District commander for Newark and Sherwood, Inspector Heather Sutton, on tackling the need for speed

Police in Newark and Sherwood are to prioritise speeding and road safety over the next three months.

District commander Inspector Heather Sutton said: “Speeding is an issue across most areas of Newark and Sherwood due to our geographics, and we know that most of our offenders are residents to the district.

“While enforcement, or the prospect of, does of course help the problem, we have already done a variety of things across the area to try and lessen the impact, long term.”

These include more officers being trained in the use of speed guns, beat managers using the speed gun more frequently, days of action, and working with the fire service to provide education sessions.

The rural specials team has carried out speed gun work, shared educational videos on social media and set up and supported community Speedwatch groups.

In addition, bin stickers have been ordered and distributed to parish councils.

Inspector Sutton said: “Over the next three months we will be conducting a number of road safety operations targeting speeding and other traffic offences.

“We are also working closely with Newark and Sherwood District Council to raise awareness of speeding through campaigns and support Speedwatch groups.

“While some people may feel that policing speeding is a waste of time, this is clearly something that is of concern to a large number of residents and visitors of our area.”

Since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic the priority for Newark and Sherwood had been anti-social behaviour and, before that, auto crime.

Inspector Sutton said anti-social behaviour had significantly increased during the year because of reports relating to covid-19 breaches and groups of people congregating and causing trouble.

Each day, officers are dedicated to covid patrols and will attend anti-social behaviour hot spot locations and deal with reported restriction breaches.

Auto crime also remains a concern in the area, despite showing a year-to-date decrease.

Operation Magna, targetting fuel thefts and associated farm land damage around the A1, and Operation Optical, focusing on theft from works’ vans, will continue.

Inspector Sutton said “All crime year to date is down and there hasn’t been a spike of any particular crime type. Again, this is mainly due to the impact of covid-19 restrictions.

“With the enforcement of the second national lockdown, now seems to be the appropriate time to shift our focus slightly and have a look at something we haven’t previously been able to set as a priority due to other crime types taking precedence.”

The top answer from the public in a survey about policing priorities has consistently been speeding, closely followed by reckless and careless driving.

“Speeding is also the topic I receive the most complaints about from councillors and members of the public,” said Inspector Sutton.

For more information and advice go to https://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/motoring