New inspector for City Central district sets out policing priorities

The new inspector in charge of policing in the City Central district has vowed to continue the fight against serious violent crime, antisocial behaviour and drugs after taking over the reins at Radford Road Police Station.

Inspector Elizabeth Gaskin has been a Nottinghamshire Police officer for 22 years, with most of her service spent as a Sergeant.

In recent years she has led the Reacher team for the Beeston area, developing intelligence and disrupting criminality with a particular focus on the supply of drugs. She has also worked as a Demand Management Inspector, overseeing the deployment of officers to emergency incidents.

The mum-of-two has now taken over the role of neighbourhood inspector for the City Central district, which encompasses Berridge, Radford & Park, Hyson Green & Arboretum and Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey wards.

The role is a far cry from what she’s used to – but one she’s relishing.

“I’ve always wanted to come into neighbourhood policing because I love the idea of problem-solving,” she said. “It’s a completely different role to Response and one I’m excited to be taking on.

“I never thought I’d come to the city as I’ve always worked in the county. But this job came up and it really appealed to me. I applied and I’m now really proud to be here. I’ve got a great team and there’s lots of issues and projects to get stuck into and I’m looking forward to the challenge”.

After reviewing crime trends and listening to the concerns of local residents and businesses and what issues they have said matter most to them, Inspector Gaskin has laid out three priorities for her team to tackle: serious violence, antisocial behaviour and drugs.

She said: “I’ve listened to what people have been saying and have now decided upon my three priorities as the local neighbourhood inspector.

“Serious violence is still an issue – that relates to things like knife crime and Nottinghamshire's VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls) Strategy.

“Antisocial behaviour – that includes tackling things like street drinking and begging to make the area a nicer place for members of the public to be in.

“And then we’ve got drugs. At the moment, we’ve got quite a few drugs warrants being executed to try and stamp out cuckooing. That’s when offenders go into vulnerable people’s houses and take over them and deal drugs from those properties.

“We’ve got neighbourhood officers and Reacher officers working together on those warrants so that we disrupt these offenders.”

Tackling serious crime is Inspector Gaskin’s top priority following a tumultuous start, Inspector Gaskin said she is starting to settle into her new role.

She said: “Things have settled down a bit now and I’ve started to understand the role of a neighbourhood inspector a bit more.

“We need a long-term plan to tackle the issues there’ll be a lot of engagement with various stakeholders and partners, as well as local businesses and residents. It will be a challenge because the solutions are not easy.

“For example, antisocial behaviour is a difficult issue. Street begging is a big issue for us and we’re looking at what powers we can use to disrupt that. It’s a case of sitting down with our partners including the council and deciding what’s the best thing to do.

“We’ll also be continuing with high-visibility patrols and moving people on, but we need a long-term plan and the work on that starts now.”