Police have stepped-up patrols around the synagogue in Harrogate following an increase in antisemitism.

Steve Dougall, a sergeant for North Yorkshire Police’s inner Harrogate team, raised the issue during a meeting with councillors on Thursday (June 5).

He and Inspector Holly Nicholls, from the outer Harrogate team, gave an overview of current policing challenges and initiatives to members of North Yorkshire Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area committee.

Sgt Dougall said:

Sgt Dougall did not give further details on the antisemitic incidents.

But he said overall crime and antisocial behaviour had decreased in the Harrogate area, and that an extra four police officers were due to be added to the beat as part of an increase in neighbourhood policing in North Yorkshire.

Car thefts and burglaries in Jennyfields and Bilton were among the main challenges, he added. Sgt Dougall said there had been a recent spike in incidents and covert officers had been deployed to resolve issues.

Asked whether Harrogate would copy Scarborough and get a Public Spaces Protection Order, which enables police and council officers to issue on-the-spot fines for antisocial behaviour, he said Harrogate Business Improvement District had requested one but “it wasn’t deemed suitable”.

He said police had focused instead on Op Spotlight, a joint initiative with the council to increase visible policing in crime hotspots such as near the Halifax bank on Oxford Street in Harrogate.

Councillor Sam Gibbs, a Conservative whose Valley Gardens and Central Harrogate division includes the Halifax, said he had noticed a decrease in complaints from residents about the area since Op Spotlight began and praised the police’s approach,

Sgt Dougall also said inner Harrogate had “some of the highest risk victims of child exploitation in county”.

Look for an article soon focusing on the police situation in Knaresborough and Boroughbridge.