Didcot

Knife crime and Drug Use in Didcot

The Neighbourhood Team has remained focused on addressing ongoing issues of knife carrying and drug related activity in the area. Officers are utilising stop and search powers lawfully and appropriately, based on reasonable grounds, to detect and disrupt those who choose to carry weapons. Targeted patrols and intelligence led activity continue to support our efforts to reduce harm, and several investigations into knife enabled offences this year have resulted in positive outcomes and youth diversion opportunities.
Over the last month, we have used a range of proactive policing tactics, including deploying plain-clothes officers into local hotspots identified through feedback from residents. This work helps us better understand issues, gather intelligence, and target those responsible for causing harm in our communities. As a result of this activity, nearly 43% of stop searches carried out over the last four weeks have led to a positive outcome, including the recovery of drugs, or other prohibited items. There were no reported knife-enabled crimes or incidents this month.
Our approach to stop and search remains robust: when legal grounds exist, we will use our powers to remove weapons and drugs from the streets and ensure the safety of the community.
We are also continuing our work with local secondary schools and youth services to raise awareness around child criminal exploitation, drug misuse, and the risks associated with County Lines activity. Education remains key to preventing young people from being drawn into crime, and we remain committed to supporting schools with advice, guidance, and early intervention.
We also continue to support vulnerable people and tackle the impact of drug dealing in the community through a variety of tactics—some visible, and some that take place behind the scenes.
We want to continue tackling this issue with your help. If you have information relating to drug use or supply, cuckooing, exploitation, or knife enabled crime, please report it via 101, our online reporting tool, or anonymously through CrimeStoppers. Every piece of information makes a difference in keeping our community safe.
In addition, the disruptions team are planning further warrants and operational activity targeting the illegal supply of drugs across local towns and villages, including County Lines involvement.
We are also working closely with the courts and housing authorities, resulting in full and partial closure orders at several addresses around the town where high levels of drug related activity and ASB have taken place.

You can stay informed about our work by signing up to free Thames Valley Alerts at https://thamesvalleyalert.co.uk/
Our community feedback survey has confirmed that drug use, dealing and violent crime still remain a key concern and therefore a priority for the residents of Didcot and surrounding areas. Thank you to those who provided constructive feedback via the survey – it’s important to have your say and influence how the NH team focuses its efforts going forward. You can still share your feedback and suggestions at one of our events – advertised on this site under the Meetings & Events section.

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) and youth-related disorder in Didcot

The Sergeant and Neighbourhood team, alongside partners from the Community Safety Partnership, Oxfordshire County Council, and SOHA, have continued our joint visits around key locations in Didcot, where ASB and disorder have been particularly high. They will continue working together over the coming months to invest in improvements to facilities and lighting, helping residents feel safer and deterring anti-social behaviour, as well as exploring opportunities for CCTV expansion. If you want to get involved, contact the Community Safety Partnership - South Oxfordshire District Council
https://www.southoxon.gov.uk/south-oxfordshire-district-council/community-help-and-safety/south-and-vale-community-safety-partnership/
Look out for further updates via our TV Alerts, social media channels, and website.

The school summer holidays have been incredibly challenging for us, due to extra demand and limited resources. There has been 7% increase in reported anti-social behaviour (ASB) compared with the previous month, however we have solved an extra 7.9% of the crimes that were reported.
The team continues to patrol ASB hotspot areas, balancing this with growing demand across all areas of policing. While there is a national focus on increasing officer numbers, this does not always translate directly to additional neighbourhood officers locally. As a result, we are prioritising our patrols using data and intelligence to ensure we are visible where it matters most and delivering the greatest impact for our communities.
Our school newsletter is shared regularly with teachers and parents, highlighting current concerns and offering advice to help keep young people safe.
Because ASB has a real impact on residents and businesses, our tolerance for this behaviour remains low. Where appropriate, we work with Youth Justice colleagues to ensure young people receive the right interventions, support, and consequences.
We are also working closely with the Orchard Centre to improve communication, reduce ASB, and prevent repeat offending. Several stores have experienced ASB and related incidents, mainly involving youths aged 11–15. The team remains committed to maintaining a visible presence in our communities and proactively patrolling identified hotspot areas. Whilst demand can occasionally draw officers away from neighbourhood activity, we will continue to focus our resources where they have the greatest impact for residents and businesses.
We are working closely with parents, the SNG, SOHA, the council, community safety teams, schools, and social services to address ASB using a range of options including mediation, tenancy warnings, ABCs, and for both adults and young people where appropriate. We would also encourage parents and carers to be aware of where their children are, who they are with, and what they are doing, as they play a key role in helping prevent anti-social behaviour and keeping young people safe
Have Your Say-
Please make sure you have your say at our advertised community meetings and let us know where you feel our focus should be.
You can sign up for free Thames Valley Alerts at:
https://thamesvalleyalert.co.uk/

Our community feedback survey has confirmed that anti-social behaviour and youth-related disorder still remain key concerns and therefore a priority for the residents of Didcot and surrounding areas. Thank you to those who provided constructive feedback via the survey – it’s important to have your say and influence how the NH team focuses its efforts going forward. You can still share your feedback and suggestions at one of our events – advertised on this site under the Meetings & Events section.

Reduce retail crime in Didcot and surrounding areas

The team continues to work closely with the specialist Retail Crime Team and local retailers to tackle shoplifting across the town. We are encouraging all stores to make full use of the current DISC App, and new AUROR app, which enable retailers to quickly and effectively share images of offenders and report incidents directly to us. We encourage all business owners locally to engage with these initiatives and recognise the benefits, so they do not miss out on this valuable tool in detection and prevention of retail crime.
Operation Purchase remains a key focus, involving high-visibility patrols in hotspot locations and practical target-hardening measures designed to deter offenders. Alongside this, we are working with stores to improve loss-prevention opportunities—identifying emerging trends, strengthening evidence-gathering, and ultimately helping reduce the frequency of offending. We remain committed to pursuing anyone identified as being involved in retail crime and supporting local businesses.
We will continue to collaborate with the business community by improving communication, taking robust action against offenders, and recognising both the national focus on retail crime and the significant personal and financial impact it can have on local businesses.
The Didcot team has experienced an increase in reports of theft, robbery, and abuse targeting retail workers during July. This behaviour has a significant impact on local businesses and will not be tolerated. We are actively pursuing offenders and, where appropriate, seeking robust outcomes through the courts, including criminal orders and custodial sentences. This month, the team made a number of arrests for robbery and theft offences, with positive outcomes likely in the coming weeks.