New police operation to tackle crime

Burglars, car thieves and robbers are set to be targeted as part of a new policing operation which launches today (Monday).

Operation Relentless has been established to tackle burglary, vehicle crime and robbery.

The year-long initiative will involve officers and staff from across Derbyshire Constabulary, who will work in conjunction with partner agencies.

It comes after a public consultation showed that communities throughout the county - including in Glossopdale and the High Peak - expressed concerns about having their house or car broken into. 

In an effort to tackle these types of crime, the operation will begin with two weeks of targeted activity, police have said. 

The force say the objectives of the operation are to "increase the quality of investigations and prevent further offending in these areas through community projects by working with our partners". 

Safer neighbourhood teams will also be engaging with residents to property mark items, and issue crime prevention advice to help them take steps to keep homes, vehicles and themselves safe.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Gibson said: "Whilst Derbyshire is still one of the safest places to live and work in the country, we want the public to be confident that we are also tackling those offences that have a personal impact, such as burglary, vehicle crime and robbery.

"Burglary has a real impact on victims and we want to continue to do all we can to pursue offenders and bring them to justice as well as providing the best level of service we can to victims.

"Robberies have a huge impact on the confidence of victims to go about their daily business, and can also have a negative effect on their mental health, while those whose vehicles are broken into or stolen face real inconvenience and interruption to their lives." 

After the initial first two weeks of targeted activity, there will then be a series of community projects that will be launched together with partner agencies, who Derbyshire Constabulary work alongside as well as the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Hardyal Dhindsa, Derbyshire's PCC, welcomed the announcement. He commented: "People have told me that they want to see the police tackling issues like antisocial behaviour, burglary, robbery and vehicle crime and we are now in a position where we have more officers to do this.

"Derbyshire lost 450 officers and nearly 300 police staff as a result of austerity, but over the last two years we have been carefully rebuilding the numbers.   

"The Chief Constable and I were clear when we agreed the budget that we would use the increased funding from local people to do the things that they prioritised. So we have begun to increase police visibility and are tackling the issues that they said mattered most to them. The operation is aptly named. 

"We will be absolutely relentless as we work to prevent crime and catch offenders. In the coming year, we will have yet more officers to dedicate to targeted initiatives." 

For further information on what is happening during Operation Relentless, visit www.derbyshire.police.uk, follow @DerbyshireConstabulary on Facebook, or @Derbyspolice on Twitter using the hashtag #OpRelentless.