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Essex Police > NewsLine |
Essex Police NewsLine
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Crimebusting Operation Leopard is extended |
By Bill Stock
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A unique and brilliantly simple neighbourhood policing operation which halted crime on a troubled housing estate in Basildon is to be extended to other parts of the district and county.
Officers involved in Operation Leopard knocked on the doors of known offenders, warned them that their behaviour wouldn’t be tolerated and then photographed them and their associates as they wandered around an estate for the next four days.
The result was dramatic. Burglaries, criminal damage and car crime stopped completely during the course of the operation at the end of January. And there have been few incidents since.
A further 15 Operation Leopards are to be carried out in the Basildon district over the next year with joint funding by Essex Police and South Anglia Housing.
The pioneering operation led to inquiries from other forces around Britain which wanted to adopt similar techniques in areas with anti-social behaviour problems.
Operation Leopard was devised during a meeting between Basildon district commander Chief Insp Mark Wheeler, the Pitsea area commander Insp Steve Ditchburn and Sgt Gav Brook, the neighbourhood policing team sergeant for Vange.
The three officers were considering ideas on how to tackle crime on one particular housing estate when they hit upon the idea of using Forward Intelligence Team (FIT) officers.
The FIT is normally deployed at major public events, such as football matches or at fox hunts, to gather information and photographs of troublemakers. Some FIT officers had been used to film car cruisers plaguing a car park in Pitsea some months earlier. But it was the first time they were to be sent into a housing estate.
With the FIT booked for the four-day operation, local officers then carried out a widespread public survey to find out who was causing problems on the estate. The names of 15 known troublemakers were obtained.
As the operation got under way, targeted suspects and their friends laughed and joked at being photographed and being asked to give their personal details. But they quickly realised it was no laughing matter as the officers followed them, filmed them as they sat in quiet alleyways and continued to ask questions.
Sixty stop-checks were carried out during the course of the operation and there were five stop and searches. Four associates of the 14 suspects were arrested.
Two hundred residents who were questioned before the operation were consulted again after the operation and said that Operation Leopard had increased their confidence in the police and also reduced their fear of crime.
Chief Insp Wheeler said: “Anti-social behaviour and crime in general significantly affects residents’ quality of life. We take that very seriously, which is why we decided to take this radical approach, targeting people responsible for problems in Vange.
“Operation Leopard was not about targeting kids hanging around on street corners. It was about targeting people believed to be responsible for criminal damage, vehicle crime and burglary.
“We are committed to solving these problems and the use of specialist officers for this operation should confirm to people how serious we are about doing that.
"The tactic used in Operation Leopard was simple yet very effective. It gave known offenders and their associates a clear message that we will follow them, film them and arrest them to stop them committing crime, as their behaviour has affects the local community.
"I'm really pleased we will be able to continue its success both in Vange and other areas of the district and hopefully it will continue to drive down crime.”
Assistant Chief Constable Carmel Napier added: “This is an excellent example of responsive local policing that is listening to its communities, taking positive action where necessary to address inappropriate behaviour and working with others to develop alternative avenues where young people and others can more appropriately use their energy and express themselves.” |
March 3, 2008 |
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