Office of Northamptonshire
Police, Fire and Crime
Commissioner
The cameras, funded by the Commissioner, will extend the tools available to Northamptonshire Police to detect crime, disrupt criminals who are using the roads and deter them from committing crime in this county.
ANPR – Automatic Number Plate Recognition – reads the registration of passing vehicles and checks them across a number of databases, raising the alert if a vehicle is stolen or linked to crime. The cameras will also support police in tackling antisocial driving and identify uninsured vehicles.
Subject to the results of consultation, which is now taking place, the additional cameras will be fixed on the county’s major routes and at the county borders, in rural communities and in the county’s major towns. They will also be installed in police vehicles, and mobile rapid deployment cameras can be sent to hotspots around the county.
Data and information collected by ANPR cameras is only used in the prevention and detection of crime and, in some cases, to safeguard vulnerable adults.
PFCC Stephen Mold said: “These extra cameras will mean that the Force is able to maximize the use of technology to protect communities.
“I am proud to announce such a significant investment and I hope it shows local people that we are serious about their safety, while sending the message to criminals that in Northamptonshire, there will be no place to hide.”
It is hoped that the new cameras will be in place by next spring.
Rural policing, neighbourhood policing, knife crime and high-tech investigation will all receive extra funding to increase capacity and strengthen the police response to tackle crime and keep people safe in Northamptonshire.
Taken together these projects are part of an ongoing push by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold and Chief Constable Nick Adderley to improve policing in Northamptonshire and marks one of the most significant investments in the Force of recent years.
The funding is made up of £750,000 from local investment through the council tax precept and £400,000 from special grant fund from the home office, topped up to £1.5 million from existing resources.
Stephen Mold said he was excited by the increased capacity the Force will have to fight crime and keep people safe.
“This is another major investment in policing in Northamptonshire that will benefit people across the county. Taken together with the increased number of police officers and our plans to almost double our ANPR network, these investments support the Chief Constable in his robust plans to crack down harder on crime.
“We have managed our financial plans so that we can invest in the future and, as the Chief Constable has now reached his second anniversary at the helm of Northamptonshire Police, give him the ability to steer the Force on a course of further improvement and towards delivering the exceptional service that the people of Northamptonshire deserve,” Stephen said.
A programme to roll out the new initiatives will begin immediately.
Since the end of April, on-call firefighters from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) have completed 146 shifts to support East Midlands Ambulance Service, amounting to just under 1500 hours of work.
Early in the pandemic, NFRS became one of the fire and rescue services asked to take part in work that included performing tasks such as driving Urgent Care vehicles and the safe moving and handling of patients.
In total, 12 firefighters from NFRS took part in supporting the work of EMAS during the Covid-19 pandemic.
NFRS Group Manager Stefan Douglas said: “All the firefighters who have supported this work for EMAS have volunteered to take this on and it has been a huge learning experience for them, and a rewarding one.
“The individuals who took part in the scheme have been able to take back additional skills to their on-call stations and EMAS has learned more about our way of working too.”
In order to carry out the work alongside Urgent Care colleagues in EMAS, firefighters undertook specialist training to gain the skills needed to perform their new roles.
NFRS Firefighters remain ready to resume their role supporting EMAS should the need arise.
Throughout the pandemic, firefighters worked until the end of July to help those who are shielding and at particular risk from Covid-19 by volunteering to aid in pharmacy deliveries to people’s homes.
In total, firefighters from 11 of NFRS’s on-call fire stations assisted in the deliveries. Support has also been provided by whole-time crews and members of NFRS’s Home Safety Team.
Lisa Bryan, Prevention, Safeguarding & Partnerships Manager at NFRS, said: “We were asked to help support with pharmacy deliveries quite soon after lockdown began and I’m so proud of those who have taken part in this work.
“We know the arrival of this pandemic left so many people particularly vulnerable to the worst effects of Covid-19, so having access to medication deliveries at home went some way to minimising their daily risk levels.”
Areas in Wellingborough, Kettering and Northampton have been chosen to receive a major funding boost to tackle acquisitive crime, such as burglary, vehicle crime and robbery.
A successful bid by the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner to the Home Office, has secured £1.375 million from the Safer Streets Scheme.
Security improvements on the Victoria and Isebrook wards in Wellingborough, such as installation of security gates on a number of alleyways behind homes, will be allocated £540,000 of the grant. Alley gating is proven to reduce burglary by more than 40%, as well as reducing fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.
The extension of CCTV in Kettering’s All Saints Ward, as well as installing a number of secure alley gates will receive £280,000.
Projects in the Portland Place, Bouverie estate and surrounding areas of Northampton to create safer parking and other environmental improvements – including improved lighting – to enhance safety and security have been allocated £550,000.
PFCC Stephen Mold, said: “My vision is to do everything I can to make this county a safer place and this financial support will have an enormous impact on improving security in the areas selected, which have higher levels of acquisitive crime than average for the county.
“There will be full involvement and consultation with local communities where necessary, as we work alongside Northamptonshire Police and the three local authorities to carry out these projects.”
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold purchased the building last year and it has now been transformed into a modern and professional training facility that will enable the Force to deliver a range of training to new recruits and existing officers and staff.
Stephen said: “This is an investment in the future of the Force that will shape the next generation of Northamptonshire Police officers and ensure they have the skills and abilities they need to keep the county safe.”
The Commissioner used council tax funds to recruit 83 additional police officers, increasing total police officer numbers to around 1500 by March 2023.
Then the Government announced its National Uplift Programme: As part of the national uplift programme, the Force was allocated funding for 57 extra officers by March 2021 and is on track to meet this ahead of time. It is envisaged that the uplift programme will fund approximately an additional 191 new officers for the county by March 2023.
Between October 2019, when the national recruitment programme was announced, and July 2020, the Force has recruited 116 officers.
Paul Bullen, Director for Enabling Services at Northamptonshire Police, said: “Northamptonshire Police is the place to be at the moment – we have a fantastic Chief Constable who leads from the front, our performance in a number of areas is getting stronger and stronger, and we are real believers in the fact that proactive policing gets results.”
Stephen Mold added: “For me, it has always been crucial that Northamptonshire Police should reflect the community it serves and the Covid 19 pandemic has highlighted more than ever the critical role of our police and the trust we place in them. I am glad that this is inspiring people to consider a career as a police officer in Northamptonshire and that the Force is pressing on with bringing in new talent to make our community even safer.”
For more information on all our entry routes please visit the career pages of our website at www.northants.police.uk
Organisations working with victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence were able to apply for the extra Government funding through the office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, to support them through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Six organisations were successful in their bid for a share of the funding to: tackle short-term disruption to their services due to the pandemic, help support essential costs of their current activities, such as moving to remote working, and to meet increased demand for their services due to Covid-19.
With domestic abuse and violence making up 15% of all the crime in the county last year, and where an increase has already been recorded since the Covid-19 lockdown, the extra funding is part of a package of measures that the PFCC and Force are positive will improve services focused on tackling domestic abuse in Northamptonshire.
This includes increasing capacity with the introduction of a new team of Domestic Violence Advisers, established and funded by the PFCC.
The team will be embedded with police specialists and other partners in the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub and will review every domestic incident reported to police each day and assess the level of risk from a multi-agency perspective. They can then quickly step in to provide victims with the most appropriate help and support, ensuring more people are made safer at the earliest opportunity.
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold said: “Domestic abuse and sexual violence are a significant issue for Northamptonshire and take a terrible toll on families. We know that there has been a gap in the service available to support people after less serious incidents and I am pleased that I have been able to help tackle that.”
Anyone seeking support with issues of abuse can contact Voice for Victims and Witnesses on 0300 3030 1965
Schemes that have benefited this time include creative projects to divert young people in Northampton away from crime through martial arts, rugby and boxing, a scheme to prevent anti-social behaviour in Wellingborough and a project to provide crime prevention support to vulnerable people across the county.
The organisations received £10,000 each for their projects, bringing the total funding given through all of the Commissioner’s grant schemes over the past 12 months to around £211,000 to 38 community groups.
There are three grant schemes available to organisations, charities and voluntary groups; the Making Northamptonshire Safer Fund for projects that support the aims of the Police and Crime Plan; the Northamptonshire Road Safety Community Fund for initiatives that support the strategic road safety plan and aim to reduce behaviour such as speeding and anti-social road use; and the Small Grants Scheme, that will support projects with funding of between £500 and £3,000.
Northampton Saints Foundation received £10,000 for its ‘Aspire’ project, which has been running throughout the summer holidays to support young people from areas of deprivation or vulnerable to criminal activity.
Jordan Letts, Head of Northampton Saints Foundation said: “Following our successful application to the PFCC, the funding will ensure we are able to keep students on track and focused during the summer holidays, preventing them becoming involved in criminal activity and supporting their mental well-being. We understand the value of half-term intervention, even more so in the current climate.”
Other groups recently awarded through the Making Northamptonshire Safer fund include Proaction Martial Arts Northampton Ltd, Emmanuel Church, Care & Repair Northamptonshire and Castle Fields Community Group.
Stephen Mold said: “It’s a tremendous privilege to be able to award grants to projects that are working in different ways to make their communities a safer place to live. I’m always inspired by the hard work and creativity that people put in to help keep people away from a life of crime.”
Further information about how to apply can be found on the PFCC website, along with details of all grants awarded.