Helping people turn their lives around key to reducing crime in Ollerton and Edwinstowe

Members of Nottinghamshire Police’s Newark & Sherwood neighbourhood policing team have focused on positive engagement as a way of tackling crime, both in the short and long-term.

One aspect has seen officers work closely with the Probation Service to help drug users who have committed crime turn their lives around.

And the area is now starting to see the benefits of this work, by helping keep former offenders on the right path and punishing those who do not.

Insp Matt Ward, Nottinghamshire Police’s Newark & Sherwood district commander, said: “An officer is allocated to maintain regular contact with the individual, so they receive the right support, including obtaining opiate replacement treatment, registering for housing, seeking mental health support as well as other things.

“Some of the people we’ve worked with who we used to see go out and commit double figure shop thefts a week are now managing to stay out of trouble, which can only be a good thing for the area.

“Of course, some have slipped up and have been brought back before the courts, but we’ve been able to say they’re working with us and doing well, so they’ve received a community sentence, as opposed to a custodial one.

“This work has also led to some key individuals who didn’t want to work with us being locked up, while also keeping people from offending as much as before, which has definitely been key to reducing crime in the short-term.”

Theft from person, theft from and of motor vehicles, burglary and robbery have all fallen significantly in the district when compared to that pre-Covid period and since the introduction of an operation to tackle drug-related crime.

Shoplifting is in the last few months also following the same downward trend.

Anti-social behaviour has also been on the decline in Newark & Sherwood over the last four months, with regular patrols of hot-spot areas playing a part in cracking down on offences.

Insp Ward said: “All this engagement work has definitely been positive, but we may have to give it some time to see some of those positive results really shine through.”