Regular readers will know I've been convening local crime summits, bringing together police chiefs, council leaders and neighbouring MPs to tackle the issues that make life a misery in our communities.
We started with organised rural crime: machinery theft, poaching, hare coursing. That work is paying off. Better intelligence-sharing across Hampshire and neighbouring forces is delivering more stops, more arrests and a tighter grip on the gangs responsible.
At our latest summit at the Guildhall last week, we turned to something just as persistent and, for many people, just as damaging: anti-social behaviour.
Shoplifting and vandalism have spiked across Andover and Test Valley over the past year. Andover remains a safe place to live, this is the work of a small minority, but too often this kind of crime gets written off as "low-level". Tell that to the shopkeeper clearing up the damage on a Monday morning.
Some of the increase reflects more people coming forward to report incidents, and that's a good thing. Keep doing it. Reporting drives action.
Partners across the police, town and district council and local business are now meeting regularly, sharing intelligence and acting together. Despite falling police numbers nationally, we've secured extra officers for Hampshire, credit to our Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, and some are being deployed to hotspot areas: the Chantry Centre, the Vigo underpass, around the library.
But enforcement alone won't fix this. Police are engaging directly with the families of those involved. The Yellow Brick Road charity is working with young people to keep them out of trouble. The Business Improvement District's town centre rangers are out alongside officers, deterring and detecting offences.
This is a collective effort, but it needs the justice system to back it up. Whether it's rural gangs or town centre troublemakers, the message must be consistent: You will not get away with it.
By Kit Malthouse MP
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