Chief Constable Rob Nixon reflects one year on from East Leicester Disorder

One year on from the disorder that occurred in East Leicester, the Chief Constable reflects on what happened and what he has put in place to take the learning forward and ensure that people in East Leicester continue to feel safe and have confidence in the police.

The disorder in September 2022 led to a significant investigation called Operation Energy which was complex and challenging because of its sustained nature, the large number of individuals involved, serious individual assaults, and large volumes of CCTV, Body Worn Video and social media needed to be scrutinised and processed.

The investigation sought to thorough, proportionate, and ethical investigation into the events whilst building and maintaining public confidence via the investigative process.

In addition to this, the government announced they would be conducting a review of why the events happened and Leicestershire Police have commissioned their own internal review which will be shared with the Government at the appropriate time as well as working with other agencies like the City Council and local community and faith groups.

Chief Constable Rob Nixon said: “Over the last year we have worked hard to engage with local communities to listen to their concerns and to closely monitor tensions.

“My team have good relationships with a number of key people within the communities who I speak to regularly and I am hugely grateful to them for working with us. It is a matter of importance to me personally that we maintain this open dialogue and effect change where we can.

“We took many people responsible for the disorder last year to the courts after a rigorous and extensive investigation.

“From our own learning and talking with communities I have made changes within the East Leicester local policing, inserting more leadership and engagement opportunities in order to ensure we are listening and learning from our communities all of the time. These changes include a Chief Superintendent for the city of Leicester. This means stronger leadership and support to our officers on area, allowing them to focus on a quality service, preventing and detecting crime, as well as engaging and understanding our diverse communities.

“We have added additional resources to East Leicester local Neighbourhood Team on late shifts in order to tackle anti-social behaviour in the local public spaces and the national ‘uplift’ in police numbers has helped us do this.  

“We continue to ensure that officers working in East Leicester are given briefings concerning cultural sensitivities, religious festivals, and prayer times. These briefings set clear expectations for officers in how the community might be expected to engage and react to any policing operation.

“We also offer to religious leaders and local councillors the opportunity to carry out joint patrols with officers to provide transparency in policing style, including with senior police officers.”

Through the council and the Police and Crime Commissioner additional CCTV has been installed in East Leicester based upon crime patterns and data from the Violence Reduction Network.

Information on charges and court outcomes:

58 people were charged following the East Leicester disorder

32 found guilty (see below) - 17 of these cases people pleaded not guilty

6 cases discontinued or dismissed at court with one not-guilty

1 community resolution

19 cases are still pending at court (including 2 people failed to appear and are wanted on warrant)

32 people were found guilty at court for different offences such as:

Public order offences

Possession of weapons

Affray

Assault of emergency worker

Driving offences – such as no insurance or drink driving

Racial/ Religious public order offence

Threats to kill

Possession of a firearm (taser)

Breach of curfew

Sentences included: Fines of various amounts up to £1200

Unpaid community hours up to 300

Conditional discharges with fines

Imprisonment for 7 days/10 weeks/12 weeks

Electronic tag curfew for 6 months

12 months suspended sentence

Driving disqualification and fine

10 months imprisonment

1 x community resolution