Daventry Police to start 2024 with policing priorities targeting road safety, drug dealing and crime across Northamptonshire

The Daventry Neighbourhood Policing Team set up their latest policing priorities to focus on over the next three months. Following similar priorities in autumn 2023, these include road safety and road traffic offences, drug dealing and misuse and rural crime.

As part of the team's work on the policing priorities outlined from December 2023 to March 31, 2024, police said areas are set to experience greater visibility patrols and heightened law enforcement.

Northamptonshire's neighbourhood policing teams work with local communities and partners to determine the policing priorities for the area and to focus on the crime and anti-social behaviour issues that matter most to residents.

These priorities are set up three times a year and are based on local crime statistics, information from partner organisations, and feedback from the community.

Neighbourhood Inspector Dave Wakeman said: “We set our local priorities three times a year. During each period, we encourage the community to complete a brief survey to indicate what issues concern or matter most, and we would like to thank everyone who took the time to have their say and help direct local policing resources.”

Inspector Dave Wakeman shared some of the team’s work to tackle the three local priorities set for the areas covered by the Daventry Neighbourhood Policing Team between August and November this year, including road safety, burglary, and vehicle crime.

• Speed checks have been carried out in several locations, including Maidwell, Lamport, Daventry, Brixworth, Crick, and other villages across the district, in addition to the Force’s Safer Roads Team’s work, which has deployed safety camera vans across the county and continues to carry out enforcement patrols in the area.
• Road safety inputs, which include educating students on how to cross roads safely and the highway code, have been delivered to schools in the area, including Byfield, Badby, and Daventry, in addition to regular school patrols conducted during opening and closing hours to prevent parking problems.
• An ‘OP METHANE’ day of action took place in September at Crick, with 42 vehicles being stopped and checked. Of these, 15 were fully compliant with all laws and weight requirements, while the drivers of the other 27 vehicles were dealt with for a variety of road traffic offences, such as driving without insurance or licence, using a mobile phone, and having defective tyres.
• Numerous car recoveries for offences including driving with no insurance and without a licence in Watford, Woodford Halse, Daventry, and Kilsby have resulted from the team's high visibility patrols provided across the district in the fleet of marked vehicles, stopping people and vehicles when appropriate.
• Two schools in Moulton reported being the victims of burglaries over the past four months. The offenders identified on CCTV have been dealt with and referred to the youth offending team for appropriate sanctions related to their actions.
• The team has been increasing patrols in the areas where vehicle crime has been most prevalent, visiting victims of theft from vehicle offences and obtaining ring doorbell and CCTV footage to aid in the investigation of these crimes, providing safety advice and reassurance, and using the Northamptonshire Talking messaging service to alert locals to the locations of these offences and offer prevention advice.

Inspector Dave Wakeman said: “As we continue into the darker months, with a seasonal increase in burglary offences anticipated, our officers are continuing patrols in any areas identified as hot-spot locations and providing crime prevention advice to residents.”

People can complete the local priorities survey to help the neighbourhood teams better understand residents’ issues on Northamptonshire Talking’s website.