Chief Constable fortnightly letters to the PCC

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

We have made significant improvements in the last three years – as recently outlined in our latest HMICFRS PEEL inspection - in addition to operating in a challenging financial environment.

Last year, we saved £8m and we need to realise a further £4.6m in efficiencies this year. We have already identified most of the required savings for this year, strengthened our financial discipline, and protected our reserves which allows us to better plan ahead.

However, it is vital that we continue to make thoughtful decisions to prioritise the function of our organisation above its form.

To provide a more consistent service, improve our ability to respond to emergencies, investigate crime more effectively, and maintain a visible and accessible neighbourhood policing presence, we are strengthening our frontline function.

Whilst we will maintain our current ten Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs), we will improve frontline response and investigations by bolstering the resources embedded within our communities.

This will include:

1. Realigning more resources to the frontline – including moving our specialist safeguarding capability into our local policing function so we can take a more joined-up approach to vulnerability, safeguarding and reduce harm earlier. Our Crime Taskforce will also be realigned to Local Policing, strengthening our ability to tackle the issues that matter most in neighbourhoods
2. Increasing the use of mobile police stations to improve access and visibility in our urban and rural communities. This will be strengthened by a new, third mobile police station which will be launched this summer
3. There will be no change to public front counters access across our policing estate
4. Continuing to deliver against the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee - we will increase the number of police officers working alongside Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and Special Constables, raising our neighbourhood policing strength to 206.

These improvements are part of our long-term transformation plan for our organisation, will ensure we are Keeping Wiltshire Safe and assist me in delivering your Police and Crime Plan.

They will also support in achieving my three operational priorities – Safer Public Spaces, Reduce and Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Improve outcomes for victims.

A wealth of information on our Neighbourhood Policing Teams can be found on the dedicated Your Area section of our website here.

Alongside the realigning of resource to our frontline, we are also reviewing our wider workforce and ways of working to ensure that resources are focused on core policing, public protection and the areas of greatest demand.

This will include the continued removal of vacant posts, only recruiting critical posts and investing in digital technology so officers and staff can spend more time on operational policing and less time on administration.

In looking to strengthen our frontline capability, we have reviewed our response to rural crime.

As part of this, we are moving away from having a small rural crime team and will instead embed dedicated, specially trained Rural Crime Officers into each of our NPTs. These officers will act as key points of contact within our rural communities, while also providing specialist support to colleagues dealing with rural crime matters.

This week, we convened our first Rural Crime Independent Advisory Group. This group has been established specifically to focus on rural crime, and its members bring valuable expertise and lived experience from across the rural sector.

We are confident that the IAG will support us in strengthening trust and confidence between rural communities and the police, help inform operational policing, encouraging greater reporting of rural crime and building stronger partnerships across agencies and local communities.

Under my priority of Safer Public Spaces, I wanted to update our communities on Operation Sceptre which has been running all week.

Operation Sceptre is the national police initiative in England and Wales focused on tackling and preventing knife crime and serious violence.

In Wiltshire, test purchasing operations were held across the county with assistance from our police cadets and weapon sweeps with the use of metal detectors took place at various locations.

This year, Operation Sceptre coincided with the launch of the Wiltshire Police Bleed Kit Partnership – an initiative between Wiltshire Police, HeartSafe Uk, NHS England South West and South West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. The initiative aims to improve community safety by providing potentially life-saving emergency bleed kits in public spaces throughout our local communities.

Each bleed kit contains haemostatic dressings, trauma dressings, and a tourniquet to help stem the loss of blood in the critical first few minutes. They are available to the public 24/7.

You can find more information about Bleed Kits on this website.

This week, your office also announced that we have become the latest force in England to trial replacing pointed kitchen knives with rounded tip alternatives, as part of a scheme aimed at reducing serious violence and injuries in the home.

Participants will be offered the opportunity to exchange traditional pointed kitchen knives for specially designed rounded versions, alongside advice and support intended to reduce the likelihood of knives being used in violent incidents.

The scheme, which will begin in Swindon, is funded through the Drug Forfeiture Fund, with backing from your office and will target households identified as being at greater risk of knife related harm.

More information about this trial can be found here.

Another key priority for us is to reduce and prevent Violence Against Women and Girls.

The exceptional work our teams are undertaking within the night time economy, particularly in tackling sexual predatory behaviour, is gaining significant recognition both in the UK and internationally - reinforcing our position as a leading force in protecting women and girls.

We are now widely recognised as a pioneering force for Project Vigilant, an initiative that deploys both plain clothed and uniformed officers to undertake intelligence-led patrols in hotspot locations. This proactive approach enables us to identify potential sexual predators at the earliest opportunity and prevent sexual offending.

This week, we were delighted to host colleagues from Stockholm Police in Sweden, who are seeking to enhance their approach to public space sexual violence. They specifically sought out a police force experienced in delivering Project Vigilant to support knowledge exchange and training.

Given our established expertise already supporting organisations such as South Wales Police and the British Transport Police we were pleased to welcome them and share our learning. With thanks to our specialist officers and staff who supported this visit.

During their visit, they observed our approach to assessing risks in public spaces, how – through Vigilant Communities - we work collaboratively with partners and how we are equipping our communities with the skills to assist us prevent offending.

In the past six months alone, our officers have assessed almost 200 individuals within the night time economy, demonstrating both the scale of our activity and our commitment to early intervention and prevention.

This work reflects the dedication, professionalism, and innovation of our teams, with this week’s visit highlighting the significant impact they are making, not only locally but as a model of best practice internationally.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the Wiltshire Police Equestrian Team on their achievements at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, all of those who were recognised through the Wiltshire Police Federation Awards yesterday and I would like to welcome those who graduated today as part of the latest Police Now cohort.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

I wanted to start this fortnight’s update by sharing the latest information regarding the increased UK terrorism threat level and what we are doing to support our communities.

The thoughts of everyone at Wiltshire Police remain with all those affected by the series of recent attacks on Jewish communities across the country and the horrific terror attack declared in north London last Wednesday.

As a result of this, last week, the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) raised the UK terrorism threat level to SEVERE meaning an attack is highly likely.  

Many of our communities will be wanting to know what they are being asked to do following the change in threat level. I understand this announcement may cause concern, but I ask that our communities be alert and not alarmed.

Wiltshire Police officers, staff and volunteers, as across the whole of the UK, together with our security service partners, will continue to work both day and night to protect everyone against the threat of terrorism.

We routinely work with community and faith groups, and this will continue as we seek their support and assistance. 

Communities have shown time and time again that they are united in their rejection of those who wish to divide us and spread hate in the name of extremism.

Here in Wiltshire, Assistant Chief Constable Deb Smith has been leading our local response to the increased threat level.

As a result, we have:

• Increased our proactive patrols within our communities
• Engaged with local community and faith leaders and businesses to ensure they know who their local officers are and to address any concerns or questions they have
• Proactively reviewed our local response plans with local partners to ensure we are all clear on roles and responsibilities
• Ensured our frontline staff are kept well informed of the latest security information from the Counter Terrorism Network.

I ask our communities that if they see anything that doesn’t feel right, report via gov.uk/ACT. In an emergency, always call 999.

For non-urgent matters, you can reach out to us through our website or to your local neighbourhood teams here. It is also possible to raise concerns or report incidents anonymously through Crimestoppers here or by calling 0800 555 111 - all information will be shared with us.  

I would like to further reassure our communities that there are well rehearsed plans for a range of major incidents to help us review and improve our emergency response.

Just this week, our entire Senior Leadership Team participated in such an exercise which tested both our local emergency plans and how we work collaboratively with local, regional and national partners to keep our communities safe.

We know that, in times of uncertainty, our communities want to see and hear from us more.

Across April, our ten Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) undertook 750 individual engagements with our communities across Swindon and the rest of the county – an increase of more than 250 engagements from March.

These included drop-in sessions, school visits, attending local meetings, places of worship and community events.

You can find out who your local NPT are, where they will be and what their local priorities are by visiting the Your Area section of our website.

Forging ever stronger relationships with our communities is also based on knowing what crimes are having the biggest impact on them.

For many of our communities, this is the scourge of rural criminality.

I hope our communities were reassured to see that, following excellent collaborative police work including other police forces, we recently charged seven people with hare coursing.

In the early hours of Saturday 25 April, officers responded to an incident involving three vehicles reportedly hare coursing across rural land near Ludgershall.

One of the vehicles was subsequently stopped following a pursuit on the A303 in Hampshire, while another was later found abandoned.

Seven people were arrested after the vehicles were found to contain dead hares and equipment associated with poaching.

All seven men were charged with being equipped for searching for/or pursuing hares with dogs and will appear before Salisbury Magistrates’ Court in August.

As part of their bail conditions, none of the seven suspects are permitted to return to Wiltshire.

We recognise the significant impact crimes like hare coursing have on our rural and farming communities and we are committed to taking robust action against those responsible.

We rely on reports from the public to help us target our operational activity. If you see hare coursing taking place, call 999 to report a crime in progress. You can report all rural crimes via our website here.

Finally, I wanted to reiterate that we are always here when our communities need us and every single officer, police staff member and volunteer are steadfast in our commitment of Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

On Wednesday, our latest, independent inspection from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) was published.

The Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and Legitimacy (PEEL) 2025-27 report illustrates that we are continuing on our long-term improvement journey – from being graded as one of the worst performing Forces in 2022 to demonstrating sustained performance in this inspection compared to our last one in 2024. Bolstering this progress is the greater financial stability the organisation now has, allowing more investment in our operational capabilities to further improve the service to the public.

It is also clear, however, where further progress is needed – which I fully recognise, agree and – with my teams – have started making the improvements necessary to ensure our service becomes ever stronger.

The table below shows how our gradings have changed since being placed into Engage in 2022 right through to the 2025-27 report published this week:

Areas identified as strong performance in the latest report include:

• Inspectors found that Wiltshire Police is good at preventing and deterring crime and antisocial behaviour, with effective neighbourhood policing teams working closely with partners to reduce harm and vulnerability in local communities. They praised our visible community presence, use of preventative and protective powers, and targeted early‑intervention work with young people, including partnership programmes aimed at reducing serious violence
• Inspectors rated us as good at using powers fairly and appropriately, with improved training and oversight leading to better use of Stop and Search and stronger internal and external scrutiny
• When responding to the public, the report outlines significant improvements in answering 999 calls, exceeding national expectations for call handling speed (answering 90.4% of 999 calls within 10 seconds). Inspectors noted this as evidence of a more victim‑focused approach
• The inspection also highlighted positive progress in crime outcomes, noting a higher proportion of positive outcomes for victims than the national median, supported by improved audit and scrutiny processes within investigations.
• The report also outlines innovative practice around how our audit process focuses on investigation quality – from allocation to outcome, with an emphasis on learning and improvement.

Areas where improvement is needed:

• How we are investigating crime - ensuring consistent supervisory oversight, compliance with the Victims’ Code and ensuring all opportunities are taken to keep victims of crime informed of progress with their case
• Improve our safeguarding of children and adults at risk of harm – inspectors have outlined several opportunities for us to streamline our processes and recording practices to best protect those who need our support
• Further develop our approach to organisational change, leadership culture and staff confidence.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Kathryn Stone OBE acknowledged that the Force has already begun addressing many of these issues, including improvements to investigation audits, safeguarding oversight developing our partnerships and improving our governance. If our communities wish to read her full statement, then please follow this link.

Assisting with our onward improvement is having greater financial stability. In addition to identifying nearly £8m worth of savings last year, we have already identified most of the required savings for this year, strengthened our financial discipline, and protected our reserves which allows us to better plan ahead.

As always, I welcome the independent scrutiny and assessment HMICFRS provide and I will ensure we embed the learning from this report and continue to enhance the service we provide to our communities.

As I outlined to our communities earlier this month, the new operational priorities I have set for the Force will ensure focus and provide the governance needed to improve in the areas outlined by HMICFRS, and – of course – deliver your Police and Crime Plan, to which you hold me to account.

These priorities are:

1. Safer Public Spaces (building upon the foundations created under this existing priority across the last three years).

With a focus on: Knife crime, preventing youth offending, ASB and enhancing local policing within our neighbourhoods

1. Reduce and prevent Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG)

With a focus on: Domestic Abuse, Rape and Serious Sexual Offences, Stalking and Harassment

1. Improve outcomes for victims

With a focus on: ensuring high quality investigations.

My next Facebook Live event, on May 11 at 6.30pm, will be used to share more detail around these operational priorities, the HMICFRS PEEL inspection and take any questions from our communities. I will be joined by ACC Deb Smith, who leads our Frontline Policing response, and we will be also discussing the incredible contribution made by our Special Constabulary and volunteers. Our communities can submit questions for this session via this form.

Our mission is Keeping Wiltshire Safe. I remain steadfast in my belief that by maintaining a relentless focus on continuous improvement, working closely with our communities and partners, we can provide the best possible policing service and ensure that our communities feel truly safe. I would thank my teams for their hard work and dedication to achieve the improvements to date, and I know that all my officers, staff and volunteers are committed to achieving our next stage of progress.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Neighbourhood policing is the bedrock of an effective police service.

Our Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) forge deep relationships with our local communities by ensuring our service is visible and accessible.

Exactly a year ago today, the Government set out finer detail regarding the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee which mandated increased and intelligence-led patrols in our communities by named officers, targeting crimes impacting upon them the most.

I wanted to use this letter as a point of reflection to highlight some of the phenomenal work our NPTs do in making our communities feel safe inside and outside their homes every day.

Investing in our NPT officers and staff:

• We have increased the number of neighbourhood police officers by 24 (to 123) in the last year and increased the number of our Special Constabulary in neighbourhood roles by 33 (to 110)
• All neighbourhood officers, supervisors and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are progressing through the Neighbourhood Policing Programme career pathway, a national training framework introduced in 2025 to establish neighbourhood policing as a recognised specialist role. The programme develops skills in community engagement, structured problem solving, partnership working and tackling anti-social behaviour. This strengthens the ability of neighbourhood teams to address the underlying causes of repeat demand and local issues, improving outcomes for communities and supporting long term prevention
• We also actively monitor any abstractions within our NPTs to ensure our neighbourhood policing service is protected and consistent.

Responding to community concerns:

• All submissions made to our NPTs via our website are responded to within 72hrs and we ensure that timely updates are provided on action taken.

Increased engagement with our communities:

• So far this year (until the end of March), our NPTs undertook 1,376 engagements within our communities. This included school visits, drop-in sessions, attending local authority meetings and community events. This is an increase from 833 engagements during the same period last year. Our communities can find out where their local NPT will be in their local area via the Your Area section of our website
• Additional neighbourhood policing vehicles have been introduced to improve visibility, mobility and coverage, particularly in rural and geographically large areas. This underpins the guarantee’s aim of having consistent, visible policing across every community and enables officers to spend more time in their neighbourhoods rather than travelling back to stations. This will also include the introduction of a third mobile police station in the coming months
• We are constantly looking at ways we can reach all the communities we serve. Our Wiltshire and Swindon Community Messaging service plays an increasingly important role in enabling us to directly contact members of the public with relevant information and updates. You can sign up to our Wiltshire and Swindon Community Messaging service by following this link.

Case study: Neighbourhood policing in action - tackling e-bikes in Melksham

Over recent months, we have seen an increase in the number of incidents involving young people wearing balaclavas riding around on e-bikes in Melksham. This has, understandably, caused some concern within our communities there.

Across one day, we utilised 15 officers from our neighbourhood teams, supported by the Drone Unit and the Roads Policing team, and:

• Undertook five stop searches in Melksham

• Arrested three people on suspicion of driving and drug offences
• Seized three e-bikes
• Executed warrants at three properties in the local area
• Seized £2,400 in cash, cannabis with a street value of approximately £2,500 and six mobile phones.

This work builds on the proactive crackdown on illegal e-bikes and e-scooters we launched last summer and our NPTs will be supporting again this summer. You can read more about this here.

In my last letter to you, I also outlined two other incredible NPT-led success stories – the Clear, Hold, Build initiative in Broadgreen, Swindon where our teams have arrested more than 130 people and seized almost £600,000 worth of drugs and a human trafficking investigation in Chippenham which began from community concerns being raised to our NPT. You can read more about these case studies here.

Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB):

A key part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee is tackling ASB in a robust, transparent way.

Last week, we published our joint, bespoke ASB action plan for Wiltshire which outlines how we will prevent, respond to and reduce ASB within our communities.

ASB has a real and lasting impact on people’s sense of safety, confidence and wellbeing.

Across Swindon and Wiltshire, communities rightly tell us that they want to see consistent, visible and effective action taken where behaviour causes harm, distress or disruption. I share that expectation.

Our plan sets out clearly how we, working with our partners and communities, will respond. It reflects our commitment to preventing harm, supporting victims and taking firm action against those who persistently cause misery to others.

We will use all powers available to us, focus our resources where they are most needed, and ensure our approach is informed by evidence, local insight and community voice. Neighbourhood policing sits at the heart of this work.

Through strong partnerships, problem-solving and visible policing, we are determined to deter ASB and to intervene early to prevent escalation.

This action plan provides a clear framework for delivery and accountability. It sets out our priorities, how we will measure success, and how we will continue to listen and respond to those we serve.

Our aim is simple: to ensure that communities across Wiltshire can feel safer and more confident, knowing that ASB will be challenged and addressed.

You can find our ASB action plan here.

We will continue to build upon the strong foundations we have laid in Wiltshire under the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee to continually develop and improve the service our communities receive.

Neighbourhood policing plays an integral role in delivering the three new operational priorities for Wiltshire Police; Safer Public Spaces, Reducing and Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Improving Outcomes for Victims. More details on these priorities can be found here.

The dedication and diligence of our NPTs is instrumental in Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Next week, I will be launching the new operational priorities for Wiltshire Police.

For the first three years of my tenure as Chief Constable, I set three priorities- reviewed annually- to inform operational activity, ensure delivery of your Police and Crime Plan and with the objective of Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

These were Safer Public Spaces, Violence and Burglary.

I would like to share some of the significant successes we have achieved under these priorities since 2023.

Priority: Safer Public Spaces

• Enhanced visibility in our communities: We have more than doubled the use of mobile police stations out in our communities (from 175 deployments in 2024 to 416 in 2025) and consistently increased how many local meetings and events our neighbourhood teams attend – from 9,800 in 2023, 11,385 in 2024 to 11,655 last year. I am excited to confirm a third mobile police station will be in use later this year, so I expect our community engagements to continue rising
• Project Vigilant: This dedicated, long-running operation focuses on tackling behaviour that makes women and girls feel unsafe in public spaces by intervening before crimes are committed. It focuses on predatory behaviour displayed by potential offenders - not on others changing their habits – within the Nighttime Economy and aims to disrupt the early signs of harmful activity. Now, Wiltshire Police are one of the leading police forces taking Project Vigilant further by providing training to our new police officers, so they are immediately aware of the community concerns and enforcement opportunities Project Vigilant affords them. We are also using our experience to share learning with other police forces, we are deploying our drones to support and expanding into our Vigilant Communities initiative. This phase of Project Vigilant involves members of the community sharing information with us when they spot signs of predatory behaviour in our public spaces. More information about Project Vigilant can be found on our website here, and a more detailed explanation of what a Project Vigilant deployment involves can be found on this YouTube video
• Utilising our Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) during dedicated operations: Across December and January, our NPTs led a two-month highly proactive programme aimed at improving town and city centre safety with a focus on retail crime, anti-social behaviour (ASB), street crime and night-time economy offending including Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). This resulted in almost 200 arrests, more than 860 dedicated ASB patrols and more than 350 public engagements with our communities. You can read more about this initiative here.

• Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB): There are now 17 live Criminal Behaviour Orders in place in Swindon (compared to one in 2024) and 10 across the county. CBOs replaced Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and prohibit the offender from doing anything outlined in the order which can include them being banned from certain shops or areas. We’ve also seen the use of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOS) in Swindon – one banning the use of e-bikes and e-scooters, alongside other restrictions such as street drinking, public urination and riding pedal bikes in a way that endangers pedestrians in the town centre. Another was brought in specifically to tackle illegal car meets in the town. The first enforcement of this PSPO resulted in more than 50 tickets being issued and has led to a dramatic reduction in car meets in Swindon. There are also PSPOs in Devizes (tackling issues such as street drinking in the Market Place) and one in Salisbury (which targets street drinking in the city centre).

• Developing our relationships with businesses: Across Wiltshire, our neighbourhood teams engaged with local businesses more than 700 times in the last year to understand the issues they are facing and how we can best support them. Last November, your office oversaw the formation of the Salisbury Business Crime Reduction Partnership to prevent and deter criminal activities and create a safer environment for shoppers, workers, and visitors to the city
• Stop and Search: We have seen an increase in the use of Stop and Search by 50% from 1,925 (from March 2023-March 2024) to 2,889 (from March 2025-March 2026). When used effectively, this can prevent onward offending within our communities
• Tackling rural crime: During the 2024/25 Hare Coursing season (August to April), 22 people were arrested for Hare Coursing/Poaching offences – a 500% increase compared to the previous 12 months. Of these 22, 15 were convicted and more than £3,000 in fines were issued. Between August 2025 and February this year, we arrested 15 people for Hare Coursing/Poaching offences. Of these, eight are awaiting court dates (no further action was taken regarding the other seven). We’ve also seen a 21% increase in the number of rural crime reports made to us from 178 to 216 (from Feb 2025-Feb 2026)
• Strong victim satisfaction: Our overall victim satisfaction rate was 77.9% in the 12 months to 2024 and 74.2% in the 12 months to December 2025. Hate crime victim satisfaction is now at 81% - up from 65% in the 12 months to February 2025
• Increasing the safety of our road network: In addition to holding more road safety operations in the last 12 months, we have also seen a significant rise in the number of Fixed Penalty Notices we are issuing for speeding offences – from 12,504 tickets in the 12 months to December 2024 to 16,669 in the 12 months to December 2025. In November, Wiltshire and Swindon’s Road Safety Partnership held a road safety summit with a range of partners, ensuring closer working to improve road safety across the county. You and I opened this conference to emphasise the criticality of enforcement, education and engineering working hand-in-hand.

Priority: Violence

• Reduction in most serious violent offences: We have seen a decrease in the numbers of the most serious, violent offences which includes murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, endangering life and Grievous Bodily Harm from 313 in the 12 months to March 2023 to 297 in the 12 months to February this year
• Increase in the conviction rates and further action being taken in rape and serious sexual offences cases: Cases where Further Action was Taken (FAT) have doubled over the past 12 months, with FAT rates for rape and serious sexual offences now at 9% and 10% respectively. Conviction rates for these cases stand at 76% in 2025. We are also seeing an increase in the number of rape and serious sexual offences being reported to us – from 1,760 in the 12 months to Feb 2025 to 2,019 in the same period to Feb 2026. Our communities can read more about all outcomes available post investigation here.
• Increase in the identification and recording of stalking offences: From the 12 months to March 2023 to the 12 months to February this year, we have seen an increase of 68% in the number of stalking offences being recorded. The outcome rate for stalking in the 12 months to February was 17.8%
• Significant reduction in the number of wanted Domestic Abuse (DA) offenders: Following a Force-wide operation last October, we reduced the number of outstanding DA offenders from 425 to 249. We remain committed to further reducing this number. We have also seen an increase in the number of DA reports being made to us (from 6,802 in 2024 to 6,974 in 2025). We believe this is due to our communities having greater trust and confidence that we will take action when they reach out to us to help them
• Enhanced partnership collaboration: We are proud to be part of a coalition called Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) in Wiltshire, comprising of members of the public, members of the judiciary, police, representatives from domestic abuse organisations, and business leaders. The EVAWG act as a critical friend to our organisation - providing insight and guidance to improve our service to victims and communities. Collectively, we made a commitment to ensure that our approach to VAWG now firmly centres on the voices and lived experiences of victims. We are also dedicated to championing local charities and support groups, such as the Salisbury Soroptimists who support victims of domestic abuse with guidance as to how the justice system works, and useful organisations that can provide support. In May last year, we launched a Multi-Agency Tasking and Co-ordination process (MATAC). This unites policing teams with our partners to target, disrupt, and engage with offenders who pose the most risk to the public. We cannot tackle violent offenders in isolation so we will continue to further develop these crucial partnerships
• Increase in the detection of drug possession: Due to our increased visibility in communities and proactivity with using Stop and Search, we have seen a 10% increase in the number of drug possession offences, from 934 in the 12 months to March 2023 to 1,032 in the 12 months to February this year.

Priority: Burglary

• Since 2023, 1,858 residential burglaries were reported to us, and we attended 1,855 of these.  Of the three we didn’t attend, two were at the request of the victim and one was following no further contact from the reporting person despite extensive efforts from officers. On balance, I can confidently state that, where victims allow us entry, we attend 100% of residential burglaries reported to us
• Over the last year, we have seen a 4% reduction in the number of residential burglaries reported to us (583 were reported in the 12 months to February)
• Last year, we ran a dedicated operation into a series of high-value residential burglaries targeting large rural properties. We are currently working with other Forces, sharing the intelligence we have gathered to locate the offenders who we believe are responsible for more than 100 burglaries across the country. In addition, under Operation Ragwort - a rural crime collaboration formed between all police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners in the south-west and our bordering forces in the south - we recently seized several diggers, tractors and quad bikes stolen from rural properties. These were all returned to their rightful owners
• Working with colleagues in the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, we’ve also dismantled an Organised Crime Group responsible for a series of commercial burglaries in the county.

In addition to the significant improvements in our operational delivery, I would also like to reflect upon the enhancements within our Corporate Services (police staff) function. These mean we have not only delivered improved outcomes, but we have done so whilst achieving the nearly £8m efficiencies required this year. The collaborative efforts of our officers, staff and volunteers have built ever stronger foundations for the next year and I would like to thank them for their dedication.

I would also like to take this opportunity to publicly thank our partners, communities and your office, Commissioner, for their support which have resulted in these important outcomes and improvements to our service.

Looking ahead, the operational priorities from April 1^st will be:

1. Safer Public Spaces (building upon the foundations created under this existing priority across the last three years).

With a focus on: Knife crime, preventing youth offending, ASB and enhancing local policing within our neighbourhoods

2. Reduce and prevent Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG)

With a focus on: Domestic Abuse, Rape and Serious Sexual Offences, Stalking and Harassment

3. Improve outcomes for victims

With a focus on: ensuring high quality investigations.

The deliverable, tangible outcomes under each of these priorities can be found in the 2026/27 Plans on a Page which we have published today here.

The two plans – owned by Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper and Chief of Corporate Services John Derryman – outline the activities we will deliver to achieve these priorities.

I will be using my next Facebook Live event, on May 11 at 6.30pm, to share more detail around these operational priorities and take any questions from our communities. This Facebook Live will also focus on our HMICFRS PEEL inspection report – which we are anticipating will be published in the next few months – and the contribution made by our incredible volunteers. Our communities can submit questions for this session via this form.

Whilst I hope our communities can see the improvements we are making to the service we are delivering, there is more to do.

My officers, staff, volunteers and I remain fully committed to Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

I have often referred to policing as being part of a wider ecosystem – we cannot and should not operate in isolation.

We must always seek to collaborate, working in partnership with local, regional and national agencies.

From a regional perspective, I can today share the results from the latest phase of Operation Scorpion – the South West initiative aimed at reducing the serious harm and violence caused by the supply of illegal drugs.

Our Force coordinated the regional week of activity which ran from March 2 to March 8 with a dual focus of targeting drug dealers and identifying those who are often exploited by them.

In addition to executing a series of warrants, we also carried out multiple roads policing operations and delivered inputs to schools to help younger people identify the signs of exploitation.

We were delighted to welcome the Policing Minister Sarah Jones MP to attend one of our warrants to see firsthand how Wiltshire Police are tackling County Line drugs networks.

As a result of our activity in Wiltshire, we:

• Safeguarded 24 individuals
• Arrested 26 individuals
• Visited 52 cuckooed addresses – where criminals take over someone's home to use it as a base for crime
• Seized drugs worth over £380,000
• Seized £22,500 in cash
• Seized 10 weapons – including six imitation firearms.

South West regional drugs intensification weeks are a collaboration of the five police forces in the South West region – Dorset, Devon & Cornwall, Avon & Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire - and their Offices of the Police and Crime Commissioners.

You can read more about the latest Op Scorpion activity here.

Anyone with information about illegal drugs activity should report it to the police. You can do this online or by using the non-emergency 101 number.  You should always call 999 in an emergency.

Alternatively, you can pass information anonymously to the independent charity CrimeStoppers, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year on 0800 555 111 or you can use their non-traceable online form.

In terms of national partnership working, this week the Government announced new support measures to deliver fairer and faster justice for victims and tackle VAWG.

Rape victims will soon be able to access dedicated legal advice throughout the criminal justice process via a new national Independent Legal Advisor (ILA) service.

This was announced alongside plans to extend the principles of Operation Soteria into the courtroom.

Operation Soteria was launched in 2021 and changed how rape cases are investigated by police and prosecutors. It focuses on the behaviour of suspects, rather than placing scrutiny on victims.

The same victim‑focused approach will now be applied when cases go to court.

Wiltshire Police was one of 19 forces who took part in the initial concept stages of Operation Soteria in 2021, and independent reviews have reflected the continued progress in our performance, holding perpetrators to account, and supporting victims.

Our communities can read more about this announcement here and Operation Soteria here.

In my last letter to you, I outlined where our operational focus on VAWG is delivering tangible improvements to victims of crime.

Last week, I was also interviewed by the media on this topic to mark the fifth anniversary of the tragic murder of Sarah Everard.

I outlined the rigour of our vetting practices, the evolution of Project Vigilant, our officer verification process and the improvement in reporting mechanisms inside our organisation. You can read my interview with Greatest Hits Radio here.

In addition to enhancing the service we provide, we must also continue to foster stronger relationships with women and girls in our communities.

Last Sunday was a perfect illustration of this when over 90 Girl Guides and their leaders took part in the third Wiltshire GirlGuide Police Challenge event to build critical thinking, leadership, and an appreciation for public service.

A range of activities were created to provide valuable insights into the world of policing, while simultaneously instilling important life skills for the participants. 

As a Guide leader and the Children and Young People lead for the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC), I know that public service is the golden thread that connects Girlguiding and policing.

The event not only reinforces the principles of teamwork and civic responsibility but also empowers young girls and women to aspire to leadership roles in their communities.

The badge was officially launched across the county on International Women’s Day in 2024. The badge pack is available on the Wiltshire Police website (Girlguiding Wiltshire Police Challenge badge | Wiltshire Police) where all Girlguiding units will be able to download it to use at weekly meetings and gain the badge.  

Earlier this week, one of our incredible colleagues, Luke Newton, featured on BBC One’s Crimewatch Live show.

Luke joined Wiltshire Police ten years ago through the Down’s Syndrome Association’s employment programme, WorkFit. He works as an administrator in the Crime and Communications Centre, providing vital support to frontline operations Control Room colleagues.

He was invited onto the show after being shortlisted for a prestigious national award from the British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) last year.

You can watch the episode Luke featured on here for the next 25 days.

Many of our essential policing services simply couldn’t be delivered without our police staff like Luke, and we marked the pivotal contribution they make last week during national Police Staff Week of Celebration and Recognition.

During the week, which is coordinated by the NPCC, we shared messages of thanks to our police staff and testimonies of the critical and varied roles they have in our organisation.

I also had the honour, alongside my Director of People Iain Gibson, to attend the National Police Staff Awards.

This week we also celebrated all our officers, staff and volunteers who have reached 20 years’ service within policing.

We honoured 12 police officers, one Special Constable, one Police Community Support Officer and two members of police staff with their long service awards.

During the ceremony, Lord Lieutenant Dame Sarah Troughton also awarded the family of PC Desmond ‘Des’ Kellam – who was killed on duty in Wiltshire in 1979 – with The Elizabeth Emblem. This is awarded as a mark of recognition to the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the course their duties.

This week provided a wonderful opportunity to both celebrate our longest serving colleagues but also to look to the future, with new in service officers.

Earlier today, I was privileged to attend the Passing Out ceremony for an intake of 18 new Wiltshire Police officers.

It was wonderful to spend time with them and their loved ones as they begin their policing careers with us.

I would like to thank all those reaching their long service milestone for their dedication to public duty and I would like to welcome those just starting out in their policing journey.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Listening and responding to the issues our communities raise to us is a central function of neighbourhood policing.

Across December and January, our Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) led a two-month highly proactive programme aimed at improving town and city centre safety with a focus on retail crime, anti-social behaviour (ASB), street crime and night-time economy risks including Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). 

I should add that the whole Force supported with this activity and I would like to say thank you to my teams.

Our priority locations for this activity, under the banner Winter of Action, were Swindon, Salisbury, Trowbridge, Chippenham and Devizes.

Using local knowledge and intelligence from our communities, our NPTs designed specific problem profiles for each area with comprehensive plans to tackle issues which are impacting the public.

This activity formed part of our local response to the Home Office’s Safer Streets initiative.

Across the two months, we saw the following operational results:

• 197 people arrested for offences linked to retail crime, violence, sexual offences, street crime and driving offences
• 863 dedicated patrols as part of the ASB hotspot fund
• 4,387 intelligence submissions were made
• 345 individual engagements with businesses
• 36 schools were visited with officers engaging with more than 4,000 pupils on topics including knife crime, exploitation and ASB
• 134 speed enforcement events took place resulting in 1,279 drivers being caught speeding (including 120 arrests for driving offences)
• Our Special Constabulary completed 3,320 duty hours across December and January
• 5 closure orders were obtained
• 4 Criminal Behaviour Orders were obtained
• 56 deployments of our mobile police stations
• 351 NPT engagements at local events and meetings
• We enhanced our engagement with our rural communities – including increasing reassurance patrols around 12 farms which have been repeat victims of crime and undertaking a proactive hare coursing operation in the south of the county. In addition, you hosted a meeting with the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and the National Farmer Union (NFU) earlier this month to listen to concerns from their members and outline what we are doing to tackle rural crime in our county.

Working with local businesses to prevent crime and improve safety has been greatly strengthened by the launch of Wiltshire’s first Business Crime Reduction Partnership in Salisbury. By your office bringing together Wiltshire Police, Salisbury BID, Salisbury City Council and Wiltshire Council, this partnership is helping us share real‑time intelligence, support retailers facing persistent crime and anti‑social behaviour and build a more resilient city centre.

As a Force, we continue to work closely with your office to strengthen safety across Wiltshire’s night‑time economy and support the communities we serve.

Through your office’s Getting You Home Safe campaign, we have seen first‑hand how coordinated partnership activity enhances public reassurance and early intervention.

Many of the initiatives we support under this campaign are aimed at preventing crimes which disproportionately affect women and girls in our communities.

On Monday evening, I hosted the latest Facebook Live event with our communities alongside Detective Chief Inspector Claire Smith. This was focused on answering questions regarding our approach to tackling VAWG.

We covered many topics during the session in addition to sharing some of our successes in this vital area of policing, including:

• Cases where further action was taken have doubled over the past 12 months, with rates for rape and serious sexual offences now at 9% and 10% respectively. Conviction rates for these cases stand at 76% in 2025
• Completing in excess of 22,000 public protection notices in 2025, sharing information via our multi-agency arrangements. By working collaboratively, we can more effectively manage risk and safeguard those most vulnerable
• Seeing a 14.9% increase in the number of stalking offences reported to us – which illustrates higher victim confidence in reporting and improved reporting practices – and a 3.5% increase in the number of cases where further action is taken, up to 16.9%
• In 2021, we adopted Project Vigilant which focuses on tackling behaviour that makes women and girls feel unsafe in public spaces by intervening before crimes are committed. It focuses on predatory behaviour displayed by potential offenders - not on others changing their habits - and aims to disrupt the early signs of harmful activity. Now, Wiltshire Police are one of the leading police forces taking Project Vigilant further by providing training to our new police officers, so they are immediately aware of the community concerns and enforcement opportunities Project Vigilant affords them. We are also using our experience to share learning with other police forces, we are deploying our drones to support and expanding into our Vigilant Communities initiative. More information about Project Vigilant can be found on our website here, and a more detailed explanation of what a Project Vigilant deployment involves can be found on this YouTube video.

Our local action and activity underpins the national VAWG strategy, launched last year, which outlines significant reforms to better protect our communities.

Under this strategy, we are currently in the process of designing a specialist rape and sexual offence investigation team here in Wiltshire to ensure we are dedicating resources to tackle these abhorrent crimes.

The next Facebook Live event will be on May 11 at 6.30pm and will be focused on both our HMICFRS PEEL inspection report – which we are anticipating will be published in the next few months – and the contribution made by our incredible volunteers. I will also be updating on our new operational priorities which I will be launching in April. Our communities can submit questions for this session via this form.

Finally, I wanted to share that next week is the national Police Staff Week of Celebration and Recognition which illustrates the pivotal contribution our police staff colleagues make to policing across the country.

Throughout the week we will be sharing police staff testimonies and celebrating the many successes they have played a central role in. This activity will be coordinated by our Chief of Corporate Service John Derryman.

I will also be joining our Director of People, Iain Gibson, in attending the National Police Staff Awards at the College of Policing next Wednesday.

I would like to sincerely thank every member of police staff who works for Wiltshire Police for the superb work that they do across multiple disciplines within our organisation. 

They play a critical role in Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

To maintain the trust and confidence our communities place in us, it is vital that we remain open, transparent and accountable.

As part of this commitment, I took part in an hour-long live discussion on BBC Radio Wiltshire on Tuesday.

During the show, I was asked questions from our communities on a broad range of topics. These included:

• The visibility of our police officers – several callers expressed concerns about not routinely seeing officers on foot patrol within our communities. Although our data shows that we have doubled the use of the mobile police stations and that our neighbourhood officers attend more than 11,600 community events and meetings each year, this is clearly not being felt by the public. To improve this, I have commissioned our Local Policing lead to devise a simple way of mapping where our Neighbourhood Policing Teams will be patrolling within local communities. We will then share this information with the public as part of the Your Area section of our website and via our local policing Facebook pages. Despite the financial challenges we continue to face, I have committed to maintain our police officer numbers – around 1,200 – who are expertly supported by our PCSO and Special Constable cohorts in patrolling our county.
• The issue of knife crime – understandably, following the tragic murder of Shayne Hambakachere in Chippenham last month, our communities are concerned about knife crime within our county. Firstly, I wanted to offer our deepest sympathies to Shayne’s loved ones. We will continue to offer them specialist support during this time and throughout the ongoing criminal justice process.

To enable local communities, partners and elected officials to work together and support everyone impacted by this terrible tragedy, all must be kept informed as our investigation progresses. To support this, I attended the Chippenham Area Board meeting on Monday, with County Hub Commander Supt James Brain and Insp Peter Foster, to answer questions and provide an update on our response to provide additional reassurance, and enforcement where needed, across our communities.

Overall, recorded knife crime has increased in Wiltshire – we took 786 reports in 2024-25 which was up 12% on the previous year. We are tackling this issue by utilising both our frontline resources - we have seen an 87.4% increase in the number of stop and searches in our county in 2025 compared to the previous year, for example – and focussing the work of our dedicated, specialist resources – such as our Integrated Gangs Team.

Although we are working hard to educate, engage with and prevent young people from carrying knives, we need to do more to prevent further harm. Swindon Hub Commander, Supt Mike Vass is currently finalising a new knife crime action plan to enhance our approach, and I will update you and our communities on this in the coming months.

• Police reform following the publication of the Government’s White Paper – I outlined my response to the proposed policing reforms last month, but I took the opportunity to emphasise that we must continue to improve service delivery to our communities and that I wholly support working more collaboratively to achieve this.
• Our approach to tackling domestic abuse – I shared that one of the worst moments in my three-year tenure as Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, remains our critical service failure regarding Clare’s Law disclosures. After the failures were identified in 2023, we reviewed more than eight years’ worth of applications (a total of 3,778) and have subsequently ensured additional resources and scrutiny are in place in this vital area of business. A detailed update on the changes and improvements we have made can be found here.

We are seeing rises in the number of stalking offences being reported to us, increases in successful outcomes for victims and we have almost halved the number of outstanding domestic abuse suspects in the last four months. Additionally, we continue to enhance our preventative approach to keeping women and girls safe through Project Vigilant. Our communities can watch a video on this here.

My next Facebook Live event on Monday 23 February at 6.30pm will be focused on Violence Against Women and Girls. Our communities can pre-submit questions for this here.

• Our approach to tackling to Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) – although we have seen a decrease in the number of anti-social behaviour incident reports being made to us (from 10,242 in 2024 to 9,121 in 2025), the impact of ASB has a significant impact on local neighbourhoods. From some of the callers to the show, I can sense a perception that we are not focusing on this type of crime as much as they feel we should. My commitment to our communities is that we will always explore all reasonable lines of enquiry to hold offenders to justice when any crime takes place.

We are working ever closer with our partner agencies, including the business community, to understand the issues which are affecting areas more prone to ASB type offending. In terms of enforcement activity to counter ASB across the county, we currently have four Public Space Protection Orders in place (more detail below), in excess of 25 Criminal Behaviour Orders in place (our communities can watch a video on these orders here) and we are actively seeking closure orders where appropriate.

• Organised criminality and rural crime – we know that a lot of the criminality happening in our county is linked to organised crime groups – specifically crimes impacting on our rural and agricultural communities. We have dedicated teams within our Force who are focused on tackling serious and organised criminality, but we need intelligence and information from our communities to help us bring those responsible to justice and deter future offending. You can report information to us here.
• Our upcoming HMICFRS PEEL Inspection report – we are expecting this report to be published next month at which point I will dedicate one of these fortnightly updates to appraise you, Commissioner, and our communities of the outcomes and our next steps. Since joining Wiltshire Police, I made a commitment to ensure we evidenced year on year improvements to our service, and this has happened. For their upcoming report, HMICFRS took a data capture between October 2024 – March 2025 and then from June – September last year before inspecting us in person in December. Whilst I anticipate we will see improvements in some aspects of our service – particularly around our frontline policing delivery – we absolutely recognise there is more we need to do to improve the quality of our investigations and how we support victims of crime.

Our communities can listen back to the entire BBC show here for the next 27 days.

On Wednesday this week, I also hosted my quarterly meeting with editors of our local media outlets.

Much like the BBC interview, this event gives me the opportunity to understand what our communities are most concerned about or interested in seeing, hearing or reading concerning our organisation via the local press.

In addition to the topics covered in the BBC interview, I was asked about the following issues during the Editors’ Forum:

• Use of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) – PSPOs give officers from both local authorities and Wiltshire Police the legal authority to challenge and fine individuals who are engaging in disruptive or dangerous activities within a designated area. We currently have four PSPOs active in Wiltshire – two in Swindon (one relating to town centre ASB and one relating to unauthorised car meets), one in Devizes (tackling issues such as street drinking in the Market Place) and one in Salisbury (which targets street drinking in the city centre). Earlier this month, more than 50 drivers were identified as breaching the Swindon unauthorised car meet PSPO. You can read more about our response to that incident here.
• Road safety – tragically, we have seen an increase in the number of people dying on our county’s roads. 19 people lost their lives in 2024 compared to 23 in 2025 and 305 people were seriously injured on our roads last year. We are dedicated to improving the safety of our roads as evidenced by the increase in the number of drivers we are being arresting for drink and drug drive offences (454 arrests were made in 2025) and the number of proactive road safety operations we are undertaking which are supported by our incredible Community Speedwatch teams. To assist our efforts, I would urge all drivers to slow down and be more considerate when driving through our county – particularly during the current, adverse weather conditions.
• Financial challenges – as I have outlined to you and our communities previously, I will need to deliver a minimum of £4.6m savings for 2026/2027. As with our Financial Review Programme, through which we identified much of the nearly £8m worth of savings for 2025/26, our priority remains achieving these savings in ways that minimise the impact on our people and on frontline delivery. We must continue to focus on the function of our organisation rather than its form, ensuring that we protect the quality of service we provide to our communities and victims of crime.

I wanted to end this fortnight’s update by continuing the theme of affording our communities ample opportunities to ask us questions and see how we are delivering their policing service, by sharing details of a visit to our headquarters last week by some truly amazing young people.

Members of the Fairfield Trust’s Next Steps programme, which is designed to provide training and employment opportunities for individuals with learning and physical disabilities, came to spend the day with us as part of our ongoing relationship with the Trust. Just last year, we published our first ever easy read document as a result of our collaboration with the Trust.

The delegates asked me a range of questions about policing, community safety, and the role of the police in supporting vulnerable people. They then visited our control room, police workshops and tried on some police uniform.

You can read a full report of the visit here.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

This week, the Home Secretary announced the most far-reaching reforms to policing in decades.

Broadly speaking, the Government has outlined the following intentions:

• Consolidating the current number of police forces in England and Wales – creating fewer, regional police forces overseeing Local Policing Areas. An independent review will be conducted over the coming months and will report back in the summer regarding what this new configuration could be
• Creating a new nationwide police force to tackle the most complex and serious crimes
• The introduction of new ministerial powers to ensure consistency of policing standards
• Significant investment in technology – including the roll out of AI and live facial recognition to all forces.

Our communities can read the full White Paper here.

The reforms are wide ranging and ambitious – aiming to futureproof the policing service in this country to tackle the changing nature of criminality, with a clear focus on local policing delivery.

My commitment to you and our communities is that I will fully engage in all the national planning discussions to ensure that our policing teams are supported throughout any changes, and that our communities continue to receive an improved service.

We are more visible and more engaged with our communities than ever before. I outlined in a previous letter to you that we doubled our mobile police station deployments last year in addition to our neighbourhood teams attending more than 11,600 local meetings and community events in 2025.

This has contributed to significantly improving the levels of trust and confidence our communities have in us. This was evidenced last year when Wiltshire Police was polled as the third most trusted force in England and Wales according to annual figures published by the Office of National Statistics.

We are also seeing improved operational outcomes in Wiltshire, including:

• Our overall victim satisfaction rate was 74.2% in the 12 months to December 2025 (this increases to 81% for victims of hate crime)
• A 76% conviction rate for adult rape and serious sexual offences in 2025
• Attending 100% of residential burglaries in the last five months
• Proactive and appropriate use of Stop and Search increased by 87.4% in 2025 compared to the previous year, with improved recording of all stops
• We have improved the safety of our roads with a 14% rise in arrests for drink and drug driving (454 arrests last year) and a 30% increase in the number of speeding tickets issued (16,362 for the same period)
• We’ve seen a 20% increase in the reporting of rural crimes and, in the last 12 months, our arrest rate for hare coursing and poaching offences has risen by 500%.

I will ensure we continue this improvement journey.

To do this effectively, it is important to acknowledge that the needs of our communities and the nature of crime has significantly changed since the introduction of the current 43 police force model.

More crime is now coordinated by Organised Crime Groups via cross-border activity and is happening increasingly in the virtual, online space.

It is crucial, therefore, that policing continues to adapt and evolve whilst remaining true to our core tenet of public service and keeping communities safe.

I would like to provide some reassurance, however, in terms of Wiltshire Police performance against future expectations. Under the new reforms, response officers will be expected to reach the scene of the most serious incidents within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas, and forces will be expected to answer 999 phone calls within 10 seconds.

In Wiltshire, we are already achieving this. In the 12 months to December 2024, our average immediate response time was 12 mins 49 secs and this fell to 12 mins 22 secs in the 12 months to December 2025.

We also halved the average time it took to answer 999 calls - from 8 seconds in 2024 to 4 seconds last year.

Regarding the significant investment in technology and AI outlined in the paper, Wiltshire Police has already introduced several AI and robotic solutions to advance our service delivery – from automatically sending text messages to people abandoning 101 calls, improving the quality of our data and enabling our frontline colleagues to work more effectively whilst out in our communities.

We are working closely with the national Police Digital Service (PDS) to strengthen and modernise our Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) capability, and this work aligns directly with your Police and Crime Plan and the national reform agenda.

Over the next six months, this partnership will deliver a range of outcomes that will improve the service delivery by Wiltshire Police and align to national policing priorities. 

We already have access to retrospective facial recognition in Wiltshire, with increased usage by my teams. However, we have plans to implement live facial recognition in 2026.

During my tenure at the Metropolitan Police Service, I worked closely with communities to understand their concerns regarding live facial recognition so, acknowledging the real opportunities this technology affords, I will progress this in Wiltshire with full transparency and community consultation. This will include an early ‘proof of concept’ approach to focus on criminality which is of the highest concern to our communities.

I will update you further on this over the coming months.

In summary, I am fully committed to continuing to improve the delivery of our local service, working collaboratively – with both the Government and wider policing network - to benefit our communities and ensuring transparency as we move through the reform process. I will also ensure our communities are updated as much as I can.

To this end, I would encourage our communities to listen to an interview I gave on Tuesday to BBC Radio Wiltshire regarding police reform. My interview can be found here at 01hr 07min into the show and will be available for 26 days from now.

Like you, Commissioner, I will also continue to attend as many local engagements and public meetings as I can to ensure our communities are well informed on our performance and progress. If anyone would like me or one of my colleagues to attend any events, please email my office.

I am so proud to be delivering a better service for our communities and Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Yesterday, the Police and Crime Panel discussed the budget proposals and your proposed precept for the coming financial year.

Currently, it is anticipated that Wiltshire Police will need to deliver a minimum of £4.6m savings for 2026/2027, in order to deliver against a reduced budget.

I outlined how we will make these efficiencies in my extraordinary letter last week.

These decisions all form part of our comprehensive, multi-year savings strategy to ensure the organisation continues to operate as efficiently as possible whilst continuing to improve the services our communities rightly deserve.

It is important that we are fully transparent with regards to these significant financial decisions and, to facilitate this, you and I will be hosting a joint Facebook Live event next Wednesday (21^st January) between 6.30pm and 7.30pm.

This will be an opportunity for us to answer questions from the public and to set out our proposals for both your office and the force respectively. It will be held on the main Wiltshire Police Facebook page and questions can be pre-submitted here or asked during the event.

As the accountable body for all financial consultation responsibilities with our communities, your office is currently consulting on an increase to the policing element of the council tax.

I would encourage anyone who would like to contribute to your considerations on the precept proposals to do so via the public survey found here.

Notwithstanding these financial challenges, we both remain absolutely committed to continuing to make significant improvements to our service - ensuring Wiltshire Police becomes one of the most effective and efficient forces in the country.

A core component of this will be to continue developing the trust and confidence our communities have in us, the decisions we make and the actions we take.

Last week, there was significant media coverage after the Metropolitan Police Service published a review into their vetting and hiring processes between 2013-2023.

It concluded that 5,100 recruits were subjected to limited checks and 3,338 existing officers and staff who were due for vetting renewal had only limited checks completed.

I wanted to take this opportunity to reassure you and our communities that our vetting process is robust and is continually reviewed.

Additionally, Wiltshire Police does not accept vetting completed by other Forces or agencies if someone is transferring into our organisation – we run our own vetting checks.

We also undertake routine dip sampling of decisions made by vetting analysts to check and test decision making.

The College of Policing and the Home Office are now considering the next steps following the Metropolitan Police Service review and we are awaiting any national recommendations.

Here in Wiltshire, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), published their integrity inspection report into our Force in October which covered vetting decisions, misconduct investigations and how we assess counter-corruption intelligence.

We welcome the transparency and rigour of the HMICFRS inspection process. Now, more than ever, it is right that this area of our business is independently scrutinised.

We accepted all the recommendations made to us by HMICFRS last year regarding the professional standards command within our organisation.

It is important to note that the inspection itself took place in January 2025 and, at the point of publication, many of the recommendations had been progressed.

Crucially, in terms of oversight and scrutiny, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper is the strategic owner for vetting and Professional Standards within our organisation and is both proactively reviewing and strengthening all our processes.

Our communities can find out more about the national vetting standards by visiting the College of Policing’s Vetting Code of Practice.

Whilst a completely different area of our business, concerns have been raised to both of us recently regarding the safety of Wiltshire’s roads.

Therefore, I would like to close this letter by detailing some of our recent proactive work in improving road safety and denying criminals the use of our roads.

Last week, our Speed Enforcement Officers caught 88 drivers speeding on just one road in Swindon in less than an hour.

The team carried out speed checks at Holy Cross, Queens Drive between 10.35am and 11.25am last Thursday and the fastest vehicle was detected at 58mph – nearly double the 30mph speed limit.

As a result:

• 77 drivers will be offered a speed awareness course
• Nine drivers will face fines and points
• Two will be summonsed to court.

Speed enforcement is undertaken by a range of our frontline teams and is conducted across the county on a daily basis. Many of the local results are published on the Your Area section of our website here.

Our communities can also find out where speed enforcement sessions have been carried out, how often and the outcomes on the road safety section of your website.

This week, we also published the results of our local drink and drug driving operation which ran across December to support the national Op Limit campaign.

Over the month, 120 people were arrested for drink or drug driving related offences in our county. This is a 35% increase on drink or drug driving related arrests, compared to December 2024.

Of those arrested, approximately 40% were arrested on suspicion of drug driving related offences and the rest were arrested on suspicion of drink driving related offences.

Our officers are better equipped than ever to detect drug drivers, which is reflected in the significant number of drug-related arrests we made this month.

It’s completely irresponsible to get behind the wheel of a vehicle having consumed alcohol or illegal drugs – you are selfishly putting your own life and the lives of other road users in serious danger.

We are sharing more content with our communities on the work of our Roads Policing Unit - from evidence used to convict dangerous drivers to footage taken during pursuits. A range of videos can be found on our YouTube channel.

I would encourage all of our communities to visit the dedicated road safety section of our website for specific advice and guidance.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Before Christmas, Police Forces across England and Wales were provided with details of the Government funding settlement for the next financial year. 

Whilst further details are to be provided, it is anticipated that Wiltshire Police will need to deliver a minimum of £4.6m savings for 2026/2027, in order to deliver against a reduced budget.

This week, the details of the funding and the core components of how these savings will be achieved, were provided by your office to the Police and Crime Panel ahead of the meeting next Thursday and made publicly available. This information is available via this link. 

Following a Strategic and Financial Planning Summit I held with my Chief Officer Group in November, we have already identified the efficiencies currently required for the year ahead. 

As with our Financial Review Programme (FRP), through which we identified much of the nearly £8m worth of savings for 2025/26, our priority remains achieving these savings in ways that minimise the impact on our people and on frontline delivery. 

We must continue to focus on the function of our organisation rather than its form, ensuring that we protect the quality of service we provide to our communities and victims of crime.

Broadly speaking, the 2026/27 efficiencies will be achieved through a combination of:

• Redesigning how our Local Policing, Specialist Operations and Crime Investigations commands are structured
• Removing frozen posts - subject to appropriate scrutiny and consultation
• Technology and equipment efficiencies aligned to our longer-term technology strategy
• Further rationalisation of our estate footprint. 

I want to be clear that we will not be reducing our police officer numbers.

Last January, I made a commitment to improving our visibility within our communities and public access to our services, despite the significant financial challenges we faced. 

I am pleased to say that we more than doubled the use of mobile police stations out in our communities (from 175 deployments in 2024 to 416 in 2025), in addition to our neighbourhood teams attending 270 more local meetings and events (from 11,385 in 2024 to 11,655 last year).

This contributed to a significant step forward in the levels of trust and confidence our communities have in us. This was evidenced last year when Wiltshire Police was polled as the third most trusted force in England and Wales according to annual figures published by the Office of National Statistics.

I am committed to ensuring that future efficiencies and savings will be done in a sustainable and methodical way.

The required efficiencies for 2026/27 will be delivered through our Transformation Programme, led by Chief Superintendent Doug Downing and reporting into the Chief of Corporate Services, John Derryman.

This programme will be responsible not only for realising the savings required in 2026/27, but also for laying the foundations for our longer-term, five-year organisational transformation. This sits alongside and supports your proposed five-year Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Throughout the last year, Wiltshire Police demonstrated our ability to oversee significant financial reform, with the external scrutiny and support from you and your office. Last year, the level of savings ultimately required exceeded our initial forecasts due to unforeseen operational requirements, but we were able to meet that challenge because of the commitment, professionalism and resilience shown across our organisations. 

Most of those savings came from the removal of vacant posts, alongside efficiencies within our estate and fleet, and we worked hard to limit the impact on people and reduce the number of individuals placed at risk.

You are currently consulting on an increase to the policing element of the council tax.

Whilst I recognise that you are accountable for all financial consultation responsibilities with our communities, I would encourage anyone who would like to contribute to your considerations on the precept proposals to do so via the public survey found here. 

It is important that our communities are fully informed of these important financial decisions and, to facilitate this, you and I will be hosting a joint Facebook Live event on Wednesday 21st January between 6.30pm and 7.30pm.

This will be an opportunity for us to answer questions from the public and to set out our proposals for both your office and the force respectively. It will be held on the main Wiltshire Police Facebook page and questions can be pre-submitted or asked during the event.

I would like to publicly thank colleagues from both our organisations for their commitment to delivering the best possible service during a period of ongoing financial challenge. 

Transparency will remain central to how we approach the ongoing Transformation Programme and resultant efficiencies, and I will ensure I keep you, the force and most importantly our communities informed throughout. 

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson,

As we begin 2026, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the past year for Wiltshire Police. 2025 has involved a mixture of high operational demand and positive progress in areas that matter to the residents of Wiltshire.

We saw several serious incidents during the year which had a profound impact on our communities and our workforce. Across the county we have responded to incidents which have resulted in tragic loss of life, and where appropriate we have worked with the criminal justice process to secure convictions. We know that these cases bring deep distress to families and communities, and I again want to send our condolences to the friends and families who have suffered loss.

A significant step forward for Wiltshire Police is our improvement in public trust and confidence. Wiltshire Police is now the third most trusted force in England and Wales according to annual figures published by the Office of National Statistics.

The data shows that 58% of people believe Wiltshire Police do an excellent or good job, well above the UK average of 49%. This reflects the work my officers, staff and volunteers have undertaken to improve the service we provide to the communities of Wiltshire. The most important part of this statistic is knowing that when people need us most, they are more likely to pick up the phone.

Further data published by the Office for National Statistics in October 2025 showed a 4.5% reduction in weapon offences and a 6.5% reduction in theft offences in Wiltshire compared to the previous year. This reduction reflects the impact of increased Neighbourhood Policing, and other operational team, patrols; improved CCTV coverage, and collaborative work with local businesses to deter opportunistic theft and repeat offending.

In the last 12 months, Wiltshire Police has carried out a large number of rural operations to target criminals who focus on our rural communities. In December, my officers, along with yourself, attended a rural community event. I would like to thank the community members who have provided their expert knowledge to support us in tackling crimes such as hare coursing and organised machinery theft.

This year has seen us take a whole-Force approach to tackle this type of criminality, with specialist officers, Neighbourhood Policing Teams and intelligence teams taking part in operations. Let me be clear to both reassure rural communities and send a very direct message to those who commit rural criminality – like all behaviour that causes harm to others, rural crime will not be tolerated in Wiltshire, and 2026 will see greater proactive and robust policing activity to hold those responsible to account.

In February, we had the honour of presenting to Her Majesty The Queen when she visited Bowood House in Wiltshire. Hosted by the Chair of the Wiltshire Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) Coalition, The Marchioness of Lansdowne, Her Majesty heard about the progress being made across the county to tackle violence against women and girls. The Coalition brings together partners from policing, members of the judiciary, representatives from domestic abuse organisations, and business leaders to improve prevention, support and outcomes for victims. The visit underlined the strength of collaborative working across agencies to address VAWG and reinforced our continued commitment to delivering professional, victim-focused policing in this area.

Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) has remained a clear priority throughout 2025 and will continue into 2026. Wiltshire Police will continue to focus on supporting victims and holding perpetrators to account, while implementing the Government’s new VAWG strategy. Our Deputy Chief Constable will be working closely with the National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection to ensure Wiltshire Police is at the forefront of all opportunities to improve our service in this area.

Our ongoing commitment to the national Operation Soteria scheme aimed at increasing the number of adult rape and serious sexual offence (RASSO) cases reaching charge has seen Wiltshire Police achieve a 76% conviction rate in 2025.

To support our ongoing improvements to rape investigations we have continued to invest in training, including a recent Crown Prosecution Service and Police away day to strengthen operational relationships and improve decision making in RASSO investigations. This has received positive feedback, and further events are planned for 2026. We have also reinforced our victim centred approach through specialist training delivered by independent experts who have provided critical friend challenge to ensure pan-Force improvements.

Throughout 2025, we have also continued Project Vigilant deployments, which have proactively challenged predatory behaviour. Wiltshire Police has become a leading force in this space, delivering training to other forces and incorporating drones into deployments.

This year has also seen Project Vigilant used to develop our workforce and strengthen community engagement, with student police officers deployed on operations to gain early experience of proactive policing while building investigative skills, intelligence awareness and confidence in public engagement.

This work has been strengthened through our nationally recognised Vigilant Communities initiative, rolled out across Wiltshire to build community resilience against predatory behaviour. Training delivered by our specialist VAWG team helps trusted members of the public, “Vigilant Guardians”, to spot early signs of predatory behaviour, promote reporting and share intelligence that directly supports policing action.

Our 2024 stalking awareness campaign has continued have impact in 2025, with a 24.1% rise in reports. Alongside Project Vigilant and Vigilant Communities, this shows the value of partnership work and public engagement in tackling predatory behaviour.

Supporting and protecting children and young persons is a core part of our policing approach and a personal priority in my role as the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) lead for Children and Young Persons (CYP).

In January, the Youth Justice Minister visited Wiltshire Police to see how we are working with partners to intervene early where children are at risk of exploitation, violence or criminalisation. The visit recognised the progress being made locally through strong partnership working with youth justice services, education, health and voluntary organisations.

Across the year, we have continued to embed child-centred policing principles in line with national NPCC guidance. This includes recognising that children who come into contact with the police are often victims, even where criminal behaviour is present.

In particular, a focus has been on improvements within custody, where changes have been made to better reflect the needs of CYP during this extremely impactful stage of the criminal justice process.

This includes:

• Enhanced safeguarding processes for CYP brought into custody
• Greater use of appropriate adults and early involvement of partner agencies
• Improved environments and procedures to reduce distress and minimise time spent in custody
• Stronger scrutiny of decision-making where detention is considered necessary

We have also continued a range of preventative and engagement activities aimed at reducing harm and building trust with CYP, including:

• Police Challenge Days with Girlguiding and Scouts
• School and community-based knife crime and exploitation awareness work
• Mobile police station visits and neighbourhood engagement focused on youth concerns
• Continued use of diversionary outcomes where appropriate

There remains more to do, particularly as we continue to see crimes linked to vulnerability, mental health and exploitation. However, the progress made this year provides a strong foundation as we move forward.

Wiltshire Police is recognised as a national leader in the use of Out of Court Resolutions for CYP. This reflects our focus on early intervention and appropriate diversion, with national data placing Wiltshire among the strongest forces for positive outcomes for young persons.

However, educating and engaging CYP does not prevent us from holding them to account. For example - Operation Jetsom, which was the 2025 proactive operation to tackle illegal e-scooter and e-bike usage, began in July with a month of highly publicised education to guide people as to what was acceptable and what was not in terms of e-bikes and e-scooters.  In August, the operation then moved to enforcement, and Wiltshire Police seized and destroyed over 140 illegal e‑scooters and modified e‑bikes to reduce harm, as well as providing further education to users to make it clear that breaches of the law will be addressed.

In October, following the Panorama programme highlighting failures within the Metropolitan Police, I wrote openly to you to reaffirm our values and the standards expected within Wiltshire Police.

I would like to take the opportunity to reiterate that I expect the very highest level of professionalism, care and diligence from each of my officers, staff and volunteers. Wherever these standards fall short we will continue to deal with misconduct robustly with transparency.

Our communities can find out more about our misconduct processes, see upcoming hearings and read misconduct hearing outcomes on this section of our website.

The creation of the Force Organisational Learning Board has improved how we identify, share and act on our commitment to continuous improvement. Accountability and learning are critical to improving the service we provide to the communities of Wiltshire.

December 2025 saw the conclusion of the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry, with the Inquiry Chair, Lord Hughes, publishing his report. At the heart of this Inquiry are Dawn’s family and loved ones, and I would once again like to acknowledge the profound impact this tragedy has had on them and how sorry we are for their loss.

As I have mentioned before, this was a significant moment for Wiltshire Police and our communities, providing an opportunity to reflect professionally on events in 2018 and to commit to learning any further lessons identified in the final report.

In addition to our 21 self-identified improvements, we fully accept all the recommendations made in the Inquiry report, and I am committed to ensuring these will be implemented via the Force’s Organisational Learning Board.

Over the past year, Wiltshire Police has continued to manage significant financial pressures. As you are aware, we entered this financial year knowing we needed to save £6.8 million. During the year, further funding challenges required this saving to increase to nearly £8 million. We put in place a strong financial review programme and delivered those savings while continuing to improve outcomes for our communities. With continued pressure on public finances as we enter 2026, this work remains ongoing and will continue to require difficult but necessary decisions.

Looking ahead, we welcome the findings of our next HMICFRS PEEL inspection in Spring 2026 and the recommendations set out in the forthcoming Government Policing Reform White Paper. Both will provide important external scrutiny and direction as we continue to improve our service to the people of Wiltshire.

I would like to recognise the support and challenge provided by our partners and by you as Police and Crime Commissioner. As we begin the year ahead, our focus remains on protecting the most vulnerable, preventing harm and supporting our workforce to ensure we are keeping Wiltshire safe.

Finally, 2025 also saw several Wiltshire Police representatives receiving awards. I am immensely proud of the recognition received by our officers, staff and volunteers including:

• A British Empire Medal awarded to Special Constable Damien Penman
• National awards recognising innovation in robotic process automation
• Bravery and service awards for officers responding to violent incidents
• National recognition for disability inclusion and supported employment

These awards are testament, once again, that Wiltshire Police officers, staff and volunteers demonstrate the highest values of public service, and I am so very grateful for their commitment.

Kindest regards and best wishes for 2026.

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

I know there are many in our local communities who are still deeply shocked and saddened by the terrorist incident on Bondi Beach in Australia earlier this week.

I am conscious that this will undoubtedly have an impact on people around the world, including here in Wiltshire.

It will be particularly difficult for many of those in our Jewish communities specifically, as this happened on the first day of Hanukkah.

There is no place for hate crime or violence anywhere in our society, and we remain committed to supporting and safeguarding anyone who is targeted because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or disability.

Should anyone have any specific concerns or questions, I would encourage them to contact their Neighbourhood Policing Team. More information can be found on our website.

Our officers will continue to engage with all our faith-based communities and leaders to support wherever possible.

The thoughts of everyone at Wiltshire Police remain with the victims of this incident and their loved ones.

This week, the Government published its Violence against Women and Girls strategy which outlines significant reforms to better protect our communities.

For policing, the plan outlines the following changes:

• Every Force will introduce specialist rape and sexual offence investigation teams
• Domestic Abuse Protection Orders will be introduced which will cover all forms of domestic abuse including economic abuse, coercive and controlling behaviour, stalking and honour-based abuse. There will be no maximum time limits placed on the orders, meaning victims can be provided with protection for as long as they need
• A new, national team will be introduced specifically to tackle violence against women and girls online using covert and intelligence techniques.

You can read more about this national strategy here.

I welcome any opportunity – including new legislation – which will ultimately make those who feel most vulnerable in our communities safer.

In Wiltshire, we are already utilising innovative ways to reduce violence against women and girls.

In 2021, we adopted Project Vigilant which focuses on tackling behaviour that makes women and girls feel unsafe in public spaces by intervening before crimes are committed.

It focuses on predatory behaviour displayed by potential offenders - not on others changing their habits - and aims to disrupt the early signs of harmful activity.

Now, Wiltshire Police are one of the leading police forces taking Project Vigilant further by providing training to other police forces, providing training to new police officers joining the force, and with the introduction of drones during a deployment.

We deploy highly visible patrols alongside specialist plain-clothes officers, supported by CCTV networks, in areas where intelligence shows there is concern. When we see worrying behaviour, we intervene to protect those at risk and, where necessary, use our powers to disperse individuals who pose a threat.

We have increased our Project Vigilant deployments in Swindon and Salisbury over the last few weeks due to the higher number of people out enjoying the festive period.

We have also introduced a Vigilant Communities project, where we train local volunteers to become Vigilant Guardians who can help spot early warning signs and raise awareness of what predatory behaviour looks like. Their involvement enhances the work of our officers by strengthening community safety, reinforcing that preventing violence against women and girls is a shared responsibility.

I encourage anyone who witnesses predatory behaviour to report what they’ve seen; even details that seem small can help us build a clearer picture and keep people safe.

More information about Project Vigilant can be found on our website here, and a more detailed explanation of what a Project Vigilant deployment involves can be found on this YouTube video.

Project Vigilant is one part of wider efforts by Wiltshire Police to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls, but I thought particularly relevant to mention at this time of year when people are out enjoying the festivities of the winter season.

However, I also wanted to mention other efforts that are being made by colleagues and partners Wiltshire Police to hold to account all perpetrators of violence against women and girls:

• Becoming members of an extremely impactive coalition called Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) in Wiltshire last year, comprising of members of the public, members of the judiciary, police, representatives from domestic abuse organisations, and business leaders. The EVAWG act as a critical friend to our organisation - providing insight and guidance to improve our service to victims and communities. Collectively, we made a commitment to ensure that our approach now firmly centres on the voices and lived experiences of victims
• Our commitment to tackling Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) has been strengthened by our work under Operation Soteria which is transforming the national approach to RASSO. Wiltshire Police was one of 19 forces who took part in the initial concept stages of Operation Soteria in 2021, and recent independent reviews have reflected the continued progress in our performance, holding perpetrators to account, and supporting victims
• Last year, we launched the Walk and Talk scheme – which sees our officers meet in person with local women to get an insight into how they feel living in Wiltshire and what we and our partners can do to improve women’s safety.
• Supporting the Salisbury Soroptimists in the launch of their ‘Fresh Thoughts’ guidance booklet on November 27, which supports victims of domestic abuse with guidance as to how the justice system works, and useful organisations that can provide support. More information about this booklet, which has already been distributed across Wiltshire Police teams to improve our service to victims and communities, can be found here: Fresh Thoughts | SI Salisbury | SIGBI
• Throughout October, we intensified our efforts to improve awareness and our response to domestic abuse incidents across the county. This initiative included enhanced training for officers and staff at all levels—from frontline responders to investigators and partner services. You can read more about this work here.
• The integration of Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) and Independent Sexual Violence Advocates (ISVAs) within our organisation. Their expertise has been instrumental in helping to shape a more effective and compassionate approach to investigations. These highly skilled professionals have worked alongside our teams from the outset of enquiries, offering guidance, safeguarding support and continuity of care through the custody process and beyond.
• We have made significant improvements to way we manage the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS), also known as Clare’s Law. This scheme enables police forces to disclose information to a victim or potential victim of domestic abuse about their partner’s or ex-partner’s previous abusive or violent offending. This also applies to requests made by concerned relatives or family members. In response to critical service failures we identified in 2023, we have strengthened the oversight and leadership of the Domestic Abuse Safeguarding Team, appointed more Clare’s Law specialists and introduced more robust policies. You can make a request under Clare’s Law here. Our website also has a dedicated domestic abuse support page which our communities can access here.

This work is fundamental to our commitment of Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

Keeping our communities safe must include within the home, out in our city, towns and villages and when using our road network.

Following our recent participation at the Road Safety Summit on November 28, which was hosted by Wiltshire Council and attended by yourself also, policing teams across Wiltshire have increased patrols along our local roads in a bid to prevent drink or drug driving throughout December, as part of the national Operation Limit campaign, and deny criminals the use of the road.

During the first two weeks of the dedicated operation, from December 1^st – 15^th, we arrested 14 people for drug driving offences and 40 people for drink driving offences. 

It’s completely irresponsible to get behind the wheel of a vehicle having consumed alcohol or illegal drugs – you are selfishly putting your own life and the lives of other road users in serious danger.

Last night, we published a video on Facebook page which illustrates the lethal dangers of drug driving. You can watch this here.

Improving road safety is not something that policing can do alone, so we work closely with our partners, including local authorities and Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, via the Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership. More information about this partnership can be found on Wiltshire Council's website.

This week, your office announced the purchase of six acres of land at Old Sarum near Salisbury to deliver our new Southern Policing Hub. The modern, fit-for-purpose facility will provide a permanent base for officers, staff and volunteers, improving frontline policing, visibility and accessibility for our local communities.

The hub will house response and neighbourhood teams and other operational services, supporting faster deployment across Salisbury and surrounding rural areas, improving response times, and providing sustainable infrastructure for future demand.

Despite the financial pressures facing policing, investing in the right estate is essential to maintain effective service delivery and reinforces our long-term commitment to keeping Wiltshire safe.

Finally, as we approach Christmas, I would like to acknowledge the commitment shown by many of our officers, staff, and volunteers at this time of year, with so many continuing to work throughout the holiday period.

I want to offer my sincere thanks to each and every one of them for their unwavering dedication and service over the festive season.

While recognising that not everyone celebrates Christmas, I hope this winter period provides an opportunity for everyone to pause, reflect, and spend time with those closest to them.

For those who do celebrate, I wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Yesterday, the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry concluded and the Inquiry Chair, Lord Hughes, published his report.

The collective condolences of everyone at Wiltshire Police remain with Dawn’s family and friends. We are all so sorry for their loss.

Since Dawn’s death on July 8 2018, they have had to wait for answers as to how this tragedy unfolded.

I cannot begin to imagine the pain of losing someone that you love and not having a complete picture of how this happened.

Our communities can read the report here and my full public statement in response to the Inquiry here.

This is a significant moment for both Wiltshire Police and our communities - for those directly involved in the initial emergency response, the ensuing investigations and for those living and working in Salisbury and Amesbury back in 2018. 

However, it is important to remember that at the heart of this public inquiry are Dawn’s family and loved ones, whose lives have been irreversibly changed.

It is also important for me to acknowledge that, in part, this pain was compounded by mistakes made by Wiltshire Police.

Dawn was wrongly described by Wiltshire Police as a known drug user – this was not correct and should never have happened. For this, I am truly sorry.

Concerns were also raised during the Inquiry with regards to how Wiltshire Police responded to the second Novichok incident. This included our officers’ interactions with other frontline responders and whether due regard was shown to other professional assessments.

From the outset of the Inquiry, we made it clear that we were fully committed to learning any further lessons arising throughout this process. This is in addition to the learning already captured in a national review run by the College of Policing in 2020.

During each day of the open sessions for the Inquiry in late 2024, our team captured every opportunity to inform future learning or development to improve our policing service.

We identified 21 areas for improvement (themed below) and these are being tracked and delivered through our Force Organisational Learning Board.

These improvements include:

• Ensuring critical advice & guidance – such as Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) advice - is shared promptly and effectively with our frontline. We have developed an internal intelligence portal where this information is shared directly with our frontline colleagues. This is in addition to ongoing training for all operational commanders
• Enhanced multi-agency exercise training – we have an ongoing programme of training exercises and have seen an increase in the number of formal debrief sessions between agencies
• Recording of emergency services huddles on Body Worn Video (BWV) – when emergency services make urgent decisions at scenes of incidents, these are now recorded on BWV to ensure total transparency and consistency. This has been embedded as part of our wider BWV training. The views of other partner agencies must always be considered and respected
• Ensuring only appropriate, objective and factual information is captured on police files and systems - this includes language used when capturing witness statements, handover processes, meeting notes and minutes. Formal advisory warnings regarding this can now be found on our systems.

In addition to these self-identified improvements, we fully accept all the recommendations made in today’s Inquiry report and I am committed to ensuring these will be implemented. 

There will also be a national process to absorb learning, and we will ensure the lessons we identified will be included within this.

Throughout the Inquiry, we listened to the testimonies of our partner agencies to identify ways of continuing to strengthen our local relationships and partnerships. 

Evidence presented to the Inquiry illustrated the criticality of ensuring these relationships are constantly developed for us all to help best protect the public. As outlined in the improvements we have implemented, we prioritised advancing these inter-emergency services relationships for the benefit of our communities, primarily through our Local Resilience Forum.

It is important for me to recognise the significant impacts the Novichok poisonings had on Sergei and Yulia Skripal, former Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, Dawn’s partner Charlie Rowley and all of their loved ones.

Their lives have been changed as a result of the poisonings and the Inquiry findings will have an impact upon them. My thoughts remain with them at this time.

These events impacted many of our officers, staff and volunteers – both within Wiltshire Police and the hundreds of colleagues who supported us on mutual aid during the incidents or responded from partner agencies. May I express my thanks to you all.

Beyond the public service response, these events have had a significant impact on our communities in Salisbury and Amesbury.

Whilst they will not be defined by the malicious actions of those seeking to cause harm in Salisbury, they have had to acknowledge that this now forms part of their modern-day history.

From the initial incident in Salisbury, the world watched on as local communities supported one another and the emergency services deployed in their neighbourhoods for months at a time. 

They have defined the true meaning of community spirit. 

Through our dedicated Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs), we will continue to support them and offer them the very best possible service.

Last night, Chief Inspector Ben Huggins and Salisbury Inspector Tina Osborn attended the Salisbury Area Board meeting to offer further support to our communities. I would encourage anyone who has concerns or questions to reach out to your local NPT – they are on hand to provide support and advice. You can find out who your local NPT is by visiting our website.

Finally, the Inquiry has provided a transparent scrutiny process of our actions to our communities. 

Transparency is essential for police legitimacy.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson, 

Improving the service we provide to women and girls affected by any forms of violence is a key priority for Wiltshire Police, working with our partners. 

In the latest quarterly report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (Crime in England and Wales, year ending June 2025) we have seen a 12.3% increase in reported sexual offences, from 1,958 to 2,199 incidents. We cautiously welcome this rise in reporting, which appears to reflect our work to raise awareness, increasing trust and confidence for victims to come forward, improve recording and ensure that offences are robustly investigated.

October was our focussed month of action to improve our front line response to any report or concern of domestic abuse; to ensure our investigations are victim centred, and proactively locate and arrest any named suspects for domestic abuse to ensure we are managing risk and keeping people safe.

Throughout the month we delivered a training programme that combined bite-size learning modules and mandatory sessions with a strong emphasis on collaboration with victim advocates. 

An essential part of our improved service to tackle domestic abuse has been the integration of Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) and Independent Sexual Violence Advocates (ISVAs). Their expertise has been instrumental in helping to shape a more effective and compassionate approach to investigations. 

These highly skilled professionals have worked alongside our teams from the outset of enquiries, offering guidance, safeguarding support and continuity of care through the custody process and beyond. Feedback from officers has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are now exploring how this model can be embedded more permanently across our stations. You can read more about the work here.

We also recognise the need to work with perpetrators. As part of this commitment, we have strengthened links with partners delivering perpetrator programmes such as Open 2 Change, providing tailored support to those who wish to engage and change their behaviour. 

Looking more broadly at the delivery on our priority of ‘Safer Public Spaces’, we continue to tackle harmful and criminal predatory behaviours in the nighttime economy. Project Vigilant has been established within Wiltshire Police for over four years. Our Force leads, Detective Inspector Troy Smith and Detective Sergeant Jen Jeffcoat-Marsh, recently delivered specialist training to other police forces, including colleagues from South Wales Police, who joined our most recent deployment in Swindon to put their learning into practice.

Across the county, our three Police Alcohol Licensing Officers (PALOs) continue to carry out excellent preventative work alongside your office and local authority partners. They deliver Welfare and Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) training to licensed premises, support the Ask for Angela scheme, lead Pubwatch groups, and conduct routine licensing visits with neighbourhood policing teams (NPT) and local authority licensing teams. This collaborative approach is helping to ensure that our licensed premises remain safe and well managed. 

A specific example of the success of this approach is Operation Armania, which was implemented in Salisbury to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious violence in the night-time economy. You can watch some of the operational activity here.

Our commitment to improving town centres can also be seen in Chippenham where neighbourhood policing teams have been working in partnership with businesses and local authorities by supporting venues, engaging with door staff, and those enjoying the town to help keep antisocial behaviour and crime low. I would like to congratulate Chippenham for once again being recognised with Purple Flag status, an international accreditation for towns and cities offering a safe and welcoming night out.

Inspector Ho Tsang from the Trowbridge NPT joined you last week at the Trowbridge Shopwatch meeting, one of many ways in which our neighbourhood policing teams are building stronger relationships with local businesses. These conversations help us to better understand the challenges they face and to ensure that we are responding effectively. 

Further data from the ONS report shows Theft offences have also declined by 6.5%, from 11,648 to 10,896 incidents, contrasting with a 1.9% increase across the region. This reflects the impact of increased patrols in retail areas, improved CCTV coverage and joint work with businesses to deter opportunistic theft and repeat offending.

In Swindon, our commitment to tackling serious and organised crime continues. You joined our neighbourhood policing teams during Operation Sacramento, an intelligence-led initiative aimed at dismantling criminal networks and protecting vulnerable people from exploitation. Through high-visibility patrols, targeted raids and strong community engagement, our officers are sending a clear message that Wiltshire will not tolerate those who seek to profit from harm. 

Earlier this year, a multi-agency knife crime summit was launched in Swindon. The summit brought together police, youth services, local leaders, and community organisations to address the root causes of violence and strengthen preventative measures. 

Following the summit, the latest quarterly report from ONS shows a significant reduction in possession of weapons - a 4.5% reduction in weapon offences in the year ending June 2025 compared to the previous year — a reduction from 420 incidents to 401.

Together, these examples demonstrate the breadth of work carried out by officers and our partners each day, from preventing crime, tackling antisocial behaviour, and supporting local businesses to protecting the most vulnerable in our communities.

Next week marks Safer Business Action Week, during which your office will be leading on the launch of the Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) in Salisbury. This will be an excellent opportunity for our partners to work together to tackle issues affecting business owners, share intelligence, bring more offenders to justice and make our town and city centres safer places to be. Our neighbourhood policing teams will be carrying out engagement activity across the county, including increased proactive patrols to support local business owners.

From the area boards and community engagement, my colleagues and I are conscious of concerns with regards to vehicle crime. Officers from the Local Police Tasking Team (LPTT) and Roads Policing Unit (RPU) took part in Operation Alliance between 13-19 October, a national week of activity targeting the organised theft of vehicles. Led by the policing national intelligence unit Opal and the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), this operation resulted in one arrest and the recovery of a stolen vehicle. 

Four officers from our Forensic Collisions Investigation Unit (FCIU) have also received Stolen Vehicle Examiner training and specialist equipment, which will enhance our capability to examine and identify vehicles and provide high-quality evidence to support prosecutions. 

In addition, our neighbourhood officers engaged with members of the public who were more vulnerable to vehicle theft, providing forensic DNA marking kits designed to deter offenders and assist in returning vehicles to their rightful owners.

I was also pleased to see our younger communities recognising the significance of road safety during our recent Scouts day at Devizes Police Headquarters. The Scouts designed a series of social media graphics inspired by the national “Is Your Eyesight Roadworthy?” campaign and Operation Dark Night, our annual initiative promoting visibility and road safety. Three of their designs have since been digitally recreated and shared on our Force’s social media channels which you can view here.

It was wonderful to see young people taking such pride in their work and helping us to share such an important message. My thanks go to the Scouts, their leaders, and our dedicated staff and officers who ensured the event was such a positive and memorable experience.

I am delighted that my contract as Wiltshire Police Chief Constable has been extended to 2030. I would like to publicly thank you, Commissioner, for your ongoing support and belief in my leadership of policing for Wiltshire.

Policing is a privilege, and to serve the communities of this incredible county is a role I treasure. 

I remain fully committed to continue improving Wiltshire Police. Having made some significant progress over the last few years, we are still navigating some real challenges – not least the financial pressures on our organisation – but I aspire for us to be a truly outstanding force, providing the best possible service.

I look forward with the same determination and ambition for the Force I had when I was appointed in 2023 and pledge to do all I can to ensure we are Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

Finally, as Remembrance Day approaches, I am reminded of the immense courage and sacrifice of those who have served our country. It is a moment to reflect and to ensure that their legacy lives on. 

In Wiltshire, we will come together as a community to honour those who gave their lives and in remembering them, it inspires all of us in policing to serve with dedication, commitment and care.  

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Effective policing relies on creating and nurturing strong partnerships with our communities, partner agencies, and local organisations.

Wiltshire Police is actively involved in numerous national and local collaborations with the sole aim of continually improving the service we provide to our communities.

For this letter, I would like to showcase just a handful of these partnership efforts which we’ve participated in over the last few weeks.

From a national perspective, there are two examples which underpin our commitment to partnership collaboration.

• On Monday, I hosted the National Children and Young Person’s conference in Swindon. The conference brought together around a hundred professionals from a range of children’s charities and organisations including police forces, the Youth Justice Board, Centre for Justice Innovation, the Youth Endowment Fund, College of Policing, the King's Trust, Ministry of Justice, the Barrow Cadbury Trust and Premier League Kicks.

As National Police Chiefs' Council lead for Children and Young People, I am dedicated to improving policing services for children.

We know there are some fantastic examples of Child Centred Policing occurring all over the country and the NPCC Children and Young Persons Charter, which I also launched on Monday, provides a functional resource of tactical activities that forces should consider to improve their relationship with young people

• Last week, our respective offices had extremely constructive meetings with Ian Caplan – the Director for Police Standards and Performance Improvement within the Home Office. Having consistency and transparency with how police forces are performing is fundamental to building trust and confidence with our communities. Our meetings with Mr Caplan were, therefore, a real opportunity for us to demonstrate the enhanced level of governance and grip we have over our performance – ensuring our focus remains on victims of crime and our service to the public.

Moving locally, as you and our communities would expect, we are intensely focused on developing our partnerships and opportunities to collaborate here in Wiltshire.

Last week, Acting Assistant Chief Constable Liz Coles and Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Wessex Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Sophie Stevens, organised a joint event with colleagues from both our organisations. The purpose of the whole day session was to further embed our victim centred approach to crime. We had colleagues from our file preparation teams, our victim and witness care team and operational officers and staff alongside counterparts from the CPS in attendance. A case study was worked through with the objective of sharing current challenges and looking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of how our organisations work together. The session was closed by Her Honour Judge Angela Morris who outlined the importance of collaboration between police and CPS.

Also last week, a series of warrants were conducted at premises in Chippenham as part of a South West joint operation which led to the safeguarding of five women and the arrest of five people. The investigation into suspected modern slavery and human trafficking saw warrants also executed at ‘massage parlours’ in Gloucestershire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Reading. Officers from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) arrested three men and two women on suspicion of human trafficking, conspiracy to control prostitution for gain, and money laundering.

The investigation started following public concerns raised to Wiltshire Police about two premises in Chippenham. As a result of this intelligence from our communities and working in partnership with other forces, we have now protected several vulnerable women who will receive the support they need and deserve, whilst also arresting those who we suspect of causing considerable harm to others in Wiltshire and beyond.

With tangible results, we are working ever closer with our partners to make our communities safer, including having a relentless focus on tackling retail crime and ASB. This year, colleagues from our Swindon NPTs have successfully worked with Swindon Borough Council to secure two Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) across Swindon town centre.

The PSPOs give officers from both the council and Wiltshire Police the legal authority to challenge and fine individuals who are engaging in disruptive or dangerous activities.

This includes a ban on riding e-bikes and e-scooters in the designated area, alongside other restrictions such as street drinking, public urination and riding pedal bikes in a way that endangers pedestrians.

One of the PSPOs covers the Broadgreen area which will also support our continuing multi-agency Clear, Hold, Build initiative led by Swindon Borough Council. Clear, Hold, Build aims to tackle organised crime, drugs offences and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB). Our communities can read more about the PSPO here. The second order, which will be in place by the end of November, will tackle the issue of illegal car meets in the town.

We have also seen the launch of the Swindon Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) Panel. CBOs replaced Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) in 2014 and prohibit the offender from doing anything outlined in the order which can include them being banned from certain shops or areas.

This multi-agency panel – consisting of officers from the Swindon NPT, probation colleagues and representatives from drug and alcohol services, consider when CBOs should be applied and what restrictions each should have. Currently, we have nine active CBOs in Swindon.

Responding to concerns raised by local communities, last year, we launched our Vigilant Communities scheme, which aims to encourage people to report concerning and predatory behaviour displayed within the Night Time Economy. We work with local authorities, CCTV operators, local companies and community groups who receive detailed training and advice on how to spot the signs and report it to us. Teams were deployed in Swindon over the last few weekends resulting in several men being dispersed from the area for the entire weekend.

This scheme illustrates our commitment, along with our partners, to pursue and proactively challenge ‘red-flag’ behaviours and ultimately protect the public by preventing them becoming victims in the first place.

Across the rest of the county, we currently have PSPO’s in place within Salisbury, Devizes and Trowbridge. They are predominantly linked to ASB caused by street drinking and are managed by the Neighbourhood Policing Teams. The PSPO in Salisbury also relates to the prevention of catapult use in a specific area, which has been linked to ASB. All PSPO’s are managed through the local NPT’s and engagement with Wiltshire Council and partners, supported through local tasking meetings.

I regularly praise the incredible efforts by our volunteers – and we would not be successful in keeping Wiltshire safe without them. We both attended the AGM of the Wiltshire Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) Association held our headquarters last Saturday. It was a fantastic opportunity to hear about their dedicated work to their local villages and towns, and for them to raise concerns directly to us to see what further support we could give. More information on the NHW can be found here. In Wiltshire, we currently have ten watch schemes: Hotel, CCTV, Dog, Horse, Farm, Heritage, Canal, Horse riders, Pub and Shop Watch. Information on these schemes can be found on our website.

We coordinate and support a range of engagement events and activities to improve the trust and confidence of children and young people across the county, and this includes initiatives to inspire young people to take pride in their neighbourhoods. PCSO Kelly Hillier from our Royal Wootton Bassett NPT recently ran a competition for local children to design a mural for public toilets which have been repeatedly vandalised. Kelly worked with the local town council and students from the Royal Wootton Basset Academy and painting of the winning design started this week.

Earlier this year, the Wiltshire & Swindon Youth Commission (WSYC) – funded by your office– surveyed over 600 young people for their views on policing. Knife crime, mental health, social media, and community communication were among the top issues they raised. Next week, the Youth Commissioners will spend time with our policing teams – including the dog and drone units – to learn more about their roles in keeping our communities safe. They are also meeting with members of our communications team to help shape our social media presence to ensure our content resonates with younger audiences.

Finally, I wanted to share the fantastic news that, last night, two Wiltshire Police nominees were recognised at the national Police Public Bravery Awards. I was honoured to represent Wiltshire Police at the awards ceremony hosted by South Yorkshire Police where two members of the public were acknowledged for their acts of bravery.

Ashton McCabe was presented a silver award after helping to save the life of man who had been stabbed in Devizes in June 2024. Whilst an officer and PCSO were detaining the offender – who was still brandishing a knife – Mr McCabe, who was just 17 years old at the time, jumped in to help the victim who had suffered significant injuries. He conducted first aid and directed other members of the public to help him.

Mr McCabe kept the victim’s bleeding to a minimum before the ambulance crews arrived on scene and took over. He then turned his attention to supporting others at the scene before arranging to give his police statement immediately to assist the investigation. His actions undoubtedly contributed to help save the victim’s life. The offender was later sentenced for attempted murder.

Michael Griffiths was awarded a certificate of commendation for his act of bravery in September last year. Mr Griffiths was in a pharmacy in Melksham when a male entered holding a large kitchen knife. The offender then proceeded to steal items before running away. Mr Griffiths took it upon himself to give chase to the male before the suspect jumped into a car and sped away. Mr Griffiths took a photo of the registration plate, and this information led our officers to locate the offender who later pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of a bladed article. If it were not for Mr Griffiths bravery in chasing an armed offender and obtaining a photograph of the vehicle then we might not have been able to bring a dangerous offender to justice.

I would like to pay tribute to both Mr McCabe and Mr Griffiths who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. They embody the true meaning of public duty, and I thank them both.

I appreciate that this is a ‘bumper edition’ of the letter! However, there is much to celebrate with our partners and communities, both locally and beyond, and I wanted to take a moment to recognise the real and impactive results that we are achieving together.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

I could not begin this letter without referencing the appalling terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester last week.

The attack on the Jewish community on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar - has understandably caused widespread distress to so many of our communities. My thoughts remain with the families and friends who lost loved ones and the members of all our Jewish communities across the country who will no doubt have been left feeling extremely scared and vulnerable.

We are so fortunate to have many multi-cultural communities across Wiltshire so I have no doubt that many in our county will feel a sense of vulnerability at these times. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, our local policing teams worked diligently to reach out to our communities, and we increased our policing presence to provide reassurance.

I would like to publicly thank my officers, staff and volunteers who have provided support and additional opportunities for our communities to engage with us during this time.

I am always thankful of how our communities support each other and how welcome they make Wiltshire Police teams feel. I would encourage anyone wishing to make contact with their local Neighbourhood Policing Team to reach out to them via the Your Area section of our website.

Next week is National Hate Crime Awareness Week.

Nobody should ever be targeted or subjected to abuse on the grounds of their race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or disability and we will always take a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime.

We remain completely focused on supporting victims and I would encourage anyone who has been subjected to any form of hate crime to report it to us or one of our partner agencies. You can find out more information on how to report hate crimes here.

In Wiltshire, we have seen a 36% increase in the overall volume of reported hate crimes in the last three months, with the increase mainly being reported in crimes linked to racial and sexual orientation. Whilst I am pleased that victims are feeling more confident to report these crimes to us, I am determined to continue to enhance our governance of this and provide a more consistent service to victims.

To this end, Chief Inspector Ricky Lee now chairs weekly meetings where he discusses any new hate crime reports which have been made, ensures the right level of scrutiny is being applied to our enquiries and, moreover, that we are providing the best possible service to victims.

Our commitment to robustly dealing with offenders is reflected in our hate crime conviction rates which, for the period between October 2024 to September 2025, was 87.29% compared to a national average of 85.55%.

The satisfaction rates of our hate crime victims have also significantly increased from 65.6% in February this year to 77.2% in August. I hope this again reflects our commitment and consistency when investigating hate crime and the increasing trust and confidence our communities have in us.

Since I arrived here in Wiltshire, I have made it clear that Equality, Diversity and Inclusion should feature as a central pillar to our policing approach. To this end, our new five-year Culture and Inclusion Strategy will shortly be published to our communities.

This strategy, which has been developed by our workforce and members of our Independent Advisory Groups (IAGs), sets out our ambition for the future and the tangible delivery outcomes our communities will see and can measure us on.

Last week, I was honoured to attend the National Black Police Association’s annual conference in London alongside Detective Chief Superintendent Guy Elkins and members of our Wiltshire Ethnic Police Association Staff Support Network.

The focus of this crucial event was on police accountability, building trust and ensuring fairness and justice for all.

This is essential in ensuring the legitimacy of policing in England and Wales and I addressed this in the extraordinary letter to you last week following the BBC Panorama programme.

Alongside our organisational efforts, it is important that we celebrate individual achievements in this space. I am delighted to share that Dave Grainger, one of our Contact Centre Operators, recently received national recognition for his work representing police staff and officers with disabilities, health conditions and neurodiversity. Dave was awarded the Staff Member with Diverse Abilities Award at the National Disabled Police Association Awards last month. This is a significant achievement, and I am incredibly proud of Dave and the work he does within the force and in our communities to help those with neurodivergent conditions and other disabilities. You can read more about Dave’s recent success here.

Luke Newton, who has worked in our Crime and Communications Centre for 10 years, has had his achievements recognised nationally, after being shortlisted in the final two for a British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) award.

This prestigious award celebrates inspirational individuals with disabilities, and Luke’s nomination is a significant achievement for both him and Wiltshire Police. Luke joined our organisation in 2016 through the Down’s Syndrome Association employment programme.

I met with Luke on Wednesday, alongside his line manager Amy Outlaw and Roy Perrett from the Down’s Syndrome Association’s Workfit scheme to congratulate him on being shortlisted. Luke will find out if he is successful at an awards event in London in November. Luke will be joined by his family and our Chief Officer Group member and Head of Corporate Communication and Public Engagement Scott McPherson. Scott is also running the London Marathon next year for the Down’s Syndrome Association in tribute to his nephew Sonny.

Yesterday, our communities would have seen the proactive statement I made upon the conclusion of a former police staff member’s disciplinary hearing linked to a series of safeguarding failings.

The hearing concluded that Gavin Hudson’s failures within our Clare’s Law process put women at continued risk of domestic abuse and that he would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had he not resigned.

These critical service failures resulted in at least three women being subsequently harmed. Had we provided them with the right information, this might have been prevented.

I would encourage our communities to read my full statement which details the significant changes and improvements we’ve made following these serious failures. This includes us strengthening the oversight and leadership for the Domestic Abuse Safeguarding Team, appointing more Clare’s Law specialists and introducing more robust policies.

We are ensuring that everyone within our organisation understands their role in tackling domestic abuse – this has included us dedicating the month of October to an internal domestic abuse awareness raising campaign.

As I have said from the moment we were alerted to this issue, I am so very sorry for our failure to protect people from harm.

You can read my full statement here.

Finally, I have often shared updates on the work we are doing to enhance the relationship between policing and young people. As the National Police Chief Council’s (NPCC) lead for this portfolio, this is an area of policing I am incredibly passionate about.

I wanted to appraise our communities of some exciting work happening in this area.

Earlier this week, the BBC’s File on 4 Investigates programme focused on the incredible work of the Swindon Youth Justice Service – of which we are a proud partner. The service, which tackles issues that might lead young people to offending behaviour, was recently rated as Outstanding by HM Inspectorate of Probation. You can read the full story here.

On Monday 20 October, I will be hosting the NPCC Children and Young Persons Portfolio conference in Swindon. In addition to hosting speakers from a range of children’s charities and organisations, we will be using the event to officially launch the national Children and Young People (CYP) Charter. This will accompany the NPCC CYP Policing Strategy aiming to improve how police serve children and young people. Based on principles of ‘Your trust, Your voice, Your future’, it will include a resource of tactical activities to aid forces become more child-centred

Last week, my regular Facebook Live event was focused on Children and Young People, and it was wonderful to see such engagement on this topic from the public. Many of the questions raised focused on how we recognise children who might be vulnerable or at risk, so I was delighted to be joined by Detective Superintendent Joe Garrity who outlined our approach to safeguarding children. There is raft of information available for parents, guardians and professionals on our website. In May, Sgt Gemma Rutter also published an open letter to parents to ensure they had access to the available advice and support if they are concerned their child is at risk. This letter has been circulated on our behalf by schools across the county

I’m thrilled that we will once again host Scouts from across Wiltshire in an interactive day as part of the Wiltshire Police Scout Challenge Badge this Sunday. The Scouts will be faced with a range of challenging activities aimed at giving them a realistic view of police work. Scouts, like many other youth organisations, embody everything we value in policing, from leadership and resilience to a commitment to helping others and I know this event will empower these young people to make choices that benefit their future.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson,

Each month, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper chairs a force-wide Strategic Performance Board which monitors how effectively we are delivering our service to the public.

This includes assessing every part of a victim’s journey - from the initial call into our Control Room, the quality of our investigation, the service we provide and their feedback to us. 

Following this month’s meeting, I wanted to share our latest Control Room data to illustrate the significant improvements we’ve made to answer calls much more quickly: 

• Last week, on average, we answered 999 calls within 4 seconds.  This compares to 23 seconds during the same period in 2023
• Last week, we answered 101 calls within 49 seconds, compared to more than two minutes for the same week in 2023
• Last week, calls through the 101 service were answered by the Crime Recording and Incident Bureau (CrIB), who start the initial investigation work, in just over 10mins compared to 23mins for the same period in 2023.

We know that, for many victims of crime, their experience with our Control Room is the first step in them seeking our help so it crucial this is done in the most supportive and swiftest way possible

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our colleagues in the Control Room for their collective efforts in ensuring we are offering the very best, most consistent service.

It was also our Control Room staff who saw a considerable increase in call demand following the significant fire at an industrial unit in Swindon on Wednesday evening. 

Thankfully, no-one was injured during the fire – which saw all emergency services and partners mobilise a joint large-scale response to ensure the impact on our communities was as limited as possible.

Our response to this incident involved us deploying specialist resources in addition to our frontline policing teams and members of our Special Constabulary.

The role of our Special Constabulary was also showcased on Wednesday, when the National Police Chiefs' Council Employer Supported Policing Group and the National Special Constabulary led a nationwide day of action, focusing on crimes and anti-social behaviour that directly affect businesses, such as shopping centres. You can read more about this here.

Wiltshire currently has 87 Special Constables, all driven by a strong desire to protect their communities and tackle crime.

We are so incredibly proud of our Special Constable colleagues and the contribution they make to Keeping Wiltshire Safe. I was delighted to celebrate this at our latest Special Constable passing out parade on September 13 with several colleagues. If you’re interested in being part of our Special Constabulary, you can find out more information here.

Last week, we set up a dedicated information page for our communities following our announcement regarding the major investigation following six deaths in and around Wiltshire.

As outlined by the Senior Investigating Officer DCI Phil Walker, our focus is on supporting the families and loved ones of those who have died.

I appreciate that the news of this investigation will have caused some concern within our communities, so I would encourage everyone to read our full statement, which can be found here, as this case has been the subject of significant media coverage.

Additionally, anyone needing more support as a result of this investigation, should contact their local Neighbourhood Policing Team or reach out to us via this dedicated online portal. All enquiries made to us will be treated with the utmost care and support.

Earlier this week, you and I joined other senior leaders across policing, local government and road safety partnerships nationwide, in calling for an urgent review of the speed enforcement rules.

We believe that locally generated income from speeding fines should be retained and reinvested directly into local schemes to tackle careless, dangerous and reckless driving and reduce the numbers killed and seriously injured on our roads. Our communities can read the full, open letter here.

I have often used these fortnightly letters to you, Commissioner, to talk about our collective ambition for more visible, community-focused policing and a core part of this are the relationships and links established between our organisations and local charities.

I wanted to take this opportunity to shine a light on the incredible efforts of our officers, staff and volunteers who have been participating in challenges to raise money for local and national charities in recent months.

• In July, a team of officers and staff from across the force cycled 180 miles as part of the Police Unity Tour raising funds to support the families of police officers killed in service
• Seven members from our Neighbourhood Policing Teams in Swindon recently completed the Three Peaks challenge where they climbed Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scarfell Pike in England and Snowdon in Wales.  The team scaled more than 9,800ft in total and covered 26 miles – all within 24 hours. So far, they have raised more than £7,000 for The Roxi Foundation – a Swindon-based organisation that is dedicated to supporting children and families impacted by autism and ADHD. More information about this charity can be found here
• Earlier this month, Detective Sergeant Toni Nugent and DC Cathy Byers from our South CID team trekked 26.2 miles across the Cotswolds to raise money for CoppaFeel – the UK’s only youth-focused breast cancer awareness charity
• Last weekend, myself and our Chief of Corporate Services, John Derryman, took part in the Trailwalker challenge to raise funds for the Gurkha Welfare Trust. The challenge saw teams trek 100km non-stop across the South Downs in under 30 hours. The Trust provides financial, medical and development aid to Gurkha veterans, their families and communities. You can find out more about their organisation here
• Colleagues in our Control Room have been raising money for various charities over recent months including Dorothy’s House, the Alzheimer's Society, the Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance and the Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Movement
• Just today, our Force Gardening Group, along with UNISON, have hosted a cake, plant and seed sale at our Headquarters to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support
• Finally, this weekend will see a number of our officers and staff take part in the Swindon Half Marathon to raise money for various local charities and organisations. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone participating in this year’s event the very best of luck.

I am so proud of all our colleagues who are taking on these challenges to raise awareness and funds for some truly wonderful organisations who have such a positive impact on our communities. I also know that colleagues are setting themselves challenges across the rest of this year and next – with several colleagues planning to run the London Marathon for charities, for example, and I look forward to continue sharing these stories with you.

Finally, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on National Police Memorial Day which takes place this Sunday (28 September). This is a poignant moment in the policing calendar as we come together to give thanks for the bravery, courage and sacrifice of over 5,000 officers, including 30 from Wiltshire Police, who have died in the course of duty since British Policing began. 

The national memorial event, also on Sunday, is being held in Coventry this year and I am honoured to attend this on behalf of our organisations.

To offer an opportunity for as many officers and staff as possible to take part in an act of remembrance, earlier this week we held remembrance ceremonies at our Devizes Headquarters, Gablecross Police Station in Swindon and Bourne Hill in Salisbury with Chaplains and members of our Chief Officer Group attending each. I know you also attended the HQ service. I would like to thank our Force Chaplaincy service for their continued support in these moments of reflection.

The National Police Memorial Day provides us all the opportunity to reflect on the incredible sacrifice given by those that paid the ultimate price in protecting the public. 

We will never forget them.  

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Across the summer, I have shared many of the successes we have seen under the Safer Streets Summer initiative which is aimed at improving the safety of urban areas in our county.

I wanted to use this fortnight’s letter to illustrate how we are supporting our rural communities by both preventing and detecting the crimes which impact them the most.

We know that rural crime has a lasting effect on its victims and creates a huge financial burden for businesses in Wiltshire and Swindon. Evidence and research also suggest that criminals who commit rural crimes are linked to national and international organised crime groups (OCGs).

To tackle this, we have adopted a whole force approach – mobilising subject matter experts within our organisation, neighbourhood policing teams, our drone, dog and response units, CID and armed response units.

As a result of this approach, along with developing our collaborations with partner agencies and neighbouring forces, we’ve seen significant operational successes.

These include:

• 22 people arrested for Hare Coursing/Poaching since the start of 2025 – a 500% increase compared to the previous 12 months
• Of these 22, 15 were convicted and more than £3,000 in fines were issued
• Just last week we arrested four people on the A350 at Chippenham on suspicion of going equipped for hare coursing following a report of suspicious activity in a field in Burbage, near Marlborough, from a member of the public
• Five people were convicted in August for night poaching in Cholderton, near Amesbury. The Rural Crime Team, firearms and drone units, located the offenders hiding in a hedge. The offenders, who were not from Wiltshire, were given fines of more than £2,000.

To further deter for those intent on committing crimes in our rural communities, we also need to ensure we are denying them access to our road network.

This prevention work was illustrated last Friday when our Roads Policing Unit conducted a targeted operation to prevent criminal activity on our county’s roads.

As a result:

• 103 drivers were stopped
• Five people were arrested
• 71 motorists were reported for speeding
• Five vehicles were seized, and one stolen vehicle was recovered.

Successfully tackling rural crime is not something that the police can do alone. We need the support of our local communities and to work in partnership with other agencies.

We have shared many examples of this cross-partnership approach as part of National Rural Crime Week which has been running across this week. Our communities can read more about the work your office does to protect our rural communities here.

Examples of this multi-agency work includes:

• Operation Galileo – a nationwide operation where information is shared between forces enabling us to increase patrols in locations most likely to be affected by hare coursing
• Operation Ragwort – led by Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper, a collaboration formed between all police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners in the south-west and our bordering forces in the south. Its goal is to share intelligence and resources between the forces in Wiltshire, Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire and Thames Valley in order to provide a comprehensive and co-ordinated response to rural crime. During the latest activity in March, we stopped over 100 vehicles
• Publicising our most wanted rural crime suspects – we will shortly be working in collaboration with CrimeStoppers to share photos of outstanding suspects linked to rural crimes with our communities. This will be a highly visible campaign and one we hope will both lead to arrests but also deter others from targeting our rural communities
• Multi-agency approach to illegal waste-carrying and fly-tipping – in the last six months, five joint initiatives with the Wiltshire Council Enforcement  Team and the Environment Agency have resulted in more than 50 vehicles being stopped and checked, three were seized and Wiltshire Council has prosecuted five people during this period. You can read about the latest case here where our officer’s Body Worn Video secured the prosecution.

As we are a rural county, we know it is important for all our officers to be skilled to spot the signs and investigate rural crimes. This is why we have given officers across multiple departments within our organisation additional training, including Scrap Metal Enforcement Training, Heritage Crime and Investigation Training, Wildlife Crime and Game Keeper Legislation and Land Management awareness.

This cascade of professional development has resulted in an increase in dedicated operations taking place – including visits to scrap yards in the county - but is also encouraging our officers to consider utilising all available powers to prevent further criminality. This includes utilising Community Behaviour Orders against criminals post-conviction, as successfully introduced elsewhere in the country.

I would encourage our communities to follow our social media channels and visit the Your Area section of our website to find out more about their Neighbourhood Policing Team and the action we have been carrying out in your area.

Finally, it is not only our operational and neighbourhood policing teams who have a responsibility to forge ever closer links with our rural communities – I expect our senior leaders to do this too.

On September 2, John Derryman, our Chief of Corporate Services and I, were delighted to accept the invitation from the Mayor of Malmesbury Councillor Stephen James to join him and others on part of the Athelstan 1100 - a guided pilgrimage walk from Malmesbury to Kingston upon Thames.

This fantastic event not only took in some glorious rural scenery, but it also gave us the opportunity to meet those who live and work in our more rural areas.

Thank you so much to everyone involved for making us feel so welcome.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

As the summer holidays draw to a close, I wanted to share an update on our continued efforts to tackle crimes impacting on our retail communities in both our urban and rural areas.

As mentioned in my letter to you on August 1st, we traditionally see spikes in shoplifting and business crime over the summer months.

In July, 415 shoplifting offences were reported and, although this was highest monthly figure for a year, we have also seen a corresponding increase in further action being taken against offenders.

This has included an increase in Out of Court Resolutions (this outcome was used in 203 shoplifting offences in the 12 months to July), an increase in Further Action Taken (FAT) outcome rates for shoplifting (rising to 28.2% for the same period) and a decrease in the number of shoplifting cases being closed due to evidential difficulties.

I would like to draw your attention to some recent court results relating to crimes against businesses across our county:

• On August 4, a prolific offender in Swindon, Joshua Moss, was jailed for 26 weeks after pleading guilty to 14 counts of shoplifting and four counts of assault by beating. Moss will also be subjected to a two-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), which bans him from entering Swindon town centre and a number of specific shops in Swindon.
• On August 13, Steven Lloyd, from Swindon, was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, for 19 offences of theft from shops.
• On August 14, six men were sentenced to a combined seven years following the attempted robbery of the Chippenham O2 store on 16 March. After a collaboration with the Metropolitan Police Service, our detectives were able to take action against the offenders, swiftly detaining them all and gathering the evidence needed to convict them.
• On August 19, Dean Cochrane, from Chippenham, was sentenced to four weeks in prison for burglary and shoplifting offences.

Our Force Leads for retail crime, Inspector David Tippetts and Inspector Louise Oakley, hold monthly CBOs Panels in collaboration with partner agencies to ensure the earliest interventions against the most prolific offenders. CBOs replaced Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and prohibit the offender from doing anything outlined in the order which can include them being banned from certain shops or areas.

We work closely with colleagues from Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council’s ASB and housing teams, the Integrated Offender Management Team, our Neighbourhood Harm Reduction Unit, probation service, Connect (Wiltshire’s drug and alcohol service), Mental Health Advisors, and the Youth Justice Service.

As part of CBO conditions, positive requirements, such as rehabilitation, can be added to ensure the individual has the appropriate support in place to deter further criminality.

In total, there are 20 CBOs in place across our Force area in Swindon, Melksham, Devizes, Trowbridge, Warminster and Salisbury.

Business crime is not victimless. I understand that incidents such as theft and robbery can cause long-term impacts for retail workers such as fear, anxiety and unease in addition to the impacts on the business owners and associated costs inevitably passed onto the public.

We are working ever closer with our partners to make our town centres safer, including having a relentless focus on tackling retail crime and ASB. Last Wednesday, the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) across Swindon town centre was launched by Swindon Borough Council.

The PSPO gives officers from both the council and Wiltshire Police the legal authority to challenge and fine individuals who are engaging in disruptive or dangerous activities.

This includes a ban on riding e-bikes and e-scooters in the designated area, alongside other restrictions such as street drinking, public urination and riding pedal bikes in a way that endangers pedestrians.

I welcome the introduction of this order as it will support our Swindon Central South policing team in managing ASB offenders.

The PSPO covers the Broadgreen area which will also support our continuing multi-agency Clear, Hold, Build initiative led by Swindon Borough Council. Clear, Hold, Build aims to tackle organised crime, drugs offences and ASB.

Our communities can read more about the PSPO here.

As part of the national Safer Streets Summer initiative, our officers and PCSOs are continuing to drive down ASB in our town centres by carrying out high visibility foot patrols. These are funded by the Home Office’s Anti-Social Behaviour Hotspot Fund, delivered via your office.

Across July, we carried out the following activity in our hotspot locations of Swindon, Trowbridge, Chippenham, Devizes and Salisbury:

• Completed 340 hours’ worth of patrols
• Made 43 arrests
• Carried out 16 stop searches
• Gathered 128 intelligence submissions
• Seized one weapon.

This week, your office announced the launch of our most recent collaborative intervention with Swindon Borough Council – the provision of accredited taxi marshals in Swindon.

The taxi marshals will patrol taxi pick-up locations in Old Town, Princes Street and Town Centre North from 10pm – 6am on Friday and Saturday nights from now until April 2026.

These locations have been chosen based on intelligence suggesting they are hotspots for ASB, particularly during Friday and Saturday nights.

This forms part of our ongoing commitment, under Project Vigilant, to keep people enjoying Swindon’s night-time economy safe and free from predatory
behaviours.

I truly believe that by investing in partnership collaborations and having higher visibility across our county, we are fostering more trust and confidence within our communities.

This was exemplified last week when the Office of National Statistics (ONS) announced that 58% of people believe Wiltshire Police do an excellent or good job, which is above the national average of 49%.

This puts Wiltshire Police at the third highest nationally, and the highest in the South West region.

This is an increase from the 52% of people who believed we did an excellent or good job in 2024.

I truly welcome this feedback and we will continue to further strengthen the bond of trust our communities have in us.

Many of the updates I have provided to you today have a clear theme running through them – that we are committed to our mission of Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

We will continue to deliver a policing service which enhances the safety of all our communities.

Finally, across the weekend of August 16 and 17, commemorations were held across the county to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.

I wanted to close this fortnight’s letter by publicly honouring the service and sacrifice of those who contributed to the final chapter of World War II. It is thanks to them that we enjoy our freedoms today.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper
Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson,

We continue to navigate a busy summer period for policing in Wiltshire. The past fortnight has seen a number of wonderful events across the county, from summer fairs to local community celebrations, and I have been encouraged by the positive engagement between my teams and members of the public. Such occasions give us valuable opportunities to listen, understand community concerns, and reassure people through our visible presence.

Neighbourhood policing remains at the heart of how we keep Wiltshire and Swindon safe. Our work in this area was recognised by the Home Office this week, reflecting the dedication of our local teams. You can read more about this here.

As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, on our website residents can see named and contactable officers, view planned meetings and events, and can read local priorities and action plans. These opportunities for our Neighbourhood Policing Teams to speak directly with our communities are vital in preventing crime, identifying concerns early and building the trust that allows us to work together. Residents can find their local team and information on upcoming activity by visiting: Your area | Wiltshire Police.

Fostering trust and confidence with all of our communities remains a top priority for our organisation.

This month we began a new partnership with Dorset Police aimed at improving the service we provide to victims of domestic abuse where the alleged perpetrator is a serving or former police officer or staff member.

Through this collaboration we are sharing specialist investigative expertise, introducing consistent processes across both forces, and providing enhanced support for victims from the very start of the investigation. This means that, no matter which of our counties a victim lives in, they will receive the same high standard of service and safeguarding.

Detective Chief Inspector Claire Smith has spoken about the initiative and how it will strengthen victim support and public trust. You can find more details on our website here: Forces work together to improve service for victims of police perpetrated domestic abuse | Wiltshire Police and watch her message here.

Our focus on safety extends beyond the home and into public spaces, particularly on our roads. We have continued to target the ‘fatal five’ offences that contribute to serious collisions: speeding, using a mobile phone, not wearing a seatbelt, drink and drug driving, and careless driving.

On Wiltshire roads between January and April this year, we’ve tragically seen:

• One fatal collision
• 102 serious collisions – where someone has come to serious harm
• 336 collisions which resulted in non-life changing injuries

In recent weeks we have produced a series of videos highlighting operational activity with our Roads Policing Unit and Special Constabulary. Each video focuses on one of the ‘fatal five’, showing the work carried out daily to help keep Wiltshire’s roads safe. All the videos can be found on the Wiltshire Police YouTube channel and Wiltshire Police Facebook page.

As we are a rural county, it is important that we are ever mindful of road users on smaller routes outside of our towns and city.  This also includes road users other than vehicles – such as horse riders. As part of our equine safety awareness campaign launched recently, we reminded drivers to slow down and leave a two-metre gap when passing horses on the road. This is especially important in rural areas where riders and horses share narrow carriageways with motorised vehicles. More information on equine road safety is available on our website here: Equine Safety | Wiltshire Police.

You can also find information around horse safety on roads on The British Horse Society website.

As always, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our officers, staff, and volunteers for their continued professionalism and dedication. Their commitment to public service, often in challenging circumstances, makes a real difference to the communities we serve. I am equally grateful to our partners and our communities for their ongoing collaboration and support, which remains essential to our success in tackling crime and keeping people safe.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

As we enter the summer holiday period, I wanted to outline our response to the likely increase in the demands we face to ensure we are supporting our communities.

Across the summer months, we see increases in both the calls for our services and reports of certain crime types. Traditionally, this normally includes spikes in shoplifting, Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) and public order offences.

Recently, we've seen the highest number of crimes recorded in the last three months (May, June and July) than any other period in the last three years. On average, we have recorded 3,800 crimes a month since May.

On average, across June, July and August, we take more than 700 calls (both 999 and 101) a day - in that period last year, we took a total of 68,201 calls.

Understanding this demand has informed the design and delivery of our policing response, focussing on enhancing safety and reducing crime in town centres across the county.

The national Safer Streets Summer campaign, which runs until the end of September, focuses on reducing crime - especially knife crime, tackling ASB, and serious violence with the aim of ensuring that town centres are welcoming and safe for all residents and visitors. 

The campaign will target key locations in Wiltshire that experience higher levels of anti-social behaviour, retail crime and potential public disorder during the summer months.

There will be an additional focus on education and enforcement action on illegal e-scooter and e-bike use, having recently launched a dedicated operation targeting these illegal vehicles. From today (August 1), anyone who is stopped riding an illegal e-scooter or modified, high-powered e-bikes can expect to have it seized and destroyed.

The operation is a response to numerous complaints that we receive around these vehicles being ridden dangerously and used as a means for associated criminality and antisocial behaviour.

Our communities can find out more about this operation here.

The public will also see extra patrols at transport hubs, an increased use of our mobile police stations to improve our accessibility, enhanced support for youth engagement projects and additional strides being taken to share more information directly from our Neighbourhood Policing Teams - with regular updates on patrol data, arrests, and outcomes. 

The key locations where this activity will be concentrated will be Swindon, Salisbury, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Marlborough. 

This enhanced focus is supported by £1m from the Home Office’s Hotspot Response Fund – delivered via your office. Our actions have been informed by real-time crime data and community feedback.

Across the summer, residents can expect to see an increase in Police Officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in town centres and high-visibility patrols in 34 crime hotspots identified by recorded data.

A key part of Safer Streets Summer will be ensuring we are regularly providing updates on our activity to our communities and partners. 

A great illustration of keeping our stakeholders appraised of the improvements we are making to our service was an open session with all Wiltshire Council councillors jointly hosted by us last week. This provided an opportunity for us to update them on our Force performance in addition to answering questions from elected officials across the county.

The session, which will be replicated with all Swindon Borough Councillors later in the year, enabled us to provide councillors with information and data to help address questions or concerns their constituents have.

We discussed the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (the subject of this previous letter to you), our recent successes with dismantling drug supply networks (full update can be found here) and some of the recent misconduct cases we’ve seen.

I truly welcome any opportunity to appraise our communities on our performance and our continued improvement journey.

Our performance was also outlined this week by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) who published the latest set of full year crime statistics for Wiltshire Police.

The data, which covers March 2024-March 2025, shows:

• We still have the lowest total recorded crime rate in England and Wales – 53.3 crimes per 1,000 population compared to the national average of 87.2 crimes per 1,000 population
• A 14% increase in the reporting of drugs offences – up to 1,194 recorded this year. We believe this shows our communities are feeling more confident in passing intelligence to us, and a greater reflection of the proactivity of Wiltshire Police teams in identifying perpetrators and bringing them to justice
• A 23% fall in recorded robbery – down by 63 recorded cases compared last year
• An increase in the reporting of sexual offences – up by 190 reports from last year to 2,116 which we believe indicates increased public confidence in reporting.

Our communities can read the full ONS report here.

Finally, I wanted to share the incredible achievement of Ken Bridgeman who has just celebrated his 46^th year as a Special Constable with Wiltshire Police.

SPC Bridgeman joined the organisation as a detention officer in 1975 before becoming a Special Constable on April 1, 1980.

I would like to publicly thank SPC Bridgeman, who was a receipt of this year’s High Sheriff Awards, for his unwavering dedication to our organisation and the communities we serve. You can read his extraordinary story here.

I frequently highlight the contribution of our incredible volunteers. If anyone would like to be part of the Wiltshire Police Special Constabulary, there is more information available here.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

It’s been an incredibly busy couple of weeks for Wiltshire Police. I would like to thank all my officers, staff and volunteers – and our partner agencies – for their support to our communities.

I would like to open this letter by noting the tragic loss of a young man in Swindon this week. All our thoughts and condolences are with his family and friends. This is being investigated by the Major Crime Investigation Team, and a 31 year old male has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Currently there is no information to suggest any further individuals are involved. I appreciate that this have caused considerable shock and concern for our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Teams are patrolling the local area to provide reassurance, and also advice and guidance to anyone who has concerns. I encourage residents to speak with them if they need any support or have any information that may assist the investigation.

This week marks the national Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Awareness Week. According to the 2024 Your Area survey, ASB remains the top concern for nearly half of Wiltshire residents. Throughout the week, my team has worked closely with your office and partner agencies — including Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council — to deliver a coordinated response to community concerns about ASB.

Our Neighbourhood Policing Teams have been actively engaging with communities through a series of collaborative meetings and high-visibility pop-up events in key ASB hotspots. Starting in Amesbury and Salisbury, these activities moved through Warminster, Trowbridge, and continued across Swindon, Devizes, Calne, and Chippenham.

These events, featuring one of our mobile police stations, provided residents the chance to raise concerns, get advice, and learn how to report ASB effectively. Alongside this, officers conducted targeted patrols and problem-solving activities based on local intelligence — demonstrating our commitment to addressing ASB as a top priority that affects public confidence and community wellbeing.

It is essential that Wiltshire Police are as visible and responsive as possible. It is an absolute honour and a privilege to work with our communities and stakeholders, and I encourage people to share their thoughts and feedback so we can always improve. As part of this, I had the pleasure of joining the Wiltshire Youth Parliament in County Hall, Trowbridge this week. We had engaging discussions around trust and confidence in policing, and I was truly impressed by their insight and ideas about further joint working, and how we can support children and young people further.

This follows an intense week during Neighbourhood Policing Week of Action, when our officers highlighted the often unseen but vital work they do. Beyond visible patrols, Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs), Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), and volunteers support Wiltshire’s communities in many ways. You can explore their stories on the dedicated Neighbourhood Policing in Action page on our website.

Here are some key successes from the week:

• 250 people caught speeding
• Three joint immigration operations leading to seven arrests
• Vape purchase checks revealing eight shops failing to meet legal requirements
• Visits to 17 schools educating children on policing and crime prevention
• Two Night-Time Economy operations in Swindon targeting sexual predators and preventing offences

To learn more about local NPT efforts, I encourage you to read open letters from Chief Inspector Carly Nesbitt (Swindon) and Chief Inspector Graham McLaughlin (County). Also, follow our social media channels and visit the Your area section on our website to connect with your local team.

One of the big concerns for our communities is the use of illegal e-scooters and e-bikes. As I am sure that you will have seen, these vehicles have attracted national focus recently for safety concerns and how unsafe they are making people feel.

Last week, Wiltshire Police launched Operation Jetsom, which is a force-wide clamp down against the use of these vehicles. This will involve an education phase until the end of July. From August 1, anyone who is stopped riding an illegal e-scooter or modified, high-powered e-bikes can expect to have it seized and destroyed.

We know of the considerable public concern around these modes of transport and their associated links with wider criminality, and I welcome your support for this initiative. Residents can find more information and details of what is legal on our website: Operation to clamp down on illegal e-bikes and e-scooters launched | Wiltshire Police

Forces across the region have once again focused their efforts on Operation Scorpion, targeting drug dealing and associated crime, which ran in conjunction with the national County Lines Intensification Week. We have been working with our colleagues in four other police forces across the South West (Avon and Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, Gloucestershire), alongside their Offices of Police and Crime Commissioners, the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) and the charity Crimestoppers, as part of the operation.

Results were impressive, and include:

• 14 drug lines disrupted and seized
• 26 arrests, including eight key drug line suspects charged and remanded
• £33,500 cash and various Class A and B drugs confiscated
• Seizure of vehicles often linked to criminal activity – including a Surron bike, three e-bikes, and three motocross bikes

Beyond enforcement, we safeguarded 30 adults and 120 juveniles, seized 50 vapes from schools for safety checks, and visited postal sorting offices to raise awareness of weapon and drug parcel interceptions. These achievements reflect excellent cross-departmental collaboration within Wiltshire Police, especially notable given the simultaneous focus on Neighbourhood Policing Week.

We know that criminals exploit vulnerable people, including children and those with mental health or addiction issues, by recruiting them to distribute drugs or commit other types of criminality. Exploitation can be recognised through children becoming withdrawn, appearing secretive, wearing new and expensive clothing which they normally could not afford and appearing to rapidly change friendship groups. There is more information available here or visit Child criminal exploitation | Child abuse | Wiltshire Police.

Often those vulnerable people carry knives to protect themselves, which can result in other tragic consequences. Recently, Sergeant Gemma Rutter wrote an open letter to parents across Wiltshire asking them to speak to their children and to reach out for support if they had concerns. I have included the link here to provide further guidance and support to our communities to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep our children and young people safe.

This week also saw our joint launch of Safer Streets Summer, a Home Office initiative aimed at boosting safety and reducing crime in town centres nationwide.  The action we are planning was informed by real-time crime data and community feedback, which directly informed your own Police and Crime Plan.

Residents can expect to see:

• Increased patrols and greater visibility of officers
• Tougher action on crime and anti-social behaviour through the use of Community Protection Notices and Out of Court Resolutions, crackdowns on repeat offenders and organised shoplifting and visible enforcement of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs)
• Smarter policing with technology through deployment of mobile CCTV
• Increase of established community-led safety initiatives such as “Walk and Talk” sessions with residents, Community Payback projects in town centre areas and joint action with local councils to tackle environmental issues like fly-tipping
• ‘Safer nights out’ including funded anti-social behaviour wardens and taxi marshals, safe spaces to protect vulnerable individuals, and partnership work with licensed venues to prevent drink spiking

Finally, On Monday (7 July), I will be hosting my regular Facebook Live event at 6.30pm. I will be joined by the Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper, and we will be dedicating the session to anti-social behaviour. I look forward to hearing from our communities about any concerns, questions or suggestions they might have – and we will also talk more about the operational updates included in this letter. In addition to taking questions live during the hour-long session, they can also be submitted in advance via the Wiltshire Police Facebook page.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

The Comprehensive Spending Review announced last week outlined the funding that will be received across policing for the next financial year.

The headline figure is a 2.4% financial increase however, in real terms, this represents a 1.7% uplift to our funding which will cover little more than anticipated annual inflationary pay increases for officers and staff.

While any increase in national police funding is welcome in light of the challenges all forces are facing, it doesn’t relieve the full financial pressures on our organisation.

As previously outlined, Wiltshire Police must save £5.2m this financial year (in addition to £1.6m worth of savings we had already identified).

To date, we have identified savings of £3.8m through the rationalisation of our estate and our fleet in addition to making sustainable efficiencies within our police staff cohort.

At this current time, we are maintaining our existing number of police officers and PCSOs to ensure we are fully visible and accessible to our communities.

This work will continue at pace to ensure we balance our budget for this financial year, and to prepare us for the likely savings required in the years to come. I am determined that we ensure our future sustainability and continue to deliver an improving service to the communities of Wiltshire.

Through navigating these immediate financial challenges, we have also improved the grip and governance of our financial management and planning.

This is evidenced in our Force Management Statement (FMS) for 2025 which we’ve published today.

The FMS allows us to share an important self-evaluation with our communities– highlighting the progress we've achieved over the past year and detailing how we plan to address the challenges that lie ahead.

The document also sets out the progress the organisation has made under my vision of Keeping Wiltshire Safe as underpinned by my three operational priorities – Safer Public Spaces, Violence and Burglary.

The roadmap for how we will achieve these priorities is outlined in our three-year strategic plan and the publication of in year delivery plans. We’ve now published the progress made against the strategic plan for 2024/25 and our communities can read more about this here.

Due to the improvements made to our governance – as evidenced in our latest His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) report – I have reduced the number of in-year delivery plans from seven to two for 2025/26.

These are owned by Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper, who has responsibility for the operational plan, and the Chief of Corporate Services John Derryman, who oversees the corporate delivery plan. You can find these two plans here.

Both outline how they will support our strategic priorities of:

• Serving our communities, keeping them safe and preventing crime
• Delivering high standards of crime investigation and service for victims
• Delivering an efficient, effective, affordable and sustainable police operating model configured to meet demand
• Attracting, retaining, developing and inspiring our workforce supported by high standards of leadership and professionalism
• Embedding a culture of organisational learning and continuous improvement.

The foundation of our priorities and all future plans must continue to be the strengthening of our relationship with our communities.

Despite the financial challenges we are facing, I have committed to increasing the visibility and accessibility of our officers, staff and volunteers in our neighbourhoods.

This will be brought to life next week as we mark Neighbourhood Policing Week.

Our focus for the week will be on sharing the stories of our neighbourhood teams and highlighting work that our communities might not realise these teams do to reduce crime, improve the safety of our streets and engage with the public.

I would encourage our communities to follow our social media channels and visit the Your Area section of our website to find out more about their Neighbourhood Policing Team.

Our frontline teams have a pivotal role in supporting both our communities and victims of crime. This week, there has been much national debate on how policing can better support our most vulnerable victims.

On Monday, the Home Office published the independent National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA) by Baroness Casey which examined the abhorrent criminality of child grooming. The full report can be found here.

The report included details of:

• what can be learnt about the scale, nature and characteristics of group-based CSEA
• drivers of this type of offending, including the role of ethnicity and culture
• the response to group-based CSEA at local and national level.

In response, the Home Office announced a nationwide police operation – led by the National Crime Agency (NCA) – to target those who have sexually exploited children as part of a grooming gang and will investigate cases that were not previously progressed.

The NCA will work in partnership with police forces around the country and specialist officers from the Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce- Operation Hydrant - which supports police forces to address all complex and high-profile cases of child sexual abuse.

The Prime Minister also announced this week that a National Inquiry into child sex abuse will be established following Baroness Casey’s report.

As the Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for Children and Young People, I welcome any scrutiny to challenge and ensure the police service is protecting those most at risk to abuse and assists us in improving our service to them.

In January this year, I commissioned an urgent review into grooming gang cases within Wiltshire Police over the last ten years. This process included a detailed review of all grooming and Child Sexual Exploitation investigations looking for evidence of missed opportunities around group-based offending, criminal outcomes and how we’ve managed the associated risks.

This provided us with a comprehensive picture of offending in our county which helped identify improvements we can make to better support victims.

This work led us to developing an enhanced process to better capture and triage instances of group-based offending. This enables earlier identification of this sort of criminality and maximises our opportunities to disrupt it. We’ve also introduced a new Vulnerability Board which will provide the governance required to deliver the Casey report recommendations.

Our review did highlight a concern which I need to ask our communities to help us tackle. We are seeing lower than expected reporting of this type of crime or intelligence reports highlighting concerns regarding child grooming either for sexual or criminal purposes.

We know that this type of criminality is tragically happening across England and Wales, and I ask for any concerning behaviour of either a victim or a perpetrator to be reported to us. Behaviour that may indicate a child may be being groomed is explained on this section of our website along with ways of reporting this to us or partner agencies. All reports will be taken seriously so I would encourage anyone who has concerns about children to contact us and seek our support. 

We know, based on our work with those who have a lived experience of child sexual abuse and exploitation, that these types of offences are underreported, and many victims remain silent for fear of not being believed.

We will not allow the voices of survivors to be marginalised, and we will ensure our policing response is robust, inclusive and reflective of all perpetrators.

Finally, I wanted to end this week’s letter with the wonderful news that one of our Special Constable’s has been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Damien Penman has been awarded a British Empire Medal for services to policing for his work within the Digital Investigations and Intelligence Unit (DIIU) creating software using cell site data to help locate missing people. Special Constable Penman created a web-based programme that all officers are now using to import cell site data and display it on a virtual map.

I would like to congratulate Special Constable Penman and all those who were recognised this year for their contribution to our country.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

There has been much public debate this week regarding police conduct and the level of sanctions handed down to officers in gross misconduct cases.

Whilst it would not be appropriate for me to comment on cases outside of Wiltshire Police, I thought it was important to share my expectations and the current landscape within our Force.

I expect the highest level of professionalism, care and diligence from each of my officers, staff and volunteers. Where this falls short, it is right that robust and timely enquiries take place to ascertain why and, crucially, what impact this might have had on our service to the public.

I also think it is imperative to have a transparent and accountable approach to misconduct within policing – the public rightly expect and deserve to know what action we are taking when individuals have let them down.

To that end, I wanted to share the latest misconduct data for Wiltshire Police:

• In the past 12 months we have held a combined total of 33 gross misconduct hearings (for police officers) and meetings (for police staff) compared with 12 in previous year - a 175% increase year on year
• These related to 17 police officers, 3 PCSOs, 2 Special Constables and 11 members of police staff
• This resulted in 20 members of the organisation being dismissed (or would have been dismissed had they still been serving) - 10 police officers, 2 members of the Special Constabulary and 8 members of police staff
• We currently have 24 live gross misconduct cases in force (relating to 24 individuals)
• There are also 2 live gross misconduct investigations being independently managed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)
• 6 staff/officers are currently suspended from the force
• 5 staff/officers have been temporarily redeployed from their roles.

New rules were introduced last month which have created a presumption of dismissal for proven gross misconduct. This means there is a clear expectation that officers will be sacked unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Our communities can find out more about our misconduct processes, see upcoming hearings and read misconduct hearing outcomes on this section of our website.

I want to stress that the individuals under investigation in these misconduct cases represent the minority of those working within Wiltshire Police.

By stark contrast, this week we held our Wiltshire Police Awards ceremony where we celebrated those who are dedicated to improving our service to the public.

These included:

• PC Dave Thompson, PC Adam Gutowski, and PC Ben Lambert who were recognised for their life-saving actions during an incident in September 2024, at an address in Swindon. Their decisive and coordinated response successfully revived a man who was found unresponsive and there is no doubt that the actions of these officers prevented a loss of life that day
• ACC Liz Coles who was recognised for her inspirational leadership in establishing an innovative, year-long development initiative aimed at colleagues from under-represented and minority groups.

We also recognised the incredible actions of members of the public whose efforts have been invaluable to supporting our investigations or victims of crime.

These included:

• Krystal Fishlock who was honoured for her courage, public-spiritedness, and invaluable assistance to Wiltshire Police. On March 6, Krystal intervened when a man tried to abduct a 17-year-old girl in Swindon town centre. Krystal offered to take the young woman to safety and then pursued the suspect on foot, which led to the offender being identified and arrested
• Carmella Carchedi, a Senior Project Worker for the Sex Worker Outreach Programme with The Nelson Trust. Through her dedication and interventions, Carmella has directly saved numerous lives—often in the most challenging of circumstances.

I would like to congratulate every person nominated and awarded at our ceremony. I would also like to acknowledge their loved ones – policing can be an extremely demanding career, and our support networks are key to enabling us to provide the best possible service.

I would also like to share some of the recent improvements we’ve seen within our contact centre.

Over the last year, we’ve invested significantly into ensuring that calls for our service are answered as quickly and efficiently as possible.

This has included increasing the number of staff on duty at key times, retaining a higher number of operators which has increased the number of experienced staff within the contact centre and ensuring staff are trained to deal with both 101 (non-emergency) and 999 calls.

In an average week, our call centre receives approximately 10,000 calls from the public and takes 500 online reports or referrals.

The national target is to answer 90% of 999 emergency calls in less than 10 seconds. Wiltshire Police have been at or close to that figure consistently since the end of last year -averaging 89.8% across the last 7 months.

National figures released last week, also show that in March it took, on average, 5 seconds for us to answer 101 calls compared to 16 seconds in April last year.

After 101 calls are initially answered, they are passed to our Crime Recording and Incident Bureau (CRIB) for further investigation. The average wait time between the 101 call being initially answered and then picked up by the CRIB is between 5-8 minutes.

We are also surveying those people who abandon their calls to us via 101 before we answer them to understand why. Of the current sample size, 30% of responders said they either went online for our help or called back.

It is only by understanding these behaviours that we can implement real, meaningful change to improve how the public can better access our services.

As ever, I will continue to update you and our communities on this progress.

Finally, this is national Volunteers Week, and I know you and our Chief of Corporate Services John Derryman hosted our volunteers in celebration event to mark their contributions this morning. I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to all our volunteers and Special Constables for their efforts in supporting Wiltshire Police and your office - we could not provide our service without them.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

This week is Sceptre – the national knife crime awareness week involving all 43 forces across England and Wales. Much of the social media presence by Wiltshire Police this week has highlighted our focussed activity to support this week of action, however I wanted to provide further detail to you and our communities. 

One of my three organisational priorities is to tackle and reduce the level of violence and serious harm in our communities, and I welcome your support in achieving this outcome through your ongoing focus in your Police and Crime Plan for 2025-2029. Your plan emphasises the importance of understanding the causes of knife crime, and all partners must support each other under the Serious Violence Duty to reduce knife crime in our communities.

Firstly, it is important to highlight that Wiltshire remains one of the safest places to live in the country. The most recently published data from the Office of National Statistics shows that Wiltshire Police ranks the lowest nationally for recorded incidents of knife crime with 34 crimes committed per 100,000 people.

Our Force data also shows that we have made considerable progress in reducing the level of knife crime in our communities. In the past 12 months, we had a 9 per cent reduction in recorded knife crimes compared to the previous 12 months – with 736 crimes reported. Swindon recorded a 14.7 per cent decrease, amounting to 61 fewer incidents, while the rest of the county collectively recorded a decrease of 2.2 per cent – 8 fewer incidents.

However, experiencing a reduction in the number of knife crimes reported to us is not enough.

We must continue to proactively tackle criminals who bring violence to our streets through the use of knives and bladed articles, whilst also ensuring better outcomes for victims. We are continuing to improve the outcomes of our criminal investigations into knife crime offences, with 33.7 per cent of offences now resulting in formal action taken, meaning more people are being held to account for their crimes.

We also continue to work with our partners to educate our young people on the dangers of carrying knives. This includes dispelling the myth among young people that carrying a knife offers them protection. We know from the data that this is simply not the case and the sad reality is that carrying a knife makes you much more likely to be a victim of knife crime.

While our work to tackle knife crime takes place all year round, there has been a particular focus on it for the past week as part of Sceptre. As a Force, we have focused on early intervention – to address the root causes of involvement in knife crime and educate young people on the consequences of carrying a knife.

Our activity this week has included:

• Visits by our Neighbourhood Policing Teams to local schools across the whole county, engaging with more than 1400 of our young people to ensure they are aware of the dangers associated with carrying knives and the lifelong consequences it can have
• Using the knife arch at various locations and schools across the county to raise awareness of knife crime and as a discussion point for students
• An open letter, written by Sergeant Gemma Rutter, to parents to ensure they had access to the available advice and support if they are concerned their child is at risk. This letter is being circulated on our behalf by schools across the county
• Working with Trading Standards and Wiltshire Council with the test purchasing of knives
• High visibility patrols in areas which has experienced knife enabled criminality and has involved engagement with all our communities, including our young people, supported by our Mobile Police Stations
• Weapons sweeps across the whole of the County

Wiltshire Police are also working with partners to remove weapons from our streets entirely. We have five permanent knife surrender bins in Swindon (Pinetrees Community Centre, Liden Library, Meadowcroft Playing Fields, Walcot Dome and Broadgreen Community Centre) and one at Wiltshire Football Association HQ in Devizes, plus a temporary bin outside Tidworth Police Station this week. These are jointly funded by the Drugs Forfeiture Fund and our local parish councils and aim to encourage people to hand in any bladed weapons they are carrying. There are also three knife bins supplied by Swindon Charity Owen’s World in New College Swindon (Queen’s Drive and North Star campuses) and John Moulton Hall. We have been emptying all of these to permanently dispose of weapons from across Wiltshire. We encourage our communities to continue using these – and that they recognise the significance each time they do so - that every act of placing a weapon in a bin could save a life.

I mentioned earlier the Serious Violence Duty, which has successfully brought together various organisations across Wiltshire and shares a vision to reduce serious violence incidents and make Wiltshire and Swindon Safer.

To support the delivery of the Serious Violence Duty, the Violence Reduction Partnership received £250,000 of funding from the Home Office, via the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, and has funded evidence-based initiatives primarily focused on upskilling professionals, early intervention, and education.  

These initiatives include:

• Synergy – a project delivered by the police, Fire Service and Army with young people who are involved with the Youth Justice Service, aiming to divert them away from crime, promote career opportunities and build better relationships.
• Focussed deterrence – targeting known young people that are most at risk and diverting them away from criminality.
• Street doctors who provide education sessions for children supported by youth justice teams, teaching them how to treat and respond to injuries from sharp weapons or head injuries caused by violence.
• Swindon food truck which supports young people involved with Youth Justice Services to learn business and catering skills.
• Trauma-informed practice training for police staff and officers

These initiatives have a huge impact in helping to reduce violent offences and also identifies those most at risk of becoming offenders and victims, building stronger relationships with them and supporting skills development to enable them to make positive choices for their future.

As the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Children and Young Persons, I am committed to ensuring that the first contact young people have with us should not be when they are involved in a criminal investigation, be that victim or suspect, but instead through positive interactions within the community to build trust. In Wiltshire, these include initiatives like the knife crime awareness workshops Blunt Truth, which are delivered in schools in collaboration with the NHS; the Mini Police programme; Police Cadets; the Junior Good Citizen Awards and our annual events with the Girl Guides and the Scouts, to name but a few.

Wiltshire Police will continue to work with all its partners and communities to make sure we are keeping the young people of Wiltshire safe.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

This week marked the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day - a significant moment in our shared history when, on 8 May 1945, the guns fell silent and the Second World War came to an end in Europe.

This milestone offered us all the opportunity to pause and reflect on the immense sacrifices made by a generation in the name of freedom, peace and hope for a better future.

VE Day reminds us not only of those who served, but also of the resilience of communities at home – families who endured loss, hardship and uncertainty with extraordinary courage. As members of the policing family, we carry forward that same spirit of service and unity.

Across the county, our Neighbourhood Policing Teams took part in local commemorations to mark the occasion and positively engage with our communities. As part of the UK’s VE 80 campaign, over a thousand beacons and lights of peace were lit across the country and I was honoured to attend the lighting of the beacon in Malmesbury.

Fostering ever-closer relationships with our communities is central to my commitment to Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

Part of this is around ensuring our communities are fully appraised of key operational activity which has taken place in their neighbourhoods.

Over the last week, there have been several significant matters which I would like to update our communities on.

Last Saturday, a highly public arrest was made in Swindon town centre as part of a targeted, pre-planned operation relating to a Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) investigation.  Across the country, a total of five Iranian nationals were arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act. As part of the investigation, addresses in Swindon were searched and cordons were put in place to protect the integrity of ongoing enquiries.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the officers and staff who have continued to support our communities through regular, high visibility patrols in Broadgreen and the town centre. These areas will likely have an ongoing police presence as the CTP investigation progresses and I would like to thank the local residents for their patience and understanding while this continues.

Investigation updates will be shared on the new section of the Metropolitan Police website, which you can view here.

Our communities living close to Salisbury will also have seen a significant policing presence last Saturday following the tragic murder of Darren Hughes in Longhenge.

Specialist officers are continuing to support Darren’s family through this immensely difficult time and all our thoughts are with them.

Following swift enquiries, Alfie Miller, 21, of Willow Drive in Durrington, was arrested at the scene, charged with murder the following day and appeared in court on May 6. He is next due at Winchester Crown Court on July 22.

Whilst there was no risk to the wider public relating to this incident, it has understandably caused significant distress and concern to the local community. The heightened police presence which remained in the area throughout the week has now subsided and I would like to thank residents for their co-operation with officers during the early stages of the investigation. Their flexibility and understanding enabled officers to preserve key evidence and undertake searches of the area.

The conduct of police officers has been subject to national debate this week after the Government announced new rules relating to the dismissal of officers found guilty of gross misconduct.

Under the new rules, which will come into force from May 28, a presumption of dismissal will be created for proven gross misconduct, which means there will be a clear expectation that officers will be sacked unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The Government’s announcement can be found here.

In the last two weeks, two Wiltshire Police officers have been dismissed for gross misconduct:

• On April 28, PC Gabriella Gilchrist was dismissed from the organisation after an independent panel found that her actions breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour for police officers in respect of Orders and Instructions, Honesty and Integrity, and Discreditable Conduct. You can read the full outcome of the hearing here.
• On April 29, Detective Sergeant Gareth Snoad was dismissed after being convicted of being drunk and disorderly in a public place following an incident in Liverpool. You can read our full statement on this hearing here.

Our communities can find out more about our misconduct processes, see upcoming hearings and read misconduct hearing outcomes on this section of our website.

In addition to these hearings, a former Wiltshire Police officer, Callum Denley, was sentenced on May 2 after pleading guilty to five charges relating to indecent images. He was given a 10-month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months, given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 18 months and will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

Denley resigned from the organisation after his arrest, having been immediately suspended as soon as we became aware of his offending.

I am sure our communities share my concern relating to all three of these cases. Wiltshire Police will continue to robustly tackle any officer, staff member or volunteer who does not behave with the highest possible standards, and we will continue to provide updates to our communities where we have held people to account. 

In stark contrast, I wanted to end my letter to you this fortnight by sharing two positive updates which highlight the very best of our organisation.

Firstly, I wanted to share the incredible news that the Wiltshire Police ICT team recently won a global award for their harnessing of robotics to improve our data quality processes. Our Robotics Team won the Rising Star award in the SS&C Blue Prism Customer Excellence Awards held in New York – beating competition from around the world.

This award illustrates our commitment to harnessing the very latest robotics technology to help us improve the quality of our data. This, in turn, helps provide us with a much clearer understanding of how people use our services and how our officers and staff are using our systems to best benefit victims.

It is also improving our communications with the public when they contact us – for example, the use of robotics to send text messages when someone abandons a 101 call.

Well done to all those recognised in these global awards.

Finally, last Friday, 13 of our Police Cadets and four Cadet leaders took part in the ‘Doorway SleepOut’ event in Chippenham to help raise money and awareness of the challenges faced by people who are affected by homelessness.

Our Cadets slept outside in sleeping bags and have so far raised £1,300 for the Doorway charity. I would like to congratulate all those who participated in this important fundraising event. You can find out more about Doorway here.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

This week, Wiltshire Police has participated in a national campaign to raise awareness of the devastating impact caused by stalking, as part of our ongoing commitment to tackle violence, especially against women and girls (VAWG).

We would continue to encourage anyone who feels they may have been a victim of persistent or unwanted attention which makes them feel scared, distressed or threatened to report it to us, and always dial 999 if they feel at immediate risk or harm.

We recognise that it can take significant courage to report this type of abhorrent and criminal behaviour and whilst Wiltshire Police is here to listen, believe and act on any report made, there are other organisations such as FearFree and Victim Support which offer support to victims of stalking and harassment, as well as other crimes.

As part of National Stalking Awareness Week, we are proactively using our social media to share where support and help is available – and also to highlight ‘red flags’ which may be an indicator of concerning and criminal behaviour.

Project Vigilant continues to keep people safe in the nighttime economy through using intelligence to identify people who are displaying concerning behaviours, and stop predatory sex offenders who are looking to target women. We recently shared a video highlighting this work, you can view it here.

We have also introduced our Walk and Talk initiative which invites women aged 18 and over to share locations where they feel unsafe, and for us to go there with them to discuss what action may be undertaken to improve that area. The feedback we receive during these engagements is shared with our partners in the local authority to see what we can do as a collective to improve the safety of women. We would be pleased to hear from more women across the county who have identified somewhere they feel unsafe and who would like to get involved in this initiative. Please contact us at [email protected] and title your email ‘Walk and Talk’.

Wiltshire Police has invested in further training and awareness with all officers and staff to improve their understanding of how a victim of stalking – and indeed any crime - can be best supported; how we can improve investigations into stalking, and how we can ensure we hold offenders to account for their actions. Additional training has also been provided to officers to increase applications for Stalking Protection Orders and identifying the digital elements of stalking through coordination with our Digital Investigations and Intelligence Unit. We also have dedicated officers who review all allegations of stalking on a daily basis to ensure that all investigative opportunities are maximised, and that the support to the victim is at the heart of everything we do.

Wiltshire Police is dedicated to the relentless pursuit of those people responsible for stalking and all VAWG offences. I would encourage our communities to please continue to report any crimes or behaviours of concern, against themselves or another – and we will act on the intelligence. I have included the links to our website for anyone who wishes to read more – and again, if anyone ever feels in immediate risk or harm, then always dial 999.

As part of its continued commitment to increase its visibility to rural communities, Wiltshire Police has commenced a focussed effort to support horse owners in both crime prevention and road safety.

I would like to thank the British Horse Society for their incredible generosity in donating tack stamping kits which our Neighbourhood Policing Teams, with support from the Neighbourhood Harm Reduction Unit, will continue to use during equestrian yard visits. These kits embed an individual code put onto tack which is then registered to a national online database and help identify the owner if it is ever stolen. This allows for more effective investigations into rural theft and the wider usage of them act as a deterrent to thieves.

Thanks to these kits, PCSOs from the Neighbourhood Policing Team in Royal Wootton Basset were able to mark more than 90 saddles and bridles during recent events. Anyone who would like to know more about this service can email their local Neighbourhood Policing Team and an officer will contact them. To find your team, visit the ‘Your Area’ section of the Wiltshire Police website.

This positive work will continue into Equine Week of Action and Operation Gallop which commence next week and will see officers engage with the equine community to combat theft and protect riders. In addition, policing teams will engage with road users directly and through social media posts to educate drivers on safety around horses. This will include specifically what to do if they encounter a horse on the road, how to pass the rider without creating fear or alarm and to emphasise the risks associated with unsafely passing horses.

Neighbourhood officers will attend stable yards to engage with residents, offer tack stamping and conduct rural patrols on byways. Operation Close Pass focuses on rider safety on the roads, promoting safe distances cars should keep away from horses, and the safe speeds drivers should maintain when passing horses. Officers will be visiting roads frequently used by the equine community to ensure that drivers are adhering to the correct road etiquette around horses. For more information about Operation Close Pass and Operation Gallop, visit our website here.

Our mobile police station will be visiting areas in Trowbridge and Melksham between April 28 and May 5 as part of this week of action – with the exact times and locations of these visits available to view on the meetings and events section of ‘Your Area’ and the Rural Crime Team’s social media page.

Additionally, officers will share advice on how to report driving offences caught using a dashcam. This is part of our ongoing Operation Snap which puts power into the public’s hands, allowing them to hold irresponsible drivers accountable to help make the roads safer for all. Last year we received 681 submissions from the public which led to 80 prosecutions. Further information about Operation Snap is available on our social media page here.

Online fraud is becoming more prominent than ever before and being aware of the risks associated with this type of crime is extremely important. An ActionFraud report detailing a sharp rise in people losing money through ticket sale fraud recently caught my attention, with people in Wiltshire losing more than £100k to fraudulent ticket scams in 2024. As we transition into summer, we are actively warning people to stay vigilant when buying tickets for concerts or events online.

We have shared advice on purchasing tickets to protect people from falling foul of these scammers and avoiding unnecessary disappointment and financial loss. Some recommendations include using a credit card when buying tickets to avoid bank transfer scams; ensuring email accounts used to buy tickets are secured with two-step verification; checking whether vendors are members of Society of Ticket Agents and exercising caution with adverts offering unbelievably good discounts. I would encourage anyone looking to buy tickets this year to read the information shared on our social media page.

Finally, I would like to thank my officers and partner agencies who recently responded to two separate calls to persons in need, saving two lives and ensuring the longer-term support was in place beyond the emergency. Both incidents were undoubtedly deeply distressing for those in crisis. I am glad my teams could provide the support where it was needed.

We will always be there for people in a moment of crisis. If ever someone feels they are struggling with their mental health, or you are worried someone needs immediate help, please pick up the phone and dial 999.

I would like to recognise the incredible support provided by our partners to people who are experiencing a moment of personal challenge. The Samaritans offer a free, 24/7 helpline on 116 123 and NHS mental health services can be reached by calling 111 and pressing option 2. I encourage our communities to always pick up a phone if they feel they or another needs help.

As I close this letter, I would just like to reflect once again on the strong partnerships and community engagement that exists in Wiltshire, as evidenced in this update to you. My policing teams could not do their essential work if it were not for the support of others – and as ever, I thank them all.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson,

Yesterday, the Government made additional announcements regarding the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.

The Guarantee sets out what communities should expect from their neighbourhood policing team.

The latest announcements included:

• Each Force having named and contactable officers for every neighbourhood area
• Every neighbourhood in England and Wales having dedicated teams who will spend their time on the beat with guaranteed police patrols in town centres and other hotspot areas at peak times such as Friday and Saturday nights
• There will be a dedicated antisocial behaviour lead in every force, working with residents and businesses to develop tailored action plans to tackle antisocial behaviour (ASB).

I’m pleased to confirm that Wiltshire Police is already well advanced with these measures.

Last year, more than 6,000 hours of visible patrols in hotspot areas were conducted across the county involving more than 140 officers, Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), and ASB Street Wardens. This resulted in 87 people being arrested, 32 stop searches conducted and over 150 ASB incidents addressed, including public disorder, youth-related ASB, vehicle-related ASB, and street drinking. This was overseen by our dedicated ASB Hotspot Manager.

We’re currently developing a Neighbourhood Policing performance framework which will clearly monitor our local policing service to our communities. This will be published on our website so the public can hold us to account for its delivery. In addition, we will be regularly publishing engagement plans, targeted patrol information and updates on community consultations.

We’ve increased the use of our Mobile Police Vehicles to ensure a wider reach into our neighbourhoods, providing valuable face-to-face engagement within our communities. From today, the public can find out exactly when and where these vehicles will be in their local area by visiting the Your Area section of our website, putting in their postcode and clicking on the ‘Meetings and Events’ tab.

On these pages, each Neighbourhood Policing Team also provides regular updates on their local priorities, outcomes - including warrants, traffic operations and partnership activity, contact information, and local crime data.

I am confident these measures will continue to have a positive impact across Wiltshire.

In addition to our activity, it is crucial we continue to develop our local partnerships and collaborations.

One such example is the recent transformational review of our Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) coordinated by your office.

CSPs are local collaborations which bring together various agencies, including the police, local authorities, fire and rescue services, health partners, and the Probation Service, to tackle crime, disorder, and antisocial behaviour in communities. We have one covering Swindon and one covering Wiltshire.

Many of the crime and disorder issues experienced by our communities are multi-faceted and cannot be solved simply by enforcement action by the police. Partnership working is vital if we are to truly solve problems which generate crime and anti-social behaviour.

I believe our collective improvements will support our communities better.

Wiltshire Police has consistently enjoyed a positive relationship with the county’s High Sheriff and, over the last few weeks, former High Sheriff, Dr Olivia Chapple, was keen to recognise the incredible work of our volunteers.

Among the recipients of this year’s High Sheriff Awards, was Ken Bridgeman who recently celebrated 45 years as a special constable with Wiltshire Police.

Ken currently works in the Special Road Safety Unit and is trained to drive HGVs to support Operation Tramline – our joint operation with National Highways which uses an unmarked HGV to help detect offences such as drivers using mobile phones or failing to wear a seatbelt.

I would like to publicly thank Ken for his unwavering dedication to public service, and also take a moment to thank all our outstanding volunteers. We simply couldn’t do our work without you.

Dr Chapple also presented a commendation to PC Nicola Crabbe for her brave actions when a man was stabbed in Devizes town centre last summer.

On June 29, PC Crabbe was faced with a man holding a knife, attacking another man. She bravely intervened and managed to stop the offender, Kubilay Bostanli, from continuing his assault.

Kubilay Bostanli, 27, of Anzio Road, Devizes, was found guilty of attempted murder following a trial in January and is due to be sentenced at a later date.

PC Crabbe has also been nominated for the Police Bravery Awards later this year in London.

As I’ve outlined previously, we continue to strengthen our approach to tackling crimes impacting on our rural communities.

Some recent activity which has taken place to underline this includes:

• The launch of a public awareness campaign following an increase in reports of livestock worrying – particularly in the south of the county. As part of this, we published a video interview with a victim of livestock worrying to highlight the significant distress this crime type causes to victims
• Our teams continuing to develop partnerships with other agencies to improve the service our rural communities receive. Last weekend, officers from the Salisbury Neighbourhood Policing Team supported Dorset Police with locating suspects wanted in connection with a series of quad bike thefts. This resulted in our officers arresting two people on suspicion of multiple offences including attempted theft, theft of tools, possession of an offensive weapon, driving without valid insurance, and one of the occupants was also wanted for failing to appear in court
• Our officers are also now using tack stamping kits which registers equine equipment as part of a national programme to prevent theft from stables
• Elsewhere, eight individuals are currently on bail having been arrested on suspicion of hare coursing, and the final three of seven suspects arrested in January in relation to hare coursing have now entered guilty pleas

I hope this update provides further reassurance of our focus on those engaging in rural criminality. The increased cross border collaboration will ensure our response is ever more robust.

Finally, I firmly believe that part of developing the public’s trust and confidence in us is operating in the most transparent and open way – facilitating meaningful two-way conversations with our communities.

On Monday (14 April), I will be hosting my regular Facebook Live event at 6.30pm and I look forward to hearing from our communities about any concerns, questions or suggestions they might have. In addition to taking questions live during the hour-long session, they can also be submitted in advance via the Wiltshire Police Facebook page.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Last week, you launched your Police and Crime Plan for the next four years which I will continue to use as the roadmap for how we deliver policing services in Wiltshire.

The plan focuses on supporting victims, tackling the crimes that matter most to our communities, transforming investigations and providing a better public experience for those using our services.

Your refreshed plan has the voices of our communities at its heart, and I fully agree with the strategic priorities you have set.

I will ensure delivery of your plan through the Force’s operational priorities of Safer Public Spaces, Violence and Burglary.

We have made progress in improving our service and I am committed to continuing this and ensuring that we are Keeping Wiltshire Safe. Our communities can read your full Police and Crime Plan here.

Last week also marked an important milestone in the Online Safety Act with social media companies, websites and apps now legally required to tackle criminal content online.

As part of this, Ofcom launched a new enforcement programme into child sexual abuse imagery on file-sharing services.

It is now a legal requirement for providers of services in scope of the Act to understand how likely it is that users could encounter illegal content on their service, or, in the case of ‘user-to-user’ services, how they could be used to commit or facilitate certain criminal offences.

Platforms must now implement appropriate measures to remove illegal material quickly when they become aware of it, and to reduce the risk of criminal content from appearing in the first place.

As the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Children and Young People, I support any measures which aim to protect young people online.

The impacts of social media on teenagers have also been highlighted in the recent Netflix drama series Adolescence, as referenced by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons last week.

I hope that the show will help form the basis for meaningful conversations on how we all have a responsibility to protect children and young people from harm online.

Linked to this, last week the National Crime Agency (NCA) produced its annual report which outlined a deeply concerning trend of online networks – predominantly made up of teenage boys - committing a range of criminality against children of the same age or younger. This included fraud, extremism, serious violence, and child sexual abuse.

The NCA is coordinating a national policing response to this emerging issue by collaborating with technology companies, safeguarding agencies and psychologists.

In addition to this, last month the Home Secretary commissioned His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to carry out a review of progress made following the Government’s 2023 inspection into how police were responding to group-based child sexual exploitation.

I can confirm that Wiltshire Police is progressing all the national recommendations made in the 2023 report. To support this, I also commissioned a review of all grooming and Child Sexual Exploitation investigations in Wiltshire over the last ten years including outcomes and how we’ve managed the associated risks. This will provide us with a comprehensive picture of offending in our county and help identify any improvements we can make to better support victims.

If anyone has any concerns about children at risk of harm, please contact us immediately. More advice can be found on our website. More information about the Online Safety Act can be found here.

Keeping our communities fully informed of the improvements we are making to the service they receive remains a key focus for me – particularly as we navigate the financial challenges we have previously outlined.

To help assist with this, yesterday, I held one of my regular briefings with editors from local media publications where they can raise any issue they feel important to the public. The media are a key stakeholder in terms of holding me – and the Force – to account and asking the questions that our communities want answered.

We covered topics ranging from our financial position, our people and how I will ensure that our communities receive enhanced visibility and public access to our services. This will include us publishing more information relating to our Neighbourhood Policing offer on our website in the coming weeks.

To continue our collective focus on improvement, I am hosting a series of in person forums with my leaders in the coming weeks.

These sessions will also allow colleagues to feed back to me and my Chief Officer Group with ideas and solutions to help shape our organisation and improve the service we provide. I look forward to sharing updates from these sessions with you.

Finally, from today, we will be sharing these fortnightly updates on our LinkedIn page and will be exploring further publishing opportunities to maximise engagement with our communities.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Earlier this week, I outlined plans to make efficiencies within our estate footprint as part of the required multi-million-pound savings the Force must make.

We previously updated the public that the additional £5.2m we must save in 2025/26 would be sought primarily through estate and vehicle rationalisation before considering a reduction in the number of police staff.

By the end of April 2025, the following estate changes will have been completed:

The Devizes Borough Police Station will close with the local policing team and detective cohort relocating to Police Headquarters, Devizes (less than one mile away)
Amesbury Police Station will close with the Neighbourhood Policing Team, who currently use the station as a touch down point, and detective cohort continuing to parade from Tidworth Police Station (less than fifteen minutes drive away)
The police facility on Wilton Road, Salisbury, which has no teams permanently based there, will close and the video interviewing facility there will be relocated to Tidworth
The three facilities we will be closing do not offer any public front counter service.

These proposals come with a commitment from me that our communities will receive an enhanced offer from Wiltshire Police across the county by way of improved visibility and public access to our services.

This will include:

Increasing the use of our mobile police stations within our communities
NPTs attending more local events and continuing to proactively publicise where they will be and how our public can contact them
Opening a fully functional public front counter at our headquarters in Devizes before the end of April
Increasing the number of yellow phones across the county from the 17 we currently have – these are direct lines to our control room.
Our communities can read the full update from me here and can see our new Local Policing Map for Wiltshire here.

Over the last week, there have been many examples of where our organisation is actively engaging with our communities.

To mark International Women’s Day last Friday, I attended a celebration in Lacock which brought together leaders, professionals and community members to discuss how we can work collaboratively to promote gender equality and empowerment.

This impactive event, which was part of this year’s theme of Accelerate Action, was hosted by Wansbroughs legal practice and the Wiltshire Community Foundation and underscored our commitment to taking further action in addressing the impact Violence Against Women and Girls has on victims, on family and friends and on communities.

On Sunday, we had the delight of welcoming over 100 Girl Guides, Brownies and their leaders to our headquarters for the second Girlguiding Wiltshire Police Challenge Badge day.

This event is designed to build critical thinking, leadership, and an appreciation for public service.

The Guides took part in a series of challenges from designing their own police force, gathering evidence to solve a crime and undertaking a public order training exercise.

As a Guide leader and the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Children and Young People, I know that public service is a thread that connects Girlguiding and Policing.

The success of the inaugural event in 2024 made it clear how important it is to continue this initiative. Organisations like Girlguiding play a vital role in the lives of young people, offering positive role models, safe spaces, and opportunities to develop valuable skills.

You can find out more about our Girlguiding Wiltshire Police Challenge Badge here.

Another recent example of how we are engaging with children and young people is the Synergy project – funded by your office.

Last week marked the end of the third Synergy course which sees young people identified as at risk of being involved in serious violence or victims of criminal exploitation. They are supported to learn about and shape how frontline organisations safeguard our communities.

One of our PCSOs, who led the course, summed up the impact it had by saying that ‘we had seven individual young people on the first day and, by the end of course, we had a team of seven.’

Synergy is a project run by our Youth and Early Intervention team in partnership with the Youth Justice Services in Wiltshire and Swindon, the British Army, Street Doctors and Dorset Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Our communities can find out more about Synergy here. This work is a clear example of the wider services commissioned by your office to prevent youth crime as outlined in your Police and Crime Plan.

As both you and I have frequently reflected – many of our essential policing services are delivered by our police staff. Last week was the national Police Staff Week of Celebration and Recognition where we marked the pivotal contribution our police staff colleagues make to policing across the country.

During the week, which is coordinated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, we shone a light on all the incredible work our police staff do to keep our communities safe.

I had the honour, alongside my Chief of Corporate Services, to present awards to over 20 of our police staff colleagues for their invaluable contributions.

Last Friday, we shared the results from the latest phase of Operation Scorpion – the South West initiative aimed at reducing the serious harm and violence caused by the supply of illegal drugs in the region.

In Wiltshire, across the seven days of action, which ran from February 17-23, there were:

Eight arrests
Six warrants carried out
More than £12,000 in cash recovered
One knife found
246 grams of cocaine and 101 grams of cannabis recovered.  
This iteration of Operation Scorpion also coincided with a national operation tackling the trade around the cannabis market by focusing on safeguarding vulnerable people, tackling modern slavery, human trafficking, anti-social behaviour and related violence.

As part of the coordinated national effort, more than 200 people were arrested and drugs worth more than £45m were seized.

You can read more about this activity here.

Finally, I wanted to end this letter by expressing my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Sebastian Sailes.

Our specially trained Family Liaison Officers will continue to support Sebastian’s family.

I know I speak on behalf of both of our organisations, all of those involved in the search operation and our communities when I extend our condolences and thoughts to all those impacted by this tragic incident.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson,

Today, the jury sitting in the inquest into the death of Graham Trinder has returned a verdict that he was lawfully killed.

Mr Trinder died after being shot by a Wiltshire Police firearms officer in Summers Street, Swindon on Sunday 8 November 2020.

First and foremost, our sincerest condolences remain with Mr Trinder’s family and friends. Whilst incidents of this nature are thankfully incredibly rare in Wiltshire, this does not diminish the impact they have on all involved and the wider communities in which they take place.

Following this incident, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) carried out a thorough and independent investigation which we fully supported. This is something that the public rightly expect and deserve.

Having reviewed all available evidence, including footage of the incident and statements from witnesses, the IOPC determined that the use of force was reasonable in the circumstances. However, they did identify learning for both individuals and the organisation which has been fully accepted.

During the Inquest, the Coroner made the direction to issue part of the Body Worn Video covering the incident to the media. We welcome the public transparency this allows. However, our thoughts and condolences remain with Mr Trinder's family and friends.

Our priority is always to ‘prevent all offences against people and property and keep the King’s peace’ as outlined in the oath all officers must take. No firearms officer ever wants to discharge their weapon.

We fully appreciate the impact that the inquest process might have had on our local communities. It will, undoubtedly, bring back some difficult memories for those who were living in the area closest to the incident in 2020.  Our focus will always be to support the public and I would urge anyone with concerns to reach out to their Neighbourhood Policing Team.

On Monday, we were honoured to share the partnership work being carried out in the county to tackle violence against women and girls with Her Majesty The Queen.

Last year, a coalition called Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) was established in Wiltshire comprising of members of the public, members of the judiciary, police, representatives from domestic abuse organisations, and business leaders.

Collectively, we made a commitment to ensure that our approach now firmly centres on the voices and lived experiences of victims.

I am delighted that the group also agreed to be Wiltshire Police's VAWG Independent Advisory Group, acting as a critical friend to our organisation - providing insight and guidance to improve our service to victims and communities.

Wiltshire Police has made progress. However, this has only been possible through the support of the EVAWG and improved trust and confidence from victims, their families, community members, and partner agencies in our policing approach.

The Force's performance is improving in tackling VAWG, including:

A rise in rape convictions from 50% in January 2024 to 82% in December 2024
An increase in reported stalking offences by 46% in the last year following increased staff training
And arrest rate increases for both stalking and Domestic Abuse:

Stalking has risen 50.4% an increase of by 5.3% on the previous year
Domestic Abuse has risen to 49.1%, an increase of 2.6% compared with 2023
It is quite right that the Force prioritises tackling this heinous criminality and it will continue to be a focus.

As you are aware, I am passionate about improving our support to children and young people across the county. This week afforded two further opportunities to do just this.

On Tuesday, we participated in an Emergency Preparedness training event with hundreds of school staff from across Swindon and Wiltshire.

The event was held to raise awareness of the action emergency services will take in response to a serious incident within an educational setting, including any subsequent lockdown if required.

School representatives heard testimonies from officers and students involved in the stabbing at Tewkesbury Academy in July 2023 to outline the emergency response.

Although lockdown events are very uncommon and schools are fundamentally safe places, we have a collective responsibility to make sure we are as prepared as possible to keep our children and young people are safe.

I am delighted that Wiltshire Police was part of this event.

On Thursday, Assistant Chief Constable Deb Smith and I welcomed students from the STEPS Programme at Fairfield College in Dilton Marsh, to our headquarters for a Q+A session, tour of the building and to meet with the police dog unit.

You may recall that we previously worked with Chloe, a member of the STEPS Programme who it was lovely to see again on Thursday, to create our first ever easy-read document. This is designed to support vulnerable individuals in understanding how to stay safe both at home and in public spaces. You can read more about this guide here.

Finally, this week marks two years since I took office as Chief Constable for Wiltshire Police.

Although we still have significant improvements to make, I am extremely proud that, over the last two years, we’ve demonstrated sufficient progress across all our policing service to remove us from the HMICFRS Engage process (or being in ‘special measures’) and reintroduced the dedicated Neighbourhood Policing Teams. Our collective focus remains on increasing our visibility, accessibility and engagement with our communities and we are committed to continuing this improvement journey.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Following the Government’s announcement to remove Police and Crime Commissioners by 2028, I wanted to reassure you and our communities that Wiltshire Police remains wholly committed to delivering your Police and Crime Plan.

We will continue to work closely with your office to ensure delivery of its statutory functions – particularly those in place to enhance the services to victims of crime.

Your Police and Crime Plan is developed from community feedback and, in addition to our communities outlining the crimes impacting upon them the most, they have also been clear that, to build the trust and confidence they have in us, they want to see a more inclusive and representative Force.

You have captured this in your first priority, which states that our organisation should be ‘recruiting a diverse police workforce to reflect the community it serves’ and that ‘by building a culture of integrity and respect within the police, we aim to increase the trust that communities place in Wiltshire Police.’

In this letter, I wanted to share some incredible examples which highlight Wiltshire Police’s delivery of this priority, as well as some which have attracted national recognition.

On Monday, a member of our organisation was nationally recognised for his outstanding contribution to our Force.

Luke Newton joined Wiltshire Police ten years ago through the Down’s Syndrome Association’s employment programme, WorkFit. He works as an administrator in the Crime and Communications Centre, providing vital support to frontline operations Control Room colleagues.

His dedication earned him second place, in a category of over 100 nominees, for a prestigious award from the British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) – presented at Wembley Stadium.

The BASE Awards celebrate people with disabilities who inspire others through their work and accomplishments. Luke’s achievement was an incredible milestone for him, his family and for our organisation, highlighting the importance of inclusive employment. You can read more about Luke’s story here.

Continuing the theme of national recognition for our Wiltshire Police colleagues, I was thrilled that our Wellness Delivery Manager Iain Pettitt won the highly commended award at the national Oscar Kilo Conference this week in the OK9 Wellbeing Dogs category.

This is a phenomenal achievement given the OK9 Wellbeing and Trauma Support Dog Network was only launched earlier this year in Wiltshire. You can read more about the network here.

Last Friday, both Wiltshire Police and your own Office Senior Team, proudly celebrated the graduation of our second We Rise programme cohort.
We Rise is an internal leadership development programme designed for colleagues from under-represented backgrounds.

The first programme, devised by Assistant Chief Constable Liz Coles, resulted in 65% of the delegates either being promoted or in the promotion process. However, success from the programme is measured not only by career progression, but by strengthened confidence and personal growth.

As part of the programme, graduates spent time supporting vital community projects and charities including FearFree, KFR Devizes and the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.

This initiative has earned national recognition and was highlighted by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) as innovative practice.

Developing potential within our organisation often comes from our collaboration with other organisations and sharing best practice.

This was evidenced last week, when I was delighted to accompany colleagues to the South West Women in Policing Leadership Conference hosted by Gloucestershire Police.

The event, attended by more than 130 delegates, was focused on inspiring, empowering and elevating women in policing across our region.
It brought together an incredible group of speakers including Dany Cotton – the retired Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, the Bishop of Gloucestershire Rev Rachel Treweek and Julia Middleton, the founder of the global movement, Women Emerging.

November also marks National Men’s Month, which is designed to encourage men to make positive lifestyle changes and talk more about the challenges they face.

We have teamed up with the charity Man Down to host a series of webinars within our organisation and to signpost to where more support can be found.
In addition, we’ve also been sharing some of the incredible work our partner agencies have been doing – including the Men’s Sheds initiative that Wiltshire Council have supported. Men's Sheds are community spaces for men to connect, converse and create. We are fortunate to have several of these across our county and you can find out more here.

Next week, we will mark the annual 16 Days of Action campaign, and our focus will be on strengthening the protection and support we provide to victims of domestic abuse.

Recent specialist training delivered by psychotherapist Zoe Lodrick has further deepened our understanding, ensuring our teams are better equipped to recognise the impact sexualised trauma has on victims.
The training event was attended by more than 100 officers, staff and partner representatives working across the county.

Officers and staff from Neighbourhood Policing teams, Safeguarding teams, Learning & Development and Victim Services attended, alongside your commissioned services and specialist domestic abuse partners, including FearFree, Open to Change and the Nelson Trust. The focus was on supporting those who routinely work with victims of sexualised or domestic abuse trauma.
Learning from specialists like Zoe is essential to ensure victims receive the care and understanding they deserve.

Finally, I wanted to shine a light on the incredible cadre of volunteers who help shape our service and ensure we are both truly representing our communities and also keeping them safe.

This week, we launched Operation Sceptre – our month-long campaign aimed at tackling knife violence – which highlights the year-round proactivity by our cadets to combat knife crime and child exploitation through their test purchasing of knives and alcohol, and testing the safeguarding policies of hotels and B&Bs.

You can find out more about the work of our cadets here.

We know that children and young people are more likely to be impacted by knife crime.

We also know that children and young people can become victims of harm and abuse by those who wish to exploit them. I know you share my absolute commitment to ensuring we keep children and young people safe. I also know you share my view that our two organisations need the help of communities and partners to ensure this happens – we cannot achieve it alone.

This was brought to life for me last night, when I was honoured to attend the Swindon Youth Justice Service Art Exhibition, showcasing children’s perspectives on personal and community safety in line with Operation Sceptre.

The submissions explored what community means to young people and what more could be done to make them feel safer.

The event also reminded me just what a privilege policing is, and that trust must be earned, respected and never presumed. I would like to congratulate all those in the exhibition, including our Police Youth Justice Worker Ella Claridge who was praised by everyone for her energy and commitment – but also our partners, and most importantly the young people who were prepared to trust us with their thoughts and experiences.

Whilst crimes involving knives and blades in Wiltshire have fallen in the last year (from 808 incidents in 2023/24, to 738 incidents in 2024/25) we cannot be complacent, and we must continue to listen and learn from young people. I do believe that with their guidance, we will provide a better service to our communities and ensure we are keeping Wiltshire safe.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police