Neighbourhood policing teams (NPTs) play a crucial role in Op Shield

Message from Humberside Police:

Neighbourhood policing teams (NPTs) play a crucial role within Humberside Police. They are the eyes and ears of our local communities, ensuring that the issues that concern you the most are acted upon.

Their days are spent patrolling the street and crime hotspots areas, listening to your concerns, and working with our partner agencies to proactively tackle issues such as: anti-social behaviour, burglaries, drug misuse, and nuisance motor vehicles among many others.

We spoke to Chief Inspector Derek Hussain to find out more about what the NPTs will be up to during Op Shield.

How are the Neighbourhood Police Teams going to be involved in Op Shield?

The NPTs main focus will be on staying visible in their communities and continuing to communicate with them. We want to make sure that there aren’t any tensions, and we’ll be doing that with high-visibility patrols, especially in hotspot areas.

For us, the work doesn’t revolve around warrants – it comes before all of that. Our job is to collate all the information and intelligence which we then submit to be able to get warrants, which are then executed.

Another key part of our job is making sure that people don’t fill in the gaps left behind.

For example, we arrested a number of people in Bridlington through the warrants, so the teams will be working hard to make sure that void is not filled quickly by other drug users and drug dealers.

To do that, the teams do a lot of work with the local authorities. Already, they’ve got six closure notice orders on properties, so no associates will be able to enter that location, and that’s just the start.

What can people expect from their local officers?

For me, the main thing will be about the community engagement. As I’ve already said, we will be doing a lot of high-visibility patrols, but it is also about answering questions that people have and letting them know that we are taking action against criminals who think they can operate here.

The teams did HumberTalking before Op Shield began, and we have already used information that we gathered from that. You can expect to see them doing more in coming months as we follow up about any further worries that you may have.

How can people help with the work that you’re doing?

There are a few ways that people can get in touch with us about information that you may have.

You can call us on 101 and 999 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if you have anything that you need to report. If you see officers in the street, you can even wave them down to speak about anything that you are worried about.

Reports from people in our communities are how we collate all the information and evidence that we need to act.

You can already see the results of this – we have had people in Bridlington telling police about issues around drugs and OCGs, and that intelligence has already been used in the first week of Op Shield, leading to warrants and arrests.

We want to thank everyone who has already reported issues to us and ask that you continue to tell us about any problems in your area. The information that we receive from you is vital to target those causing trouble in the community, and it allows us to create a hostile environment for criminals to operate in.

To keep up with all things Operation Shield in your area, you can find more information on our website, or follow your local Neighbourhood teams on Facebook and Twitter.