Category: Public Assurance Meeting | Office of the Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner

The Commissioner has set up a scrutiny programme to hold Derbyshire Constabulary to account and provide the public with assurances around its performance.

There will be six Public Assurance Meetings each year, with each meeting shining a spotlight on one of the Commissioner’s six priorities to establish progress and identify any areas of concern in the Constabulary’s performance.

As your elected representative, the Commissioner ensures that Derbyshire Constabulary, led by Chief Constable Rachel Swann, remains focused on the priorities that matter most to you.

Firstly, the Chief Constable is required to provide the Commissioner with a formal written report detailing achievements and actions within the six priority areas. This report is reviewed, scrutinised, and published.

That scrutiny is a key part of the Commissioner’s role – to challenge, support, and hold the police to account in delivering safer communities.

Secondly, the Commissioner holds a Q&A session with the Chief Constable to highlight areas of concern raised by residents of Derbyshire. The questions and priorities discussed come directly from the public. These meetings are designed to shine a light on how those priorities are being addressed.

Part One

The Formal Report submitted for this PAM is available to view.

Part Two

The podcast of the meeting with the Chief Constable is available to download here.

Public Questions

There were 33 questions submitted from the public for this priority . Some are being answered via our casework process and will be answered outside of this Public Assurance Meeting.

ASB – General

1, There is so much fly tipping going on these day, from general litter to tipper truck loads. This is not only unsightly, but dangerous and also s health and safety issue. Derbyshire Dales

Police Response

Derbyshire Dales District Council is responsible for dealing with fly-tipping in its area. You can report it to them by calling 01629761215 or emailing environmenthotline@derbyshiredales.gov.uk. The Derbyshire County Council also deals with fly-tipping and waste issues and provides a hotline at 01629 533190.

Reporting fly-tipping

By phone: Call Derbyshire Dales District Council on 01629 761215 or Derbyshire County Council on 01629 533190.
By email: Send an email to Derbyshire Dales District Council at environmenthotline@derbyshiredales.gov.uk.
Online: Visit the relevant council websites to report the incident.

What to include in your report

The registration number and description of the vehicle used, if you saw it.
A description of the people involved, if you can.
The type of rubbish being dumped.
A detailed description of the location where it happened.
Photographs of the discarded items, if possible.

When to contact other agencies

If you see fly-tipping in progress, call 999.
If the fly-tipping is in or near a waterway (river, stream, or canal), contact the Environment Agency on 0800 807060.
For hazardous waste or large-scale incidents, consider reporting anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

2, I would like to ask as a born native white British male from Hertfordshire and pendle hill only my Question is anti-social behaviour and drug crimes as well as knife crimes how are they being tackled?? Is there more stop and searches? North East Derbyshire

Police Response

Officers conduct Stop Search as a routine tactic to disrupt criminality. Stop Searches are conducted within government guidelines to ensure these are conducted proportionately and fairly. Our Safer Neighbourhood Team have weekly operations one being knife crime, they will attend schools and community projects to enforce education on knives. This is then reinforced with proactiveness through intelligence and Stop Search.

At North East and Bolsover stop searches are regularly reviewed to ensure they meet the national guidelines. Officers are reviewed individually to ensure they are taking part in proactive policing which encompasses the power of stop search. We have seen an increase in the use of stop search within North East and Bolsover which has led to positive finds of drugs and weapons. This method of policing will continue where appropriate.

3, Long Eaton seems to be blighted by antisocial behaviour at the moment. You can’t walk into the town centre without seeing groups of people drinking and talking drugs. I’ve reported Drugs and Alcohol occurring on my street and nothing seems to be done about it. It’s becoming a horrible place to live – how will you ensure that this is a priority for police and that this issue gets the funding and attention it so desperately needs? Erewash

Police Response

Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT) regularly review and update their priorities which are subsequently published on to the force website. Long Eaton SNT’s current priorities include antisocial behaviour and youth crime in open spaces and disrupting the supply and distribution of controlled substances.

Their focus is on actively patrolling the open spaces across the whole of the Long Eaton area to provide reassurance to the public and provide a visible presence as a deterrent to antisocial behaviour. They will be targeting individuals who are acting in a manner causing others to fear using these spaces and taking positive action whether that be through; Community Protection Notice Warnings, building evidence for Criminal Behaviour Orders, displacing people with Public Spaces Protection Orders, arresting people for criminal offences or offering support through partner agencies.

Long Eaton Safer Neighbourhood Team have recently worked on a successful initiative on reducing antisocial behaviour around Waverley Steet, Long Eaton. We were receiving a large volume of reports regarding groups of young people drinking alcohol and using recreational substances which was problematic for residents. Officers issued Dispersal Orders, Community Protection Notice Warnings and traffic reports to take positive action on the groups of individuals causing the antisocial behaviour. This led to a reduction in reports about this problem and officers have seen a visible difference when attending that area.

Most recently a residential street has become a ‘hot spot’ for this type of behaviour, thus the team are committed to carrying out some intensive work there and mirroring the work they did around Waverley Street. They have been in contact with Erewash Borough Council to discuss revising the Public Space Protection Order boundaries and extending it. In the interim, the repeat offenders will be issued with Community Protection Notice Warnings to manage their behaviour. The team are well briefed on the hot spot areas and repeat offenders to focus their patrols on.

In relation to drug use, the team are targeting the supply in the Long Eaton area for the purpose of reducing how readily available controlled substances are and therefore reduce their usage. We are actively pursuing individuals and networks involved in the supply and movement of illegal drugs in the community, our strategy focuses on gathering and acting on local intelligence, supported by proactive enforcement and operations targeting dealers. Recent activity has led to multiple seizures and arrests related to the supply of cannabis, heroin and cocaine. These efforts will continue with further operations planned. Our overarching aim is to reduce the harm caused by drug activity, improve public confidence and create safer neighbourhoods.

4, Anti-social behaviour remains one of the most pressing issues across Derbyshire — whether it’s persistent youth nuisance, off-road bikes terrorising neighbourhoods, or neighbour disputes that escalate into intimidation. These problems undermine public confidence, make residents feel unsafe in their own communities, and are repeatedly raised to local councils and housing providers. What specific, measurable actions are Derbyshire Constabulary taking — in partnership with local authorities and housing partners — to ensure that ASB is dealt with robustly through early intervention and visible enforcement, and how will the Chief Constable demonstrate that these actions are delivering long-term reductions in repeat ASB rather than short-term fixes? North East Derbyshire

Police Response

We want to promote calling 101 when members of the public witness dangerous driving of off road motor bikes. Please contact your local Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) to highlight particular areas that are affected. Derbyshire police operate an off-road motorcycle team working together with the local SNT. Our SNT team regularly seize vehicles and report riders for offences. Due to our borders with Nottingham, we have also worked with their officers for those committing offences cross border.

Within Derbyshire there has been a lot of work to tackle anti-social behaviour. The force received government funding for hotspot patrols where officers specifically patrol on foot areas where high levels of ASB has been reported.

We meet fortnightly with our partners to discuss ASB trends and identify areas where partners can also support our communities.

5, I have seen over the last few years a huge decline in safety around Ilkeston with anti-social behaviour and worse being the main reasons for me avoiding the top of a town that used to feel safe and was grieving with a great community spirit. I do feel that pubs should be closing at midnight no later and police presence during the hours of 11pmto closing time. Perhaps also plain clothes patrolling the pubs? I feel strongly about my grown-up children and their children’s safety also. Our shops, what is left of them need reassurance from policing and local councillors to help with bringing communities together as sadly there is none at the moment and especially the elderly who would meet up with friends for a cuppa and a chat as they are lonely but don’t feel as, safe anymore. Thank you for reading. Erewash

Police Response

Our local policing team have strong working relationships with partner agencies and are focussing on Ilkeston Town Market Place to reduce the antisocial behaviour in the area, particularly street drinkers. This is an operation running in conjunction with Erewash Borough Council and Licensing Officers from both the council and police. Ilkeston Safer Neighbourhood Team and Licensing are taking action against any licensed premises where it can be evidenced that they are serving alcohol against their licensing conditions. They have recently prevented another store from obtaining an alcohol license in the vicinity.

There are campaigns ongoing, which have been highlighted by Adam Thompson MP in parliament, to pedestrianise the market square in the evenings and weekends, this is something that is being looked in to by Derbyshire County Council. The police and council are working together to review all licensing applications submitted for the town that are already in an over saturated area.

Ilkeston is part of the Safer Town Initiatives, and this has seen some intensive work over the summer which will continue through to the winter campaign. The local policing team are working closely with Erewash Borough Council Community Safety Partnership who are supporting the enforcement of the Public Spaces Protection Order in Ilkeston Town Centre.

There have been improvements in our working practices for our Night Time Economy patrol strategy and Licensing Officers are now working more closely with our local officers. Both the Response and Safer Neighbourhood team now do visible patrols in the town centre starting with early intervention and then being joined by the night shift officers from 10:30pm onwards until closing.

ASB – Noise

6, Every weekend, bank holiday and during the week there are motorbikes on the A6 between Rowsley and Bakewell which are making extremely excessive noise which is surely ASB? Derbyshire Dales

Police Response

Roads Policing officers are working closely with our local colleagues, CREST (Casualty Reduction Enforcement Support Team) and Bikesafe (Motorcycle safety) to make the roads safer for all. Our key focus is driving down the Fatal Four offences (mobile phones, speed, drink and drug driving and seatbelt offences) with the aim of reducing the number of KSIs (killed or serious injury road traffic collisions).

Whilst exhausts on motorcycles are frustrating and can cause disturbance, they are not specifically linked to causing road casualties. That said if we were to come across a particularly noisy exhaust, we would challenge the rider on this and require them to have it modified.

7, In Chesterfield, residents are affected by nuisance vehicles gathering in the Tesco car park on Lockoford Lane and racing or revving along Sheffield Road late into the night. Health experts say traffic noise is now one of the biggest environmental risks. What action will the police and PCC take over the next year to stop this behaviour, and to work with councils on reducing traffic noise from anti-social driving more widely? Chesterfield

Police Response

Noise is not a ‘Fatal four’ offence (speeding, use of mobile phones, drink / drug driving and seatbelt offences). These are called the Fatal four as they are the main contributor to fatalities in road collisions. I have taken the liberty of reviewing all killed or seriously injured collisions to date this year and by way of reassurance I can confirm that none have been caused by a contributory factor of excessive noise.

Excessive noise caused by vehicles is a ‘gateway’ to stop and engage with the rider/drivers to speak with them and to enforce any construction and use offences found at the time.

The Roads Policing Department do support the Safer Neighbourhood Teams during operations targeting the Anti-Social use of vehicles in Chesterfield and throughout the County.

Drugs and Alcohol

8, Why is it allowed to Drugs and Alcohol in front of everybody, children passing and nothing is being done? Derby City

Police Response

The use of Illegal, non-prescription drugs being used in public is a priority for our police teams. This is being tackled using varied tactics, and the public may not always be aware police officers are amongst them, focusing on this form of criminality and anti-social behaviour. In Derby City Centre the Safer Neighbourhood Team have stop searched around 60 people in the last month alone, utilising powers under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Our find rates are positive, and controlled substances are being removed from the streets daily.

Last year the City team seized drugs with a street value of approximately £47K, confiscated £27k in cash and achieved custodial sentences for those concerned in the supply of drugs totalling 20 plus years.

Our Neighbourhood Teams work to secure and enforce court warrants under the Misuse of Drugs Act, an address targeted most recently was found to contain a significant amount of substances destined for supply on Derby streets.

Police officers work alongside the City Council Public Protection Officers, enforcing the Public Spaces Protection Order which covers street drinking and supports the issues of fines to those responsible.

9, I want to know what going to be done about all the drunks and drug addicts that roam around Ilkeston especially on the main shopping street. Erewash

Police Response

We are working closely with Erewash Borough Council, the Community Safety Partnership and Licensing Officers to see that Ilkeston Town is a safer place for all. So far in 2025 officers in Ilkeston have carried out several seizures of drugs resulting in 66 positive outcomes from their investigations. Other investigations are still ongoing due to the nature of the offences and the evidential requirements to secure charges. We have conducted 96 Stop Searches under the Misuse of Drugs Act in Erewash since the start of the year and drugs have been found in 28% of those searches. Our officers are always looking to develop intelligence, and we are very keen to hear from anybody with information around drug activity in the area.

The police and Council Wardens are utilising their powers under the Public Spaces Protection Order to prevent groups of street drinkers loitering in the area. A patrol strategy is in place to ensure there are regular visible patrols as a deterrent for antisocial behaviour. We have seen a rise in detections of public order offences, leading to 85 positive outcomes – this means someone has either been charged or received an Out of Court Disposal. Public disorder encompasses antisocial behaviour and alcohol related offences and when a prosecution is brought against an individual, where applicable, we request the courts to impose a Criminal Behaviour Order on them to curtail their offending. This year we have had three Criminal Behaviour Orders granted and have two more currently ongoing through courts.

E-Scooters/Bikes and Off-Road Bikes

10, What is being done to curb the use of illegal motorbikes and electric bikes and scooters on our roads and pavements? Erewash