POLICE spent more than 4,000 extra hours patrolling crime hotspots in Avon & Somerset, making 62 arrests and seizing nine weapons in the last six months, the force’s top officer said.
.jpeg?width=209&height=140&crop=209:145,smart&quality=75)
.jpeg?width=209&height=140&crop=209:145,smart&quality=75)
Chief Constable Sarah Crew said officers and PCSOs worked overtime to carry out the additional patrols, paid for by government funding, which also resulted in 68 orders associated with antisocial behaviour.
Speaking during police and crime commissioner Clare Moody’s monthly police question time, the chief constable said: “We’ve been doing hotspot patrols for serious violence for three years.
“We’ve had extra funding for that and we’ve also had extra funding to target antisocial behaviour.
“It’s important to give a sense of why this is important.
“Lots of academic research from across the world shows that short, intensive, hotpot, highly visible patrols, engaging with people, maybe just in a very small area where our analysis says we are going make the most difference, can have a huge impact.”