Northamptonshire police train over 200 carers to recognise crime in Operation REPEAT

The operation, which stands for Reinforcing Elderly Persons Education at all Times, was enabled by funding from Northamptonshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Stephen Mold, who launched it in September 2021.

It’s training sessions aim to educate people to recognise when fraud is happening, know what lengths fraudsters will go to to exploit vulnerable people, as well as how to report criminal incidents.

Ginny Marks from Northamptonshire Carers, Wellingborough, said: “Those who have attended the two sessions we held at our office have been in awe of the information and knowledge gained from attending the course.

"It has so many points of relevance and importance for the work we do across the county with carers and the people they care for... out in the community.

“It’s one of those subjects that everyone is aware of but has little knowledge of how to recognise all the wickedness that’s out there, and how to deal promptly and effectively with the information they discover while working with people. We all feel so much better informed, and confident we can handle all types of fraud and doorstep crime in the most effective way.”

It is reportedly the only scheme in the country to offer doorstep crime prevention training and is already having “a huge impact in Northamptonshire”, according to the Police.

Rogue traders, unscrupulous salespeople, distraction burglars and bogus callers are some of the professional criminals described in the scheme that target elderly and vulnerable people. It is hoped that carers will be bale to identify these threats by learning their methods and then reporting them appropriately.

Numerous offences have reportedly been prevented following these sessions, including an attempted romance fraud on a 61-year-old woman and an attempted courier fraud which a carer recognised within days of attending the course.

Commissioner Mold said: “I was delighted to attend a recent training session in Moulton to see for myself how impactful this project is. The principle of using trusted members of the community to continually reinforce fraud prevention messages on a weekly or daily basis is a really effective way to reach the most vulnerable people in our county.

“We want this training to provide the existing community workforce with the knowledge and confidence to spot and speak out to help us break and disrupt this type of crime. We cannot rely on justice alone, we need to intervene early to protect older and more vulnerable people from these fraudsters.”

Reg Burrell, Director of Operation REPEAT said: “Our research has shown us that by channelling education sessions to trusted members of our community who are already engaging with the most vulnerable people means we can get the messages out directly and repeatedly and stand a better chance of avoiding fraud.

“This type of crime is particularly unpleasant because of the vulnerability of the people being targeted. Victims will not only suffer financial loss because of doorstep crime and fraud, but it can also impact their mental and emotional health and wellbeing. By delivering these doorstep crime prevention sessions, we want to stop these criminals in their tracks and wherever possible, bring them to justice.”