Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide for Kettering's most wanted criminals

The specialist Northamptonshire Police Proactive Team, made up of four expert police officers with unique experience and unmatched skills, was called into Kettering 39 days ago after force bosses noticed an unusual spike in criminal activity in the town.

Since then, the team led by Sergeant Lee Jones, has managed to thwart the criminal intentions of the town’s suspected drug dealers, burglars and acquisitive criminals by using intelligence to track them down and catch them red-handed.

They have confiscated zombie knives, machetes, samurai swords, vehicles used in crime, class-A drugs and thousands of pounds as well as making a significant number of arrests.

Their activities in their first month in the borough include:

- 114 stop and searches which led to 30 arrests, four cannabis warnings, five reports of summonses and three cautions.

- 38 positive vehicles stops including seizures and arrests, with 19 vehicles seized and 21 crimes detected.

- 54 arrests: 20 for drug offences, 18 for violence, 11 for acquisitive crime and nine for other reasons.

- 14 premises searches.

- two warrants executed under the misuse of drugs act

Drugs they have seized include:

- 50 wraps of class-A drugs

- 13g of crack cocaine

- four grams of heroin

- cannabis oil

- 120g of herbal cannabis

- several cannabis plants

- amphetamine

- £10,735 in cash through the proceeds of crime act

Weapons confiscated include:

- one crowbar

- three lock-knives

- four kitchen knives

- four combat knives

- two machetes

- a large pickaxe handle

- four metal knuckle dusters

- one hammer

- one catapult with metal ball-bearings

- one samurai sword

- three metal bars

- one imitation firearm

Places you may have seen them:

- August 9: Arresting two men, recovering a stolen vehicle and stolen property in Kettering.

- August 12: Finding drugs hidden in a the handlebars of a bike in Kettering.

- August 12: Arresting a man accused of causing damage at a Kettering hotel.

- August 16: Confiscating an imitation Smith Wesson revolver from an address in Kettering.

- August 23: Chasing a burglar on foot in Kettering. One arrested for possessing an offensive weapon, two for burglary.

- August 27: Arresting a suspected street drug dealer in Rothwell.

- August 30: Arresting two men on suspicion of stealing a moped in Corby.

- September 1: Seizing a car from an unlicensed driver in Kettering.

- September 2: Seizing a machete on a night of stop and searches in Corby.

- September 6: Discovering several knives a knuckle duster, a sword and a machete after tracking down a suspected burglar hiding under a bed in Kettering.

- September 6: Chasing a burglar on foot in Desborough.

- September 6: Pursuing a driver with no insurance through Kettering.

Inspector Julie Mead, who asked the team to spend some time in the town after noticing the spike in crime, said: “The team moves to wherever they are needed in the county.

“We had an unusual rise in burglaries in Kettering so I put in a bid for them to come here.

They are given very clear intelligence packages and they are great at getting to know a new area and the faces of criminals very, very quickly.

“There’s a huge wealth of experience there and Sgt Jones runs a very tight team which is very well-briefed. They have been working during the night for us which is when they are most needed.

“They are there, working away when people are in their beds, protecting people in Kettering from criminal activity.

“Every time one of our priority offenders pops his head up they are there feeling their collar.

“The weapons they are seizing are often used for protection by these criminals. The message we want to put out to them is that there is nowhere to hide.”

You can follow the activities of the team on their Twitter page.