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10
Jun
Police admit concerns about local shops being used for crime
A police inspector has urged people to get in touch if they suspect shops in Harrogate and Knaresborough are being used as fronts for criminal activity.
Insp Holly Nicholls said police wanted to gather intelligence to build a picture of what was taking place.
She was responding to a question during last week’s meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee.
Cllr Peter Lacey, a Liberal Democrat who represents Coppice Valley and Duchy, asked if there was any evidence locally of “shopfronts that come and go and are actually fronts for other things” and how they would be identified.
Insp Nicholls said:
Yes, they can be fronts for criminal groups and really it’s about intelligence for us so encourage people to write in to me. It’s about building up a bigger picture. If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t and we need the information so we can build on that.
Insp Nicholls said shops could be used to hide a range of criminal activity, including modern day slavery, exploitation and drugs.
Police, she added, could request licensing and trading standards officers accompany them on visits to sites where suspicions had been raised during the force’s next neighbourhood week of action.
Insp Nicholls said she had been contacted by some residents with concerns about barbers in Knaresborough. However, no evidence of wrongdoing was presented at the meeting.
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