HORRABRIDGE is being targeted in a special police operation this week, as part of an award-winning project.
The high impact policing strategy, or HIPS for short, is a joint campaign by Ministry of Defence police and the Devon and Cornwall constabulary, which involves officers visiting 250 houses in the village.
Inspector Gordon Peters of the MOD police said the strategy had proved 'almost a spectacular success' in Plymouth, where domestic burglaries had dropped by 56 per cent over the last three years. The project won a national award recently for the Community Safety Partnership.
Inspector Peters said: 'It's a very successful device and very labour intensive. We will visit each household to give them the opportunity to speak to the police in a positive way, and we will also leave a police information pack.
'At the end of the exercise we will hold a drop-in centre where people can come along and ask questions of various agencies,' he added.
Horrabridge was chosen for the HIPS campaign because there is MOD housing in the area, but because the strategy requires considerable manpower, officers from the local police force will also take part. They will be working from the MOD estate office at Horrabridge married quarters.
It is the first time HIPS has taken place outside Plymouth.
The drop-in centre will be at Horrabridge village hall on Wednesday January 13 between 10am and 4pm.
Representatives from Neighbourhood Watch, Plymouth Homesafe, the Crime Prevention Unit and Domestic Violence will be on hand to answer questions and give advice.