2018

Meeting with police chief about knife crime

Date Posted: 12:16 PM on Thu, 31 May 2018

A crucial meeting involving local MP, Leader and Deputy Leader of Gedling Borough Council and the Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police agreed the following local plan to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and to reassure residents:

• Accelerating the setup of police base in Arnold, in addition to the one already in place at Carlton.
• The council investing in additional CCTV and improved lighting in and around the town centre. 
• There will be an increased Neighbourhood Warden presence around the borough.  The wardens will be granted extra powers to approach people on the streets.  They will also have access to police radios and police briefings.
• The council also has made commitments to work with the police in schools around educating young people about knife crime and will provide funding for youth engagement in the community.
• The council is also applying for funding from the Home Office Community Fund which has been set up to support community projects to work with young people about the dangers of carrying knives.

Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke said:  “I’d like to thank the Chief Constable and his fellow police officers for attending today’s very productive meeting. Today’s meeting has set out some clear actions that should reassure residents that we are all doing everything we can to make our streets safer. We work closely with Nottingham Police and the actions agreed today will further strengthen this relationship.”

As well as the local action plan, Vernon Coaker Member of Parliament is demanding tougher sentences and extra resources for the police.

Vernon Coaker MP said:  “I am writing urgently to the Home Secretary and the Justice Secretary.  The Home Secretary needs to provide the resources for the police to deal with these issues, both in the short and long term, to ensure we have an increased number of police on our streets.

The government needs to introduce tougher sentences for knife crime and these tougher sentences must be used by the courts.”

Supt Ian Roberts, who oversees operations in Arnold, said: “We recognise that the recent incidents may have caused concern, due to short space of time and similar location in which they happened, but we do know that they are not linked and offenders have been identified and charged in two of the offences, and the third remains under investigation. We have no reason to suspect the public are at risk, but to offer extra reassurance to the community we will be maintaining high profile patrols. I would encourage people to approach and speak to our officers and staff if you see them, as they are there to help make you feel safe.”