Annual Report 23/24 Accessible Version
4. Priorities for the Chief Constable (1. To work with communities to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour)
The following pages deal with the priorities I asked the Chief Constable to deliver
Considering the enormity and complexity of policing across the county, from numerous possible options, the following have been selected to illustrate how the Chief Constable has delivered on my priorities.
1. Work with residents, communities and businesses to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour
Crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB) are issues that residents, communities and local businesses care deeply about. Kent Police must ensure it has the right resources with the right skills to deliver effective long term solutions and where necessary, investigate and bring to justice those who harm individuals and businesses.
a) Tackling nuisance vehicles is a priority for the force and joint enforcement activity was planned throughout its ‘Safer Summer’ campaign. During ‘days of action’ it used a mixture of high-profile patrols, technological tactics such as drones and static cameras to bear down on repeat offenders and locations that regularly suffered from the problem. Kent Police was also the first force to use the Athena Problem-Solving Platform, allowing it to link data much more effectively and share it quickly with partners to achieve better outcomes.
Delivering results: In August 2023, the force conducted a planned response to the anti-social use of vehicles in Medway. This resulted in:
1. 6 Section 59 warning notices being issued
2. 2 vehicle seizures
3. 1 person being reported for having no insurance
4. 1 arrest for a racially aggravated public order offence
5. 2 drug searches and 2 seizures
6. 1 Community Protection Warning being issued
7. 12 Intelligence reports being submitted
8. From 16 October 2023, led by the National Business Crime Centre, Kent Police participated in ‘Safer Business Action Week’. Examples of the impact include:
9. Proactive joint patrolling across the county with Local Council Enforcement teams such as Trading Standards as well as British Transport Police.
10. Over 75 premises visited in Maidstone alone; provided crime prevention advice and proactive interventions targeted at more vulnerable locations.
11. Over £3,000 worth of items recovered from proactive overt and covert patrolling with shoplifters detained in the act.
12. License visits conducted across the county and targeted operations such as that in Dartford, which advised local stores on selling alcohol to street drinkers due to concerns about ASB.