Why were #OpTarget officers in Knowsley this week?

This week, officers have carried out high visibility patrols foot patrols, warrants, numerous stop searches and other activity around Knowsley as a direct response to what you told us you wanted to see. 

 

Last month, we asked you to complete a survey asking you a few questions about our #OpTarget days of action, where you wanted us to focus and what you wanted to see more of. Thank you to those of you that completed the survey, some of the answers are below:

We asked: “Do days of action make you feel safer in your community?”

The response: 78% of those who completed the survey answered yes with some people commenting that more action was needed on side streets during evenings/weekends.

The outcome: As a result, we scheduled patrols in the evening who spent time specifically walking down side streets as well as around the wider area so we could get a better understanding of the issues that residents had raised and how they differed from patrols carried out during the day.

We also asked: “What would you like us focus on during the next day of action?”

The response: Although the majority of the feedback was positive and a lot of people said that our priorities including looking for those involved in drug crime, burglary, serious violence and antisocial behaviour was accurate, we still needed to focus on local housing estates.

The outcome: So as a result we patrolled housing estates across Knowsley. 

We then asked: “How else would you like us to target criminals?”

The response: You told us you wanted to see more stop search, more police on foot, more visible patrols around Kirkby, more prevention work with young people and more raids.

The outcome: We put more officers on the street around Shaw Lane & Station Rd in Prescot, we carried out numerous stop searches around Huyton which resulted in the recovery of both Class A and B drugs and we also carried out a warrant at an address on Birkbeck Rd, Kirkby where a small amount of suspected cocaine was recovered.

We asked: “Do days of action make you more likely to give us intelligence about those involved in crime?”

The response: 82% of respondents said yes.

Inspector Jon Coote said: “Our engagement with the community this week has been really positive in terms of gaining intelligence and speaking directly to residents about other concerns.

“We patrol on foot and in police cars (both marked and unmarked) on a regular basis and we will always welcome your feedback. We’ll continue to carry out this style of policing deployments based on what you say so please continue to let us know if you’re worried about someone you know getting involved in crime or crime being committed in your neighbourhood so we can investigate.

“To give us information, please get in touch via @MerPolCC, call 101 or contact @CrimestoppersUK anonymously. Together we can keep Knowsley a safe place to live, work and visit.”