Crime Stabilising and Drug Operations Catch Dealers

Crime in Henley was up by 30% in Henley in February 2018 when Sgt Neil Anns took over his position in the town.  At the Town Council Town & Community Committee Meeting last week he gave a brief overview of crime statistics which have been reduced by 16% with the Henley Neighbourhood Team continuing to work towards stabilising the figure.

Drug operations have been particularly successful with two nights last week seeing officers patrolling Woodlands Road in Harpsden, following reports of drug usage from members of the public. One male was found in possession of a considerable amount of cannabis (see photo above).  Sgt Anns said, “There have been 6 stop searches (all intelligence led) with 11 positive results, 2 of which were dealers. Some youths caught and referred to Youth Offending Team and d:two for diversion work. We will continue to pro-actively police the supply of controlled drugs in the town and further operations are planned.”

Breakdown of statistics:

• Burglary dwelling is up by 6 burglaries year on year
• Commercial burglaries are down by 15.4% following a lot of work to stop the crime series in the town centre during the summer months whereby premises were being broken into a cash and items stolen
• Theft from Motor vehicles are down 5.4%
• Criminal Damage is down 10.3%
• Violence with injury is down 1.9%
• Drugs offences are up 31.3% due to a huge amount of work undertaken recently to disrupt the usage and supply of controlled drugs around town
• ASB is down 40%

Resources are still the biggest challenge due to the impact of the 19% budget cut by the government.

Drugs is a high priority for Sgt Neil Anns and his team but to in order to ensure that police continue their success Sgt Anns stressed. “We are seeing a high number of false allegations being posted on Facebook groups in the town and also people sharing info on the groups and saying they’ve told the police when they haven’t. My message is, tell us what you know, and we will do something about it!”

You can report drug offences or any other crime by calling 101 or online https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/