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April news from your Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards |
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Newsletter from the Police and Crime Commissioner for HertfordshireTo Resident
Strengthening neighbourhood policing is one of my top priorities as your Police & Crime Commissioner. Visible policing that is connected to communities works, to deter and reduce crime, provide reassurance and make Hertfordshire safer. Since I launched our Operation Hotspot programme in anti-social behaviour and crime hotspots last year, we have seen significant results in reducing crime in town centres through additional foot patrols. So I am pleased to bring you news of a further boost to neighbourhood policing that I have worked on with the Chief Constable that will be implemented in Hertfordshire in the next few months. Using funding I have secured from Government, Hertfordshire will be transferring 35 police officers into neighbourhood policing teams. The officers were covering other operational work which will now be funded in a different way. We will also be recruiting an additional 20 PCSOs. Not to replace people leaving, but new, additional roles. This comes on top of my budget for this year which will allow us to achieve a new record high number of police officers in Hertfordshire. Your connection to your local officers matters to me as well. So before the end of the summer, we will be making sure that every community in Hertfordshire has a named and contactable local officer – watch this space! What will Hertfordshire’s additional neighbourhood officers be focused on when they are in role? The Chief Constable has given me a clear assurance that they will be working on your local priorities – like anti-social behaviour, burglary, shoplifting and vehicle crime – as well as focused on keeping our town centres safe. Finally, this month I wanted to highlight the great work done by Hertfordshire’s police officers and staff to: arrest and charge a gang allegedly stealing vehicles in Hertfordshire, target shoplifting and anti-social behaviour in Stevenage, jail drug dealers and work to prevent fly-tipping. Officers are also warning residents about scams and frauds currently targeting local residents. This newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with my work on your behalf and I hope you find it informative. Should you ever wish to contact me please email commissioner@herts-pcc.gov.uk Best wishes Jonathan Ash-Edwards
Retail Crime Forum to bring retailers and police together to tackle shoplifting and retail crime With shoplifting on the rise nationally, I am launching the Hertfordshire Retail Crime Forum to to bring retailers and police together to tackle shoplifting and wider retail crime. The Forum will accelerate collaboration between national and independent retailers, business groups, and the police and key partners to address retail crime and improve crime prevention and business confidence in Hertfordshire. The Forum’s first meeting, to be hosted by a large retailer, will be held on Friday June 13th. Retailers big and small throughout Hertfordshire are encouraged to attend and have their voice heard and I have just written to hundreds of local retailers encouraging them to take part. Our retailers are vital to Hertfordshire’s economy and town centres. Retail crime – whether shop theft, abuse of staff or criminal damage – has a real and damaging impact on the businesses we so often rely on in our communities. Strengthening partnerships between retailers and the police will help us improve crime prevention and crack down on shoplifting. Burglary cut by 4% over the past year Burglary is a horribly invasive crime which undermines people’s absolute right to feel safe in their own homes. Compared to other parts of the country, burglary is relatively low in Hertfordshire but one is too many and I’ve made tackling burglary one of my priorities as your Police & Crime Commissioner. I’m delighted to report that over the last year, burglary has been cut by 4% in Hertfordshire thanks to the vigilance of our communities and hard work of our police officers. Over the last year, police attended 99% of reported residential burglaries in Hertfordshire. I know that Hertfordshire residents want to see more burglars caught and more crimes solved and progress is being made here too. Recently the Chief Constable updated me on this work, with a suspect being charged with five burglaries in Watford and Kings Langley, another charged with three burglaries in the Stevenage area and another charged with an aggravated burglary where expensive jewellery was stolen. Noise cameras to tackle illegal street racing and antisocial driving Residents of Chiswell Green, St Albans, will soon see action taken against antisocial driving, illegal car meets, and excessive exhaust noise along the A405. Following ongoing concerns from local residents I have approved funding to install acoustic monitoring technology and cameras to deter illegal and excessively noisy vehicles. This is the first time this technology has been used in Hertfordshire. The two-year pilot project will introduce cutting-edge acoustic devices, combined with cameras, to detect vehicles emitting noise above the legal threshold. Drivers caught exceeding these limits will receive educational warning letters, with repeat offenders facing Section 59 warning, which could result in their vehicles being seized if they are caught a second time. New property marking scheme to reduce rural thefts A new scheme to reduce theft of equipment in rural and farming communities has been launched in Hertfordshire. I have made available extra funding for the Constabulary’s Rural Operational Support Team (ROST) to pilot a property marking project. The PCC is supplying 200 specialist SelectaDNA forensic marking kits to be distributed free of charge to businesses in targeted rural locations across the county, helping them safeguard their equipment from burglary and acquisitive crime. SelectaDNA is an advanced forensic marking system that provides an invisible yet unique code on valuable property, which can only be seen under ultraviolet light. This allows police to quickly identify stolen items and link criminals to crimes. The scheme will focus on marking high-value and frequently targeted items such as chainsaws, GPS systems, trailers, tractors, quad bikes, tools, saddles and tack. ---------------------------------------------- I will be holding another public Accountability and Performance Meeting with Chief Constable Andy Prophet at 10.30am on Thursday May 15th 2025. You can register to watch the live using this link. A recording of the meeting and all previous ones are available to watch back here. Thank you for reading Jonathan Ash-Edwards | ||
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