A blitz on burglaries on one of Northampton’s most notorious estates has seen the number of break-ins halve in just 12 months.
Thorplands has long been regarded as one of the biggest crime hotspots in the town but new figures revealing the results of the introduction of a Safer Stronger Northampton Partnership scheme show criminal activity has fallen dramatically in the past year.
Thorplands was previously the subject of a Caspar project to help cut crime and the latest blitz saw the closure of flying freeholds, trees and hedges across the estate cut back and residents taking part in a number of clean-up events. SmartWater was offered to hundreds of homes on the estate which provided a valuable opportunity for the Partnership to interact with residents and help reassure those most at risk of being a victim of crime. Each homeowner marked their property with the forensic liquid which allows Police to trace the owner.
The £200,000 project was launched to reduce offences such as burglary, vehicle crime and robbery, whilst improving residents’ confidence in the police and involving them in solving issues on the estate. During the scheme burglaries fell by 55 per cent, theft from motor vehicles went down by 70 per cent, theft of vehicles reduced by 59 per cent and robbery decreased by 50 per cent.
Inspector John McKinney said: “The Thorplands project was perhaps the most effective short-term partnership initiative of 2008/09, delivering very significant crime reduction outcomes on time and budget. This was one of the most effective partnerships I have ever been involved in. The project illustrated very significant reductions in crime and increases in public confidence.”
Police have previously used loudhailers to warn residents about the dangers of burglars targeting unlocked homes in the area. An official report into the scheme said: “The project has proved to be successful in Thorplands. Serious acquisitive crime volumes are the lowest recorded for the past six months (December 2008 to May 2009), compared to the same six months across a five-year period.”
A similar project is set to start up in the nearby Lumbertubs area in August 2009, during which police are hoping to achieve similarly good results.