Message from Inspector Troup

As we move into spring, officers have been engaging with local communities to identify the issues most affecting your neighbourhoods. Your feedback has informed our priorities for the next three months. These priorities, along with updates on local policing activity, can be viewed by following your local teams on Facebook, signing up to the free Derbyshire Alert messaging service, or visiting the Derbyshire Constabulary website. You may also contribute to future priority‑setting by completing the Derbyshire Community Voice survey.

With the expected increase in visitors to the Derbyshire Dales during the warmer months, we also anticipate a rise in reports relating to speeding vehicles, noise nuisance, and anti‑social behaviour. Our officers will therefore be conducting targeted patrols to address these concerns, working in partnership with the district council, volunteer groups, and neighbourhood watch. These issues continue to be widely reported across the Derbyshire Dales and remain a key focus for our teams.

Over the coming weeks, officers will also be undertaking a dedicated operation to reduce shoplifting offences in collaboration with local retailers, the Derbyshire Business Crime Reduction Partnership and Derbyshire Dales District Council. Both uniformed and plain‑clothes officers will be proactively identifying and arresting offenders. In the past three months, several prolific shoplifters targeting stores in Ashbourne, Matlock and Bakewell have been identified, prosecuted, and subsequently received custodial sentences.

I would also like to provide an update regarding reports of illegal raves held within the Derbyshire Dales. Early last year, officers from the Matlock Safer Neighbourhood Team carried out extensive enquiries to identify those responsible for organising these events, travelling across the country to make arrests. While this investigation remains ongoing, several vehicles and significant quantities of sound equipment have been seized so far, and we anticipate charges being brought in due course.

The Derbyshire Dales continues to be a safe place to live, work and visit. We remain committed to working with our communities and our partners to ensure that it stays that way.