May I start with an amendment to last month's update in which I stated incorrectly that a local beat office was located in Great Glen; it is, however, situated within the Thurnby beat at Manor Park Pavilion in the heart of the community. Well done to those that spotted my deliberate mistake, the winner drawn at random will receive a box of stale 'mince pies' in the New Year! 

In the first part of my update I would like to inform you of our current performance as the year draws to a close and to make you aware of some of those successes your local officers have achieved within the last two months.

Market Harborough and Lutterworth Local Policing Units (LPU's) continue to perform to a very high standard due to the commitment of those officers and staff that work there. Our current performance figures for dwelling house burglaries are down by 28.1% which equates to 38 less victims of crime, compared to this time less year. Our commercial burglaries are down by 26.5% which equates to 30 less victims of crime compared to this time last year.

Theft of motor vehicles, whilst decreasing remains at the same level as last year, I can reassure you that the team continues to work hard to reduce this area of crime. At this time of year I would ask for your help by not leaving your car de-frosting unattended with the keys in it. Last year several cars were stolen whilst de-frosting, the consequences of this could be that your insurance company may not pay out for this type of claim.

We continue to listen to our communities and respond quickly to those areas of demand within them. In early December Pc 1774 Andy Parkinson, Pc 341Pete Lambley and PCSO 6090 Matt Kiff undertook new roles as neighbourhood beat officers for the Fleckney, Saddington and surrounding villages. In addition, Pc 1523 Paul Williams has joined Pc 4697 Emily Dickens and PCSO 6664 Anil Mehta for the area of Scraptoft, Thurnby and surrounding villages. All of these officers bring a wealth and variety of experience to these new roles and I wish them every success.

We continue to instigate proactive policing in the Harborough and Lutterworth area and we have undertaken several operations during November and December. 

Sergeant 2908 Steve Bunn implemented 'Operation Legend', a joint operation with local police officers and the Roads Policing Unit. This was a response operation to counter theft from 'curtain sided' lorries in the vicinity of the Magna Business Park area of the A5/A4304. I am pleased to say that no lorries were attacked during the operations and two people were arrested for a large theft of diesel.

Pc 1774 Andy Parkinson in collaboration with Harborough District Council Licensing department, Revenue and Customs fuel testing undertook 'Operation Lanyard' a Taxi Licensing operation in Market Harborough. 25 taxis were stopped and checked, 1one vehicle was seized and several issued with endorsable penalty notices. (A special thank you to TANVC who allowed us to use their premises)  

The force wide 'Drink Drive' campaign started in December and to date 74 people have been arrested for 'drink driving', four of which live within the Market Harborough and Lutterworth area.

Operation 'Christmas Presence' a joint response from the Community Safety Partnership and Police has commenced in Harborough and Lutterworth towns. This operation aims to ensure the festive season remains a safe one for all concerned.

http://www.leics.police.uk/news/5855_operation_christmas_presence_launches_in_market/

All Neighbourhood officers and staff at Market Harborough and Lutterworth are embracing 'Twitter and Facebook' and you can follow the link below to find your local Neighbourhood team. Please follow the teams to keep updated with local policing in your area.

http://www.leics.police.uk/news/5871_find_local_officers_on_facebook_and/

If you have any concerns or issues within your community not requiring a 999 response please contact your local officer whose details can be found on the Leicestershire Constabulary's website http://www.leics.police.uk or call 101 the none emergency number.

A special plea from me, at this time of year and during the winter months if you have a neighbour that lives alone, please check on them regularly to ensure that they are safe and warm.  Thank you!

Finally I would like to wish everyone a 'Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year' from everyone at Market Harborough and Lutterworth police and we look forward to dealing with those many challenges which face us in the new year.

Inspector Paul Mckinder

Insp Paul McKinder

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In my first update I set out a clear commitment that we at Market Harborough and Lutterworth will work closely with our communities and partners to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. I am very pleased to say that collaboration with our partners and are local community has gone from strength to strength and continues with a strong momentum. I have met with several Neighbourhood Watch groups and attended a Lutterworth Council forum, this has helped me to gain a clear understanding of what matters to our community.

The 'Harborough District Neighbourhood Management Meeting' (which I chair) takes place each month with both the police and our partners. It is at this multi-agency forum that we focus on anti-social behaviour and related crime and disorder and any threats to our communities and local people through a collaborative problem solving approach.

Those areas of increased anti-social behaviour during October were identified as Great Glen and Fleckney. We have responded swiftly to these increases by implementing Operation 'Yewtree' a planned response by Special Constabulary officers providing an increased high visibility presence and targeted patrols, this response was supported by the local neighbourhood officers for these beats and in addition the IMPACT Team (Leicestershire Youth Offending Service) have worked with youths in both locations recently. This co-ordinated multi-agency response has seen a significant reduction of anti-social incidents in both locations. 

In collaboration with Great Glen Parish Council the local beat team officers Pc 4697 Emily Dickens and PCSO 6664 Anil Mehta have opened a beat office, those officers now work from this location which puts them in the heart of their community and increases their response times to incidents.

Metal thefts in the Lutterworth area experienced an increase in early October, Sergeant 2908 Steve Bunn and Pc 1088 Paul Hardwicke planned a successful joint operation with Warwickshire police for three days. The operation resulted in four arrests for commercial burglary and three arrests for metal thefts with the recovery of a large quantity of copper cabling. 

Road safety remains a priority at both Market Harborough and Lutterworth, in late September and mid-October two combined traffic operations were undertaken with officers from both the 'Roads Policing Unit' and Market Harborough and Lutterworth stations. The first operation focused on excessive speed on the A6 Kibworth and those villages in The Langton's area. The second operation was undertaken within the Market Harborough and Lutterworth area to prevent and educate motorists from using their mobile phones whilst driving.

Halloween and Bonfire Night experienced a reduced number of reported anti-social behaviour incidents compared to previous years across Market Harborough and Lutterworth this was due to the planned policing response across the area which incorporated the 'No to Trick or Treat' campaign.

On Sunday 13th November I was given the honor of laying the wreath at the Lutterworth Remembrance Parade. It was a fantastic turnout and very poignant and a real privilege.

I am now a confirmed 'Tweeter' having 'Tweeted' for the first time and I look forward to reading your comments, you can follow me at @HarboroughLPU

If you have any problems in your Community not requiring a 999 response please contact your local officer whose details can be found on the Leicestershire Constabulary's website http://www.leics.police.uk or call 101 the none emergency number.

Please remember, 'the more you tell us, the greater impact we can have...'

Inspector Paul Mckinder

Insp Paul McKinder

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May I start by saying what a privilege it is for me to undertake this exciting new role as LPU Commander and may I take this opportunity to thank Inspector Neil Holland for his committed work and success that he has achieved here at the LPU during the previous three years, and I wish him the best of luck in his new role in the Olympics team!

My opening message is clear for those that intend to follow my monthly updates. We will work closely with our communities and partners to identify vulnerable persons and deal robustly with those that cause us the most harm. We will work together to problem solve our greatest areas of vulnerability and threats to our communities working in an intelligent, efficient method, to ensure that our resources are deployed to the right locations and at the right times. 

We will continue to prioritise the reduction of burglaries with fewer victims of crime, in conjunction with a strong commitment to target those identified people who commit anti-social behaviour within the district through rigorous management and the bringing to justice of those offenders committing offences.

I am pleased to inform you that we are continuing to achieve a significant reduction in dwelling house burglaries across the Market Harborough and Lutterworth area since the beginning of April 2011 in comparison to this period last year. Our performance currently demonstrates a 36.9% reduction in burglaries. Well done to all those officers and staff at Market Harborough and Lutterworth LPU, our partners, and importantly our local communities and volunteers who work tirelessly together on a daily basis to achieve these outstanding successes, thank you!

I have now chaired my first Market Harborough Neighbourhood Management Meeting with all of our local partners from across the district and I can report back with total confidence that our partners are an extremely professional and committed body of people who are working hard in the interests and welfare of all members of our local communities.

The Market Harborough and Lutterworth team of sergeants continually seek opportunities to improve our service to the public and currently we are evaluating the revised 'Patrol Strategy' which assists the deployment of officers to meet the demands. The initial expansion of the 'Patrol Strategy' has incorporated recent deployment of officers from the Special Constabulary to target hotspots of anti-social behaviour within the area.

The opportunity to communicate with us will soon increase as we are soon to embrace the use of 'Facebook and Twitter' at both Market Harborough and Lutterworth.  This will help officers and staff to keep in contact with members of the public in real time and help us to inform you better of local events and information. Officers and staff will shortly be undertaken training prior to going live, I will inform you all shortly when we are trained and licensed to 'Tweet'!

If you have any problems in your Community not requiring a 999 response please contact your local officer whose details can be found on the Leicestershire Constabulary's website. Please remember, 'the more you tell us, the greater impact we can have...'

Inspector Paul Mckinder

Insp Paul McKinder

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