Update from Inspector Troup

As the officer in charge of policing for Derbyshire Dales, I am keen to see my officers continuing to deliver a good service to residents and businesses, tackling crime and antisocial behaviour, building strong relationships with our partners and being accessible to everyone in the community.

The number of people who visit the Derbyshire Dales often brings with it problems due to traffic noise, parking obstructions, and antisocial driving. These are things which have been highlighted as priorities by residents in most of our towns and villages.

We know that motorcyclists are drawn to Matlock Bath, the majority of who are responsible and law-abiding riders, but unfortunately it is the actions of a few irresponsible people that often spoil things and generate complaints due to the manner of riding or noise being made.

We have several dates set out over the year where we work with our colleagues in roads policing and our partners at VOSA and HMRC to carry out speed enforcement and vehicle safety checks and we are also working with Derbyshire Dales district council and Derbyshire County council to look at how we can assist in minimising the disruption caused by parking, although no waiting offences were decriminalised many years ago and are enforced by the local authority and not the police.

Over the coming months whilst the weather is nice, we can sometimes see a rise in opportunist theft offences especially from vehicles. Please make sure that you lock your car (even when it is on a driveway at home) and do not leave anything on show. An old coat left on a seat might not appear tempting, but to a thief it could be the chance of a wallet left in the pocket, we have seen occasions where cars were broken into just for loose change left in the centre console.  

If you are trying to keep cool when at home then avoid leaving valuables or keys near to open windows, if you are going outside into the garden then put windows on the safety catch rather than leaving them open when you cannot see into the room. If you have a dog then don’t expect that they will deter thieves, I know that my dog is more likely to welcome strangers in if I am not sat next to her.

Since my last update I am pleased to report that PC Abaid Hussain from the Matlock Safer Neighbourhood team has received a divisional commanders award for ‘Beat officer of the year’, which is well deserved as Abaid has worked very hard to address issues within the community and to build strong relationships with residents and our partners.  PC Tom Walker, PC Sophie Dunham and PC Faye Goodwin also received commendations for their actions in arresting a violent offender who was resisting them.

If you would like to find out what is happening in your area you can sign up to Derbyshire Alert which is a free messaging service  https://www.derbyshirealert.co.uk/

To find out who your local officers are and for details of how to contact them go to https://www.derbyshire.police.uk/

If you want to help shape the police and crime commissioners’ crime plan for Derbyshire, then you can complete the survey here: https://www.derbyshire-pcc.gov.uk/taking-part/listening-to-you/

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