Inspector Chris Pearson leads the Gedling Neighbourhood Policing team which helps crack crime across the borough.

Here’s his latest update on progress his team made in January…

This year has got off to a busy start with the Gedling borough teams continuing their focus on drug supply, residential burglary and speeding. The current policing priorities for Gedling borough will remain until the end of March 2021.

Drug Supply

Work has continued to tackle the supply and use of controlled drugs.

On January 19, officers from Operation Reacher carried out a warrant in Jermyn Drive, Bestwood. A 34-year-old man was arrested and officers recovered a small amount of controlled drugs and counterfeit bank notes.

On January 20, I joined officers from the Carlton neighbourhood team in carrying out a drugs warrant at an address on Cavendish Road, Carlton. A large quantity of class B drugs (cannabis) was recovered from the address and had been drying out in the roof space ready for distribution on the streets. This was seized and will now be destroyed. The warrant was a continuation of ‘Operation Thistle’ which started back in early 2020 and is designed to tackle the supply of controlled drugs in the Netherfield and Carlton areas. Around 50 plants were seized in total and a 50 year old female has been interviewed as part of the ongoing investigation.

A cannabis grow was also seized from an address on Flatts Lane, Calverton following an incident on the morning of January 28. Two male have been arrested and a large quantity of cannabis seized for destruction. The incident came about following a report of a burglary at the address and is a reminder of the damage that drug supply and use can do in our communities. Our work around this will continue.

Burglary

A number of burglary investigations have taken place this month.

On the morning of January 7, we received a report that a mobility scooter had been stolen from an outbuilding on Smithy Crescent, Arnold. A 36-year-old man has been arrested in relation to this burglary and Detectives are investigating the circumstances.

On January 17, officers responded to reports of an intruder alarm at Homebase in Daybrook. Following a speedy response a 36-year-old male was found leaving the site and arrested on suspicion of burglary. He has now been charged and remanded in custody.

In the early hours of January 17, we received reports of an attempted burglary on Rowland Avenue, Mapperley whereby offenders tried to gain entry to a property by damaging the door lock. A short time later two males were seen trying house doors on Bailey Close in Daybrook. In response to this the Operation Reacher team have started a number of late night operations to target offending.

The team carried out proactive operations last week with Neighbourhood Policing and Special Constable colleagues. This resulted in a number of vehicle stops with three vehicles seized. A number of stop/searches were carried out and a driver arrested for failing a roadside breath test. We will continue to take a proactive approach to overnight offending and I would encourage the reporting of any suspicious incidents.

Speeding

We have continued our work around speeding following feedback from members of the public.

This month speeding operations have been carried out in Southdale Road, Carlton with seven drivers issued with Traffic Offence Reports for driving with excessive speed. The same activity has taken place on Nottingham Road, Burton Joyce and in the rural north villages of Ravenshead and Linby with activity on Longdale Lane and Main Road. We will continue to visit our villages and we are being supported by the forces safety camera team.

Significant Arrest

Moving on I wanted to touch on the arrest of Ambrose O’Neill (42 Years) who was found guilty of a serious robbery in Leicestershire around 13 years ago.

O’Neill was sentenced to eight years imprisonment in his absence having failed to appear at court and had never served any of his sentence. O’Neill had links to the Arnold area but had not been seen since and local officers made it their mission to track him down so that he could serve his sentence. The team including PC James Gill carried out a number of lengthy, complex enquiries to try and locate O’Neill.

PC Gill and other colleagues from Rota 3 Response and the wider Gedling team even worked in their own time to follow up on the enquiries to find him.

Finally on the morning of January 22, O’Neill was arrested at an address in Lincolnshire. He was taken to prison and will now serve his sentence.

I’d like to thank PC Gill and the wider Gedling officers for their hard work and determination in bringing O’Neill to justice. It’s a reminder of the great work that happens every day in policing and I’m really pleased that O’Neill will now serve his sentence.

Operation Reacher

The Gedling Reacher team is now a year old and Sergeant Matt Sisson and the team have made a significant contribution to policing in Gedling.

Armed with the latest ANPR technology they have been involved in a huge number of arrests and searches. So far the team have made 141 arrests, conducted 38 warrants and seized £255,000 in suspected criminal money. Alongside that, 56 illegal vehicles have been removed from the road and 230 stop searches conducted.

The team have also taken a proactive role in community engagement linked to the COVID19 pandemic and recently ensured the safe delivery of bottles of water to the local vaccination centre. The bottles were kindly donated by Morrison’s in Netherfield and were given to the staff and volunteers at the vaccination centre. 

Special Constables

Our volunteers have been out in force this month and have been supporting the neighbourhood policing team with the policing of hotspot locations across the area.

The team give up a huge amount of their own personal time to help police the Gedling Borough at the weekends and it is hugely appreciated by us all.

This month the team have been responsible for arresting drivers for failing roadside breath tests and have seized two vehicles being driven without the correct insurance.

The team are also involved in the policing of the Coronavirus Regulations across Gedling. The team is due to grow later this year and I look forward to welcoming our new volunteers.

Coronavirus

We continue to police the Coronavirus Regulations across Gedling and are working closely with our partners at Gedling Borough Council.

We are continuing to follow the 4E’s approach to this in terms of Engage, Explain, Encourage and Enforce.

The majority of people are still following the government instruction to stay at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives. Sadly we have been forced to issue a number of fixed penalty notices across Gedling in relation to parties and other now illegal gatherings.

Whilst we will always be proportionate in our response, the regulations are clear and we have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the wider public. With that in mind we will continue to proactively police the regulations and we are working closely with partners to identify those that should be self-isolating due to positive tests.

We are deploying additional officers to help with the policing of COVID19 and will always deal with reports of parties or those failing to self-isolate within the regulations. I’d ask that you follow the regulations to save lives and please seek advice if you have any concerns.

Telephone Scams

Finally I know that nationally there has been an increase in telephone scams linked to COVID19 and the NHS with some victims receiving calls and text messages claiming to be from the NHS, GP Surgery’s or even the World Health Organisation (WHO). The organisations will not ask for any financial information from you and the regulator OFCOM have put together a useful website with advice around preventing this type of crime.

The full advice can be found here at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/coronavirus-scam-calls-and-texts