Police officers conducted an operation in Aylesbury town centre last Friday night - here's their report on what happened

‘On Friday March 9 officers from Aylesbury Neighbourhood Team were in Aylesbury town centre conducting a series of high visibility patrols.

‘The team were let loose into the town in support of their Emergency Response and Investigation Hub colleagues normally charged with the duty late into the night shift, to ensure that Aylesbury residents could enjoy a peaceful night out.

‘Despite the frequent bursts of rainfall, the neighbourhood team were out on foot until 4am maintaining a presence in the hotspot areas where problems have arisen in the past.

‘The focus of these patrols was based around safety and reassurance.

‘To this end, the team linked up with officers from AVDC’s taxi licensing team, to ensure that all taxi/hackney carriages were conducting their business in accordance with regulations.

‘In addition, the neighbourhood officers went to almost every pub and club in town to conduct their own premises licence check.

‘In doing so, we can make sure that each place is operating safely with (for example) properly accredited door staff, appropriate fire-fighting equipment, numbers of people inside is not excessive, CCTV is in working order and there are suitable first aid facilities to hand.

‘Officers will also complete a report where any incident takes place in, or immediately outside a premises selling alcohol.

‘These reports are then forwarded to our Licencing Officer for collation and review – repeat offenders can expect to see their licences revoked where cooperation is not forthcoming.

‘The patrols themselves proved very successful – the general feedback was that everybody was pleased to see ‘uniforms’ out in number providing a sense of security.

‘Inevitably, there were pockets of disorder where drunken people were ejected from bars.

‘However, these were quickly identified and dealt with before escalating into bigger issues.

‘There was one male arrested for a public order offence for repeatedly shouting and swearing, so perhaps not everybody was pleased we were there….

‘Plans are underway to arrange another night of reassurance patrols under Operation Addition.

‘Next time however, we aim to bring in the Mounted Section and further our links with our partner agencies to provide wider reassurance to residents of Aylesbury.’