SERGEANT Lindsay Drake has taken the lead role on the south neighbourhood beat. Prior to her appointment, Sgt Drake was a reactive police officer, but over the last two-and-a-half years she has been committed to roles within CID. Sgt Drake is excited abou

SERGEANT Lindsay Drake has taken the lead role on the south neighbourhood beat.

Prior to her appointment, Sgt Drake was a reactive police officer, but over the last two-and-a-half years she has been committed to roles within CID.

Sgt Drake is excited about her new role and has joined a very committed and hard working group of police officers and police community support officers.

Over the last month her team has been focusing on their beats in relation to issues of anti-social behaviour and problems raised as priorities at the last neighbourhood panel.

The Fordham and Isleham beats have two new PCSOs who have been out and about on foot patrol introducing themselves within the community and dealing with the ongoing parking issues. This has been dealt with at this stage, by words of advice, educating the public and in turn reducing the problem.

The Burwell beat has had problems with anti-social behaviour, particularly with youths. This has been dealt with head-on, by police officers and community support officers, conducting high visibility and plain clothes patrols within Burwell and surrounding areas. The team has issued an £80 penalty notice to a male for supplying alcohol to a minor.

A search warrant was implemented in Swaffham with community and CID officers working as a team. They located a cannabis factory which resulted in one man being charged with offences of cultivation and possession of cannabis. This is currently awaiting a court case.

The Soham beat has seen extensive patrols by officers both in vehicles and on foot. Community officers have conducted patrols on the Barleyfields Estate, engaging with the public and offering reassurance.

They have conducted an operation at EMR at Snailwell in an effort to combat the illegal sale of stolen metal and worked alongside traffic and Automatic Number Plate Recognition officers. This resulted in a vehicle being stopped and seized as the driver did not have insurance.

Further to this, as a team officers managed to arrest two local men who are persistent and priority offenders and they were charged with theft offences in the Ely area. Both are currently still under investigation by colleagues at March and the neighbouring force in Suffolk.