Peterborough police officers award winners after helping vulnerable man exploited and forced to sleep on floor

Peterborough’s Eastern Neighbourhood Policing Team have won an award for stopping drug users exploiting a man’s home in Dogsthorpe.

The team were put forward for going the extra mile at The ‘One More Step’ Prevention Awards to improve the lives of people in their community.

Officers identified calls being directed to the man’s home, which caused concern.

Cross Keys Homes, Peterborough City Council, Adult Social Care and health providers, put a plan in place to improve the quality of life for the man, and safeguard him against people posing as his friends but were exploiting him.

Action taken included putting a partial closure order on the flat, preventing people causing issues from entering the property and increased engagement from support agencies to adapt a care plan.

‘Going extra mile’

Assistant chief constable Vicki Evans said: “The standards of nominations was particularly high this year, all finalists demonstrated excellent prevention and problem-solving work across a broad multi-agency and partnership arena.

“We saw examples of individuals and teams taking ‘one more step’ and going the extra mile, to understand the bigger picture to prevent further harm, reduce the number of victims and keep the people of Cambridgeshire safe.”

Extra measures were put in place at the flat to provide a comfortable living environment for the man and stop the need for “false friends” who had befriended the man and took over the flat, including forcing him to sleep on the floor.

After a couple of months, the man’s mental health improved.

Police received positive reports from neighbours about a reduction in problems at the flat and zero calls to police were received regarding the man being exploited.

Eastfield woman exploited at home

The same policing team were also highly commended for their work safeguarding a vulnerable woman who was being exploited at her home in Eastfield.

One member of the team noticed a pattern of calls relating to an address in the past year, mainly relating to burglaries, criminal damage, anti-social behaviour, drug use and dealing.

Concern grew about the tenant being exploited in various forms.

The flat was in a state of disrepair and was being frequented by known criminals who used it as a place to deal and use drugs, financially exploit the woman and attract other violent and criminal behaviour.

A plan was put in place to improve and target the accommodation, provide professional support to the victim from a range of services including mental health, drug and alcohol treatment, social care and housing providers.

Calls for police were reduced to zero – a review was undertaken to ensure the problem had not been displaced to another location, which there was no evidence of – and the victim was moved to secure accommodation where she is receiving regular support.

The awards, held at Lakeside Lodge on September 22, saw five finalists shortlisted from nine nominations across Cambridgeshire Police.

‘Great persistence’

Vicki Evans added: “After much deliberation, we announced the winner as Peterborough’s Eastern NPT for their work to safeguard a victim of cuckooing in Dogsthorpe. While all finalists were worthy of the title, this one stood out because of the significant partnership working that was undertaken to help safeguard the vulnerable tenant of the flat being further exploited.”