Update on policing in Newark and Sherwood from Inspector Charlotte Ellam - June 2025

Welcome to your neighbourhood policing newsletter for Newark and Sherwood. I thought I’d bring you all up to date about what’s been going on recently and what our plans are going forward.

Current priorities in your area

We currently have four neighbourhood policing priorities in total. Ahead of the school summer holidays, tackling antisocial behaviour (ASB) was again retained as one of our current policing priorities for the Newark area.

Retail crime, meanwhile, was selected as a priority for the Newark and Sherwood district, while both street level crime and policing the night-time economy were chosen as an additional area for us to focus on in Newark town centre.

Actions on our priorities

Focusing on retail crime first up, this is an issue that’s felt, not just locally, but across forces nationwide as well. An approach regularly used by our neighbourhood team to counteract these offences is targeting prolific offenders we know are responsible for most of the shoplifting reports we receive.

We’ve had some really good successes, based on this, with the team having a 59 per cent detection rate when it comes to shop theft incidents, which is actually more than double the rate for all crime types we deal with. In addition to identifying and taking action against shoplifters, which we do by working closely with local stores and conducting hotspot patrols, we’ve also focused on stopping abuse and violence against shopworkers inside stores.

As part of this, we recently took part in ShopKind campaign week, which aimed to raise awareness of these issues, while highlighting that this behaviour isn’t okay and will lead to police action. Our officers were joined by representatives from charity Remedi during their patrols in Newark town centre, where they spoke with various market stallholders and businesses to offer their support, while providing a very visible crime deterrent.

Providing this dedicated presence in the town centre hasn’t been something we’ve limited to the day, however, with patrols also stepped up recently on Friday and Saturday nights, to support the night-time economy – another one of our local priorities. We introduced this priority following a violent incident in Castle Gate at the end of April that tragically resulted in a man losing his life. As part of our ongoing efforts to crackdown on crime during this time-period, we regularly check in with pub landlords and are actively supporting door staff, where necessary, to make people feel safe. 

Going back to ASB, as you’ll all know, stopping this type of behaviour has been a longstanding priority for this neighbourhood team, and we’ve had some great results on that front, mainly by utilising the visible patrols we conduct out in the community, where we try to make our presence as visible as possible to deter offending. 

Did you hear about this?

Finally, I’d like to highlight the fantastic efforts of three members of my team, who recently combined to great effect to arrest a suspect, while saving him from drowning in the process. PC John Chappell was on patrol when he spotted a suspect in a robbery and two shop thefts, so chased after him on foot.

A short time later, the same man was seen to jump into the River Trent, despite not actually being able to swim. Realising this, PC Chappell took immediate action and – supported by PC Bryn Hope and PCSO Stuart Hicks – bravely dove into the river to save the man as his head was sinking below the surface, before then managing to get him to safety – and make the arrest.

PC Chappell deserved enormous credit for the tenacity and bravery he showed during this incident, while PC Hope and PCSO Hicks both acquitted themselves well and played a crucial role in helping the man too. Their actions perfectly exemplified what I’d want from my officers and we’re all very proud of all three of them and grateful for the role they play day-to-day keeping people in Newark safe.

How to contact us

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• a serious offence is in progress or has just been committed

• someone is in immediate danger or harm

• property is in danger of being damaged

• a serious disruption to the public is likely

If you wish to anonymously report crime or suspicious behaviour, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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