2,400 arrests and 1,000 charges in November

We made nearly 2,400 arrests last month, and secured more than 1,000 charges, as we continue our commitment to tackle crime and keep you safe.

Teams from across our force work relentlessly to tackle burglary, protect women and children, dismantle drugs gangs, and keep you safe on the roads.

During November, the force made 2,390 arrests and secured 1,008 charges.

This includes the arrest and charge of a man who attempted to rob a 12 year-old boy in Southend, three people charged following drugs warrants in Rochford, while a man was charged over a series of vehicle crimes in Harwich and Mistley.

Due to the work of our officers a man was charged with attempted murder in Waltham Abbey, a man in Colchester was charged with 29 shoplifting offences, and arrests were made after a church was damaged.

Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington said:

“Our officers are committed to tackling crime where it happens, and keeping you safe.
“Our officers attended nearly 14,500 incidents last month including nearly 6,500 emergencies.
“And all this comes as crime continues to fall across Essex with nearly 9,500 fewer offences in the last year.
“Violent, sexual and domestic offences continue to fall, as they have done consistently over the last few years.
“We’re also seeing the number of homes burgled, vehicles stolen, and people robbed fall, and fall at a quickening pace than last month.
“All this is testament to the hard work of our officers, staff, and volunteers.
“But we can only keep this work going if we have fair funding from the Government.
“We all want the same thing – more officers and less crime, and Essex Police is doing its bit.
“Thanks to the support of the Police, Fire, and Crime Commissioner, and the public, we’re stronger than ever before and crime has been consistently falling for a couple of years.
“But despite being the eighth biggest force in the country, only Wiltshire gets proportionately less funding.
“Cumbria Police, for example, can spend about 40 percent more per person in their area on policing, than us.
“Merseyside Police is a similar sized force covering an area five times smaller than Essex, and if we had the same level of funding, we’d have £40 million extra each year to keep the public safe and put criminals behind bars.
“Yet, we put more officers in our communities, on our roads, and in our town and villages for every pound in funding we receive than any other force.
“And we’re doing our bit for the taxpayer – last year we made £10 million in savings and more than £40 million over the last five years. And we’ve earmarked £3.5 million of savings for next year too.”

Chief Constable Harrington added:

“All I’m asking for is fair funding to keep fighting crime.
“Training a new officer across two years costs around £60,000. Their kit, and the IT to support it, is another £5,000.
“The cost to maintain all our buildings has risen by a third in the last couple of years and our energy bills alone have more than doubled. That’s millions of pounds a year more.
"And we're likely to spend £1 million this year kennelling seized dogs following the XL Bully law change.
“I need to ensure that we can retain the officers we’ve recruited, support them, keep them trained, and provide them with the kit they need.
“But it’s not just about officers. We need to continue employing specialist staff like IT – 90 percent of crime has a digital footprint – forensics, training and development, custody officers, call handlers. Their work is crucial.”

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