Team effort sees continued reduction in vehicle crime across North Warwickshire

A local policing Northern Vehicle Crime Team (NVCT) is continuing to help reduce the level of vehicle crime across the north of the county.

Led by Sergeant Steve Davies, the NVCT was set up in January to support uniformed colleagues with addressing new and priority crime issues.

In addition to arresting offenders and disrupting criminal activities, the team, which is made up of one sergeant and six officers, has had a number of positive results in recent months.

This includes cutting the number of vehicle crimes in North Warwickshire from 380 offences in January to just 84 in May.

Sergeant Steve Davies said: “We know that the number of vehicle crimes happening in north Warwickshire was starting to impact public confidence in the police.

“Since the implementation of the team, we have seen a week on week reduction in the number of offences, which is a really positive step.

“Inevitably lockdown has had an impact on policing locally but in spite of the increased footfall since the measures were eased, there continues to be a steady decrease in the number of vehicle crimes month on month.

“We are continuing to lock up prolific offenders, which in turn is impacting on vehicle crime figures where we are continuing to see a reduction.

“I’m extremely proud of the team’s impact and ongoing commitment to protecting our communities from harm.

“The team was created to address priority issues and the officers were recruited as they all have a strong desire to make a significant contribution to reducing crime.

“We knew they needed to be extremely flexible around when and where they work to maximise their results and so far, we are very happy with the outcome.”

Issued: Laura Maltby, Corporate Communications