Good morning, 

We just wanted to update you on some of the work that the Bitterne North Neighbourhood Policing Team have been up to this week:

We’ve been working alongside Trading Standards carrying out a test purchasing operation. This was aimed at tackling youth violence and in particular restricting the ability of young people to access knives. We spent the morning going to a number of different stores in our area that stock and sell restricted items. We are pleased to say that all of the stores challenged our attempts to purchase knives and no items were sold. It was a great chance to talk to shop staff and highlight the issues around knife crime and how important their role is in enforcing these restrictions. Thank you to all the stores who are working hard to help us tackle this issue.

You may also remember the post we put out calling for detectorists last week. On Tuesday we met up with them at Riverside

 Country Park and conducted a weapons sweep. The weather was horrible, with the rain lashing down! However, our volunteers came prepared and worked through the conditions to come up with some great results. The group managed to locate a bladed article, as well as a number of other items of interest. It was fantastic to spend the morning working with the group and their enthusiasm was infectious. Due to the success of the operation, we are looking forward to working more closely with local detectorists on potential sweeps in other areas.

We would like to say a big thank you to our community and everyone who helps us to tackle crime and the issues facing us in Southampton – your support is never taken for granted and always appreciated – have a wonderful weekend!