Stephen Mold out and about

Almost £650,000 is to be invested in preventing crime in the county thanks to a successful bid to the Home Office Safer Streets fund by Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold.

As part of Round Five of the Safer Streets Fund, Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has secured £646,570 to support practical and targeted projects to tackle burglary and vehicle crime and reduce violence against women and girls.

This is the sixth time that the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has made a successful Safer Streets bid since the scheme was launched four years ago. Rounds one – five focussed on neighbourhood crime and a sixth that focussed on tackling violence against women. As a result of those bids, Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has been awarded nearly £4m to invest in crime prevention, and his office and partners have invested a further £1m to boost safety in communities across the county.

The three successful Safer Streets projects in this round are:

  • Weston, Northampton and Kingswood, Corby: A forensic property marking, and asset recording scheme called ‘Stand up to crime’ will be rolled out to residents to help tackle residential burglary. Equipment to identify stolen property will be installed in custody suites and given to second-hand dealers.
  • Junction 15 A and Watford Gap M1 Services: Several physical security measures such as improved fencing, lighting, CCTV and ANPR will be put in place to tackle theft from HGVs and other vehicles.
  • Violence against women and girls: Staff at bus and train hubs in the county will be trained to recognise when women are vulnerable and how to respond appropriately. Working with West Northamptonshire Council, a scheme will see taxi marshals working in Northampton town centre.

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has already carried out Safer Streets projects across the county that have included the delivery of crime prevention improvements to homes and streets in residential areas of Northampton, Kettering and Wellingborough. CCTV has been upgraded and home security products distributed in Wellingborough, Kettering and Northampton, alleys have been gated in Wellingborough and Kettering and training schemes for staff and ID scanning technology has helped to make the night-time economy safer.

All the proposals were developed based on crime rates in the areas to be targeted and following consultation with residents and other stakeholders. Work on all three projects will begin as soon as possible.

Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold said:  “I’m really pleased that yet again, we have been successful in bringing more money to Northamptonshire to support practical crime prevention projects to make communities safer.

“We will be working in partnership with other organisations and have listened to the concerns of local people in putting together a package of targeted measures to improve safety and tackle crime.”

More information on earlier Safer Streets projects in Northamptonshire can be found here