Northamptonshire Police better prepared due to Covid, top cop says

Nick Adderley said Covid-19 has left the force better placed to combat 'behind the front door' crime

A chief constable says Covid-19 challenges have helped his force become better at tackling domestic abuse and cyber crime.

Northamptonshire Police's Nick Adderley said cases of "behind the front door" crime increased during the pandemic.

He said the force could make sure such crimes are "prevented in the future".

The county is in the midst of a major Covid incident, but Mr Adderley said prior planning meant a "doomsday scenario" had been avoided.

Mr Adderley told BBC Radio Northampton the pandemic had been "a challenge," but added: "Hopefully we're starting to move through that now."

A major Covid incident was called in Northamptonshire on 7 January

He said as well as the pressures of enforcing new regulations, the force had had to deal with "a very changing nature in crime".

Mr Adderley identified increases in cyber crime, domestic abuse and child abuse.

Such crimes have risen due to people being in lockdown or leaving home less often.

Mr Adderley said: "The good news is we have learnt so much during this period that we can take into 2022 to make sure these crimes not only are dealt with, but are prevented in the future."

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Northamptonshire declared a major Covid incident on 7 January with hospitals, care homes and other services facing critical staff shortages.

On Tuesday, Northampton and Kettering Hospitals' boss Simon Weldon said the situation was improving, but the county is "still in the teeth of it".

Mr Adderley said declaring the incident had protected the area, with Northamptonshire Police's abstraction rate - the number of officers removed from their core role - one of the lowest in the country at 9%.

The force currently has 165 people absent.

"All of the plans we drew up, which would be a doomsday scenario where we would have to withdraw services and go to emergency response, we have not had to do," Mr Adderley said.

"We'll have to see what happens now Plan B has been lifted, but so far, so good."