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The Nottinghamshire Police inspector for Bulwell has vowed to continue cracking down on the crimes residents have told his policing team are important to them following his first year in the role.

Insp Paul Ferguson is in charge of the city north area – which covers Bulwell, Sherwood, and Bestwood – and has seen reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB), commercial burglary and vehicle theft all reduce to different extents over the last 12 months.

Drug offending, ASB and acquisitive crimes – offences like burglary that are based on acquiring property – are all priorities that were chosen for city north.

Insp Ferguson introduced these priorities after starting the role in September last year and is pleased with the progress made by his team so far.

Insp Paul Ferguson is pleased with how crime rates have fallen in his first year in charge of the city north division. Photo: Nottinghamshire Police

At the same time, there has been a 75 per cent rise in action being taken around drugs supply offences.

Insp Ferguson said: “The fact these numbers are high is undoubtedly a good thing because it shows the ongoing work we’re doing as a policing team to tackle this issue and pick these suspects up.

“Our operation reacher and neighbourhood policing teams do a fantastic job in carrying out regular warrants on properties intelligence suggests could be linked to drug activity, while the road crime team has also assisted us through intelligence-led car stops that have uncovered some significant quantities of drugs.

“A lot of the intelligence that helps identify these suspects comes from the public, which shows the importance of the engagement work we do to build the community’s trust in reporting information to us.

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“Our officers have also carried out extra patrols in areas like Bulwell that have had a real impact in helping reduce ASB in the town centre.

The city north area has seen a 39 per cent reduction in commercial burglaries and a nine per cent drop in vehicle thefts, when comparing the financial year to date with the period between April and September 2022.

There has also been a 15 per cent drop in ASB reports in Bulwell during this time.

However, Insp Ferguson says there is still work to do and adds that maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the community is one of the key ways they will bring crime rates down further.

He said: “Most of our work relies on community intelligence, so it is so important that we continue to build that trust with the public, so that they have that confidence to keep reporting information to us.

“We’re committed to making the local area a safer place for people to live, work and visit, and to helping people feel more comfortable in their own homes and communities.

“What might seem like a small or menial piece of information to a member of the public could be the last piece of the jigsaw we need to get a warrant to be able to go through somebody’s front door and disrupt criminal activity, so I’d ask the public to always contact us on 101, if they have any information for us to follow up.”

Bulwell area police chief makes crime pledge after first year in the role