The senior police officer in charge of making the city of Ripon a safer place, following weeks of crime and antisocial behaviour, says things are already improving.
Officers responded to fresh trouble on Tuesday night in Bondgate within two minutes. Previously residents have complained that police didn’t turn up until the next morning.
Inspector Alex Langley has also been speaking on the Late Show on YorkMix Radio explaining how he after dark again. You can hear that interview in full on the SoundCloud link.
Inspector Langley accepts that the public have been rightly worried about the number of violent incidents.
He told us that he will press for more resources to deal with the challenges his officers face.
And he says his eye is very firmly “on the ball” now he has arrived in this new job. That was a reference to the Police and Crime Commissioner who told councillors that North Yorkshire Police had taken their eye OFF the ball in Ripon after a number of violent robberies on the streets. At the same meeting it was revealed that at times in the past only one officer had been on duty.
As well as talking to YorkMix Inspector Langley also issued his own update via the police website.
“Last week, we shared details about a new operation put it place in Ripon to tackle a recent spike in anti-social behaviour, street robberies, assaults and other criminality in the city.
It’s early days but over the weekend we saw a significant reduction in such incidents, and we continue to see similar levels as we move through half-term – usually one of our busiest periods.
The public are our eyes and ears and we received a small number of reports of issues over the weekend which enabled us to respond and deal with each quickly and effectively. Our message to our communities is please keep reporting matters and intelligence to us and we will take the necessary actions – thank you!
We also saw a reduction in the number of young people out on the streets across the weekend and would like to thank those parents and guardians who continue to support their young people and reinforce that stay home, stay safe message.
We are actively patrolling. The dedicated operation has seen an increased police presence in and around the city, some more visible than others, and extra teams drafted in to help deter offenders, prevent crime and we continue to enforce where necessary.
We know that our phones lines can sometimes be busy but did you know that you can request a call back from us on 101? Just press 1 and leave your details and we’ll get back in touch with you, to save you hanging on the phone. If you need us in an emergency, always dial 999
Lastly, I’d like to take this opportunity to once again thank our communities who continue to follow the lockdown rules and are playing their part in keeping everybody and the community safe. We will provide updates to our ongoing investigations as and when we can.”