New Fareham and Gosport police chief warns of his “low tolerance" for criminals

Marcus Kennedy, the new chief inspector for Fareham and Gosport, has taken the reins on his new patch after 20 years of working across Portsmouth, Southampton and other areas of Hampshire.

While crime is down in Fareham and Gosport, the new chief is determined to maintain that positive cycle with his blend of strategic and robust policing. But he has issued a plea to the public, telling The News: “We desperately need the public to let us know what is going on in their communities otherwise we cannot react.”

It comes as The News and its sister publications across National World launched its Silent Crime campaign last month for the voices of victims to be heard amid an epidemic of unreported crimes. 

Chief inspector Kennedy has vowed to tackle both ends of the crime spectrum. During an interview at Fareham Police Station he said: “I have a low tolerance level for anyone who makes people’s lives a misery. I want to target both ends of the spectrum…so serious violent crime for example but I also want to target the little things that make people’s lives difficult such as anti-social behaviour.

“I want to understand from the people of Fareham and Gosport what is upsetting and concerning them and work out through partnership how we can tackle that as well.

“All crime for Fareham and Gosport is down around four or five per cent. Shoplifting and acquisitive crime has been going up and up nationally. I previously led a team to tackle this very issue in Southampton city centre and I know my teams here have some of those same challenges.

“We want to target those prolific shoplifters and make sure they are held accountable. We know that shoplifting and acquisitive crime wasn’t a priority going back but it is now. You do sometimes see a rise in such crime during a cost of living crisis but predominantly crime in Fareham and Gosport is going down but I want to make sure we don’t get those spikes.

“When you do get those spikes it’s about knowing whether we’ve got a pattern and deciding what to put behind it, whether it’s officers, covert units or CID. Every day we look at all crimes that have taken place over the last 24 hours and that’s where we spot trends and that’s how we focus our resources.”

Referring to unreported crimes as highlighted in the Silent Crime campaign, he said: “If we don’t know about crimes then we can’t help. I would always say to people to go online and report it if it’s not urgent. It might be the public telling us intelligence…something you’ve seen that is not a crime but could help us form a picture.

“We did a warrant in the Fareham area after intelligence came in there were drugs being smoked in a garden. We ended up making an arrest and shutting that address down. That wasn’t our information, that was the public telling us. If you’re worried about something I would always say tell us, either online or through 101 or in an emergency call 999.”

The chief inspector added: “The fundamental principle of British policing is that we police by cooperation. We desperately need the public to let us know what is going on in their communities otherwise we cannot react. I would always encourage people to report as much as they can.”

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