealed at a council Police and Crime Panel meeting on Monday, January 24.
Police and Crime Commissioner, Caroline Henry (Con) will launch her police and crime plan for Nottinghamshire over the next four years at this meeting.
Her draft plan included setting up a new taskforce to tackle anti-social behaviour and more cash to be pumped into night-time economy policing to target those dealers selling drugs on nights out.
She also aims to expand the number of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras across the county and get tough on rural crimes involving the theft of machinery from farmers.