Police launch project with partners to tackle anti-social behaviour in area of Northampton

The ‘Together we Solve project’ will see Northamptonshire Police, working with staff from West Northamptonshire Council and other organisations, adopt the principles of the Home Office’s ‘Clear Hold Build’ method to tackle offending in designated areas.

It launched last weekend and will initially focus on the Bouverie estate and surrounding streets in Northampton town centre.

Clear Hold Build is a multi-agency partnership approach, designed to regenerate areas most affected by crime and anti-social behaviour.

This three-phase method has already been used successfully in other parts of the county as part of Operation Revive, and it makes use of a combination of targeted high-visibility police operations and covert policing tactics alongside activity and support from partners. Key to this is the involvement, input and support from local residents. The aim is to protect communities, tackle offending and prevent further crime.

Officers from the Northampton Central Neighbourhood Policing Team will be leading the first phase of the work in the Bouverie area, with a team of four officers dedicated to working on the programme.

The plans were shared at a community event last weekend, when police officers residents at a launch event held at Vernon Terrace Primary School. Children were asked to design a logo to represent the ‘Together we Solve’ and Teja from Year 5 was crowned the winner.

Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Northampton, Nicola Davis-Lyons, introduced the programme at Saturday’s launch event.

She said: “Together We Solve is about using the principles of Clear Hold Build to deal with identified crime and anti-social behaviour issues, and build a better environment and improve the quality of life for local people.

“The voice of the community in a project like this cannot be underestimated. It’s really important to make sure that we are tackling issues that matter the most.

“We want to work with people in the area to build community resilience and give them the tools to report crime without fear and to keep their spaces safe. Alongside this we will work with our partners to make sustainable changes that benefit the local area.”

Chief Inspector for Response and Local Policing on the Northamptonshire West area, Kim Jackson, added: “It’s an exciting initiative and we’ll be working hard to make a difference in the Bouverie area in the coming weeks and months, before rolling the project out in a different area of the town.

“Clear Hold Build isn’t a new approach for Northamptonshire Police, with Operation Revive having successfully used similar principles to tackle organised crime and serious violence in the Kings Heath and Blackthorn areas of the town.

“The Force is now taking this approach a step further, expanding on the success of Op Revive by embedding a specialist team into our neighbourhood teams. This increases our capacity and enables greater focus on long term, sustainable problem solving, putting our communities at the heart of local policing.”

Clear Hold Build areas will be identified following analysis of crime and other data, and what the community identifies as a priority for them, in agreement with partner agencies.