Kentish Express Ashford & District
London calling: organised crime heads for Kent
A huge amount of police time is being spent trying to thwart the activities of London-based criminal gangs operating in Kent.
Offenders regularly cross ‘county lines’ to target vulnerable people, making it one of the biggest challenges facing the force, says Police Commissioner Matthew Scott.
He said: “Gangs who are based in London are operating in Kent. They’ve been pushed out of London by the Metropolitan Police and are targeting vulnerable local people, either taking over their properties, or trying to convince children to do their deeds for them.
“The threat of organised crime is always changing, with criminals moving to different offence types all the time.
“Kent Police invests a lot in proactive policing to try and make sure we stay on top of all of those issues.”
Mr Scott, who was speaking to mark his first year in the job, also revealed the number of cases of domestic abuse in Kent had almost doubled in recent years.
“We still have a long way to go in giving more victims the confidence to come forward, particularly among male victims who don’t come forward in the same number as females,” he said.
The latest British Crime Survey figures show one in four victims of domestic violence are men, but only one in six report what happened to them to the police.
Mr Scott said: “We need to show that the efforts we’ve put into supporting women applies to supporting men and showing them there is no stigma attached to being a victim of domestic violence. They will get the same help.”
One of Mr Scott’s top priorities is ensuring a more visible police presence on the streets. He says he regularly raises the issue during his weekly meetings with Kent Police chief constable Alan Pughsley.
“When residents say to me ‘why is it I don’t see a police officer as often as I used to’, it’s because of the way policing has changed,” he said.
“Mental health takes around a third of all Kent Police time; we’ve seen a near doubling of cases involving domestic abuse and violence, and we’ve got serious and organised crime coming into Kent from Europe, London, and other parts of the country.
“These demands mean the public doesn’t always get to see what they want – visible policing.”