More than £1.5 million is to be invested to give a crime fighting boost in Northamptonshire.

Rural policing, neighbourhood policing, knife crime and high-tech investigation will all receive extra funding to increase capacity and strengthen the police response to tackle crime and keep people safe in Northamptonshire.

This funding is in addition to the £1.3 million investment in expanding Northamptonshire’s ANPR network that was announced last week.

Taken together these projects are part of an ongoing push by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable to improve policing in Northamptonshire and marks one of the most significant investments in the Force of recent years.

The funding is made up of £750,000 from local investment through the council tax precept and £400,000 from special grant fund from the home office, topped up to £1.5 million from existing resources.  It will support initiatives including:

• More officers and specialist vehicles in Rural Policing teams to increase engagement with and operational capacity in rural communities. This includes mobile police stations to increase the visible police presence rural areas

• Deploying 20 extra officers to neighbourhood policing teams across the county, working in communities to tackle issues such as anti-social behaviour and crime in our town centres

• Committing an additional £100,000 to support the Force in tackling knife crime

• Continuing support for the dog section with five new handlers and new vehicles

• Improving the way data is retrieved from phones and other devices by creating a digital hub to speed up and improve the quality of investigations

• Investing £80,000 to fund programmes that will prevent sexual violence

Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner said he was excited by the increased capacity the Force will have to fight crime and keep people safe.

“This is another major investment in policing in Northamptonshire that will benefit people across the county.  Taken together with the increased number of police officers and our plans to almost double our ANPR network, these investments support the Chief Constable in his robust plans to crack down harder on crime.

“We have managed our financial plans so that we can invest in the future and, as the Chief Constable reaches his second anniversary at the helm of Northamptonshire Police, give him the ability to steer the Force on a course of further improvement and towards delivering the exceptional service that the people of Northamptonshire deserve,” Stephen said.

A programme to roll out the new initiatives will begin immediately.

Nick Adderley, Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police, said: “This is a major investment in the future of Northamptonshire Police and I am absolutely determined that people will see and feel the difference in their communities.

“Over my two years here, this Force has moved forward at pace and the ambition that I share with the Commissioner is to be among the best.  The initiatives we have been able to announce today will mean we can continue to make progress  and provide the great policing service that we all joined up to give.”