Police in Dacorum will target Fletcher Way, e-scooters, shoplifting and drug dealing for the coming months. Each area's priorities, and what the data shows.
Police in Hemel Hempstead East will focus on anti-social behaviour and anti-social driving in Fletcher Way over the coming months. It is one of the new local priorities set by Dacorum’s four neighbourhood policing teams.
Hertfordshire Constabulary published the list this month. The teams set priorities every four months, using crime data and the results of a public survey (Hertfordshire Constabulary).
The priorities, area by area
| Policing area | Priorities |
|---|---|
| Berkhamsted and Tring | Anti-social behaviour in hotspot areas, continuing the work of the past few months |
| Hemel Hempstead East | Anti-social behaviour, associated crime and anti-social vehicle use in Fletcher Way; speeding in reported hotspot areas |
| Hemel Hempstead North Rural, West and Central | Anti-social use of vehicles, e-bikes and e-scooters around shopping precincts; shoplifting enforcement |
| Kings Langley and Hemel Hempstead South East | Anti-social behaviour and associated crime; illegal use of e-scooters and e-bikes; drug dealing and drug-related activity |
The force says residents should see more patrols, engagement events and “targeted enforcement” on each one. The same priorities are listed on each team’s page on police.uk, dated 1 September 2026.
Fletcher Way is a residential street in the Highfield ward, postcode area HP2 5. It is the only street any Dacorum team has named.
The force has not said which “hotspot areas” it means in Berkhamsted and Tring, or where the speeding hotspots in Hemel Hempstead East are.
What the crime figures show
We checked the published police.uk figures for the same four areas. Each count below uses the force’s own boundary for that team, and compares May to July 2026 with May to July 2025. July 2026 is the latest month available.
Anti-social behaviour went up in two of the four areas:
- Berkhamsted and Tring: 163 reports, up from 141 (16% more)
- Kings Langley and Hemel Hempstead South East: 293, up from 274 (7% more)
- Hemel Hempstead North Rural, West and Central: 370, down from 380
- Hemel Hempstead East: 250, down from 279
That fits Berkhamsted and Tring keeping anti-social behaviour as its only priority. It is the one area where reports rose by more than a tenth.
Shoplifting fell in all four areas. In Hemel Hempstead North Rural, West and Central, where it is now a named priority, there were 83 recorded offences over the three months, against 108 a year earlier. July was the busiest month, with 36.
The two police.uk locations with the most July shoplifting in that area were a supermarket (9 offences) and King Harry Street (8). Police.uk places each crime at the nearest of a set of anonymised points, not at an exact address.
Drug offences in Kings Langley and Hemel Hempstead South East nearly doubled, from 16 to 30. July alone recorded 15. Drug offences are rarely reported by victims; most are logged when officers find drugs, so the count reflects police activity as well as dealing.
Fletcher Way itself shows only 10 crimes and incidents mapped to it between May and July 2026, four of them anti-social behaviour. Because of the anonymised mapping, a street-level count can undercount what happens on and around a street. The team’s choice also draws on its public survey, which the open data does not show.
What it means for you
- If you live near Fletcher Way, expect more visible patrols. Report incidents as they happen. The force says priorities are set from an analysis of data and public feedback.
- If you ride an e-scooter in Hemel Hempstead, two of the four teams have named them. The government’s own guidance says “it is against the law to use a privately owned electric scooter on public land” (GOV.UK).
- If you run a shop in the town centre or a local parade, shoplifting enforcement is a named priority in Hemel Hempstead North Rural, West and Central.
- If you want a say in the next set, the priorities draw on a public survey, and the teams review them every four months. The Dacorum teams can be emailed at Dacorum@herts.police.uk, the address listed on police.uk.
Always call 999 if a crime is happening or someone is in danger. For anything else, use 101 or the force’s online reporting.
For the town’s travel and street disruption this week, see our roadworks and travel page. Parking rules for the shopping areas are on our parking in Hemel Hempstead page.
Sources
- Hertfordshire Constabulary, “Policing priorities set for Dacorum”, for every priority and the four-month cycle.
- Police.uk neighbourhood priorities, dated 1 September 2026, for Berkhamsted and Tring, Hemel Hempstead North Rural, West and Central, Hemel Hempstead East and Kings Langley and Hemel Hempstead South East.
- Police.uk street-level crime data, queried against each team’s published boundary for May, June and July of 2025 and 2026, for every count in this report.
- Postcodes.io, for the ward and postcode of Fletcher Way.
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