It has been another busy few weeks since my last news Round-up with more really important activity to keep people safe and tackle crime in Lancashire.
Disrupting and dismantling criminal gangs is one of my key priorities and since becoming Commissioner I have been on a number of operations that do just that. This week I joined officers on raids in Blackburn that focused on courier fraud, which has been taking advantage of people across the country and stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Attending the briefing with officers beforehand and joining as properties were visited simultaneously with arrests made, it highlights the importance of intelligence-led operations that ultimately get criminals off the streets and protect people.
This is backed up by statistics revealed during my latest Accountability Board meeting with the Chief Constable and his team, which is one of the formal ways I hold him and the force to account against the priorities for policing I and the people of Lancashire want to see.
An increase in arrests relating to criminal gangs highlights the real difference that a tough approach can have as we send the message to offenders that we will be coming to get you if you operate in our county.
This work of course is bolstered by the continued investment into more police officers via the Government's policing uplift programme and I was delighted to welcome new recruits at their attestation ceremony last week and see so many proud friends and family in the audience joining myself and the Chief Constable in congratulating them.
I look forward to seeing them again in action on our streets in the coming months and years as we take the fight to criminals and deliver on my Police and Crime Plan together.
Andrew Snowden
Lancashire's Police and Crime Commissioner
