I’ve been asked to give some reflections around the last year in Boston. Having only been in this post since March I’ll give my first impressions of working in the town. I’ve served twenty-one years in Lincolnshire Police and it’s the first time I’ve worked in Boston. What strikes me is the huge desire of those working for agencies in Boston to improve the quality of life for those in the town. The town has its issues, I won’t shy away from these but we will work with the community to try to improve where we can.
This year, the country seen some of the worst disorder in recent years following tragic events in Southport. There were real implications for policing in Lincolnshire as some of our officers were deployed to help manage the disorder. Lincolnshire is a small force, covering the staff deployed is not an easy problem to solve. The resilience shown was truly admirable.
In Boston we didn’t experience any large-scale disorder, something we are very thankful for. What was really heartening to see on social media were the chorus of voices denouncing those who thought that by destroying what we have they were achieving something.
In September we worked with our colleagues in education and children’s services for Operation Absence, tackling non-attendance at school and truancy. Over 30 youngsters were engaged with. Boston has some of the lowest academic achievement rates in the country and we will work with community partners to increase attendance. Several children were found to be unregistered with local schools – something which can now be addressed.
Also, in September, we worked with our partners in Boston Borough Council CCTV, Community Rangers, Kingdom Enforcement, Pescod Security Team and others on Operation Continents. Tackling prolific shoplifters, the operation saw six arrests including two people suspected to be responsible for over £100,000 of theft from a leading retailer nationwide. PC Danni Pratt, our Town Centre Beat Manager, led this work and is looking to repeat the success of the day.
Our ongoing operation to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in hot-spot areas within the town of Boston continues. Operation Plotting uses highly visible patrols within those areas to deter crime. We have secured funding in collaboration with Boston Borough Council to employ two Community Rangers – another highly visible asset within the town centre they will deal with low-level anti-social behaviour and street drinking, enforcing the Public Space Protection Order within the town. They have over 400 interactions with people, enforcing the no drinking zone within the town. We have seen a marked decrease in street drinking in Boston.
Operation Nivada is our joint program of tackling illicit businesses in Boston and South Holland with our colleagues in Trading Standards. Since we started targeting these shops, we have seen over sixty closure orders or closure order extensions in the Boston area alone. Generally, once we have the evidence we can close a shop for three months. We can go to a court and this can be extended to six months should we believe the same activity will take place again. We often get criticised with people saying “you should close them permanently” or “you should take the licence away” or “the council should not allow them to open in the first place”. Well, I thought I would take the opportunity to dispel some myths. We cannot close them permanently; we are doing as much as the law currently allows. The shops are not licensed, and the council have absolutely no power in saying what shops open in their streets. This is why Insp Matt Dickinson (South Holland NPT) and I are lobbying MPs and their respective cohorts for changes in regulation and legislation to tackle these things. We will continue to disrupt and prosecute (prosecutions via Trading Standards) until more effective regulation comes into place, including the licensing of cigarettes, longer closure orders and tougher penalties for landlords and operators found selling illicit goods.
A reminder that a Policing Plan for Boston has been established. A QR code for you to view is below. If you would like a hard copy please email me and I’ll get one sent out to you. You’ll see lots of the Operations that the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) are involved in, all of which contribute to our vision of “Making Lincolnshire the Safest Place to Live, Work and Visit”. Again, if you have any questions about any of the operations or activities detailed feel free to get in touch. If you would like to see anything else appear in our 2025 plan please get in touch to let me know.
