Police chief names 'knife crime and road safety' as crackdown priorities for Northamptonshire force in 2021

Northamptonshire Police's chief constable has vowed to dedicate the force to tackling road safety and knife crime in the county in his third year at the job.

CC Nick Adderley has previously named serious road collisions as "the biggest killer in Northamptonshire", which on average claims 32 lives a year in the county.

Meanwhile, the policing area covering Northampton saw 349 confirmed knife crimes between June 2019 and June 2020.

Now, in an annual report, Chief Adderley says he will focus his force's resources on tackling both in the next year.

He wrote: " Road safety and knife crime will also be areas I will be focusing resources on as I start my third year as Chief Constable. The public can expect to see a sustained road safety campaign to address poor driving standards and dedicated resources introduced to tackle knife crime."

It comes after the number of serious accidents on Northamptonshire’s roads hit an eight-year high last year, during which 42 people lost their lives.

They included teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn whose death close to RAF Croughton has sparked an ongoing diplomatic crisis.

Figures released in June also showed the number of fatalities on Britain's across the previous year had remained virtually unchanged for the tenth year in a row, at around 1,800 deaths.

Meanwhile, Northamptonshire County Council slashed its road safety funding from £640,000 in 2016/17 to £361,000 in 2019.20.

It comes after the chief slammed a member of the public online in June for criticising the police over catching speeding motorists.

Mr Adderley responded to the jab by writing: "Do you have any idea what the biggest killer in Northamptonshire is right now? Clearly not... It is road death. Death on the roads is largest threat to your life and the life of your loved ones. You should be grateful that we out helping save lives."

In 2019 there were 1,042 arrests for drink or drug driving and 348 for other driving offences; 59,719 fixed penalty notices issued for excessive speeding, 888 for other fatal four offences and 2,594 vehicles seized last year.