Abbey and Battle — Neighbourhood Policing Team
Local policing team in the Thames Valley Police area: contact routes, current priorities and public events.
Every neighbourhood in Thames Valley has a dedicated Neighbourhood Policing team. Neighbourhood Policing teams can be contacted via 101, the Thames Valley Police non-emergency number. Always call 999 in an emergency. Neighbourhood Policing teams… Are led by senior police officers and include police community support officers (PCSOs), often together with volunteer police officers, volunteers and partners. May serve one or several neighbourhoods. Work with local people and partners to identify, tackle and prevent local, low-level crime, anti-social behaviour, and any ongoing concerns. Provide you with a visible, accessible and accountable police service and aim to make your neighbourhood safer. Have been present in every Thames Valley neighbourhood since 1 April 2008. Focus all of their efforts on their dedicated neighbourhoods, building relationships with local people. Neighbourhood Policing… Needs you to tell us about the issues that concern you in your area. Has transformed policing at a local level, to meet the needs of local communities. Is known as ‘Safer Neighbourhoods’ in Milton Keynes. From the start of 2010, Thames Valley Police extended its neighbourhood consultation by introducing a wider range of publicised opportunities to meet neighbourhood teams. We will provide open monthly meetings to allow the public to influence our priorities. These meetings will be branded as Have Your Say opportunities, and in many cases will be held in conjunction with partners. View Have Your Say summary and flowchart (PDF 40 Kb - opens new window) . Once local priorities have been identified, a broader ‘toolkit’ of problem-solving tactics is being made available to ensure crime and anti-social behaviour is tackled effectively. Across the Thames Valley area, there are many successful Neighbourhood Action Groups which will continue to deliver local problem solving, but the introduction of Have Your Say meetings will allow neighbourhood teams to identify more quickly those specific local priorities that need attention. Thames Valley Police views the introduction of Have Your Say meetings as a positive step in tackling issues that matter most to the public. I welcome your support and engagement in this endeavour. Read more about Have Your Say meetings .
Contact the team
In an emergency always call 999. For non-emergencies call 101 or use Thames Valley Police's online reporting.
Recorded crime — June 2026
687 street-level crimes recorded within this team’s boundary.
Compared with May 2026 (658): ▲ 29 (4%) higher. Recorded-crime counts fluctuate month to month.
- Violence and sexual offences228 · 33%
- Shoplifting117 · 17%
- Anti-social behaviour80 · 12%
- Public order58 · 8%
- Other theft51 · 7%
- Criminal damage and arson39 · 6%
- Vehicle crime25 · 4%
- Bicycle theft18 · 3%
Street-level open data from data.police.uk (Open Government Licence v3.0), counted within this team’s official boundary. Locations on data.police.uk are approximate — snapped to anonymised map points near where each crime occurred — so figures are a guide, not an exact address-level count. Captured 2026-08-08.
What happened to reported crimes — June 2026
517 recorded outcomes logged within this team’s boundary.
- Investigation complete; no suspect identified255 · 49%
- Unable to prosecute suspect147 · 28%
- Local resolution57 · 11%
- Awaiting court outcome46 · 9%
- Offender given a caution6 · 1%
- Action to be taken by another organisation5 · 1%
Recorded outcomes from data.police.uk (Open Government Licence v3.0). A crime and its outcome can fall in different months, so these do not map one-to-one onto the crime counts above. Captured 2026-08-09.
Current priorities
Drugs being dealt – areas of interest Battle Square, Kensington Road and Chester Street. This has lead to groups of drug users hanging around and associated ASB. Drug dealing has also been reported on Alma street and Bridgewater close.
Plain clothed operations have been conducted within the priority areas using specialist departments. Individuals have been identified and ongoing work is going to be completed with closure orders being considered. We are looking in to further CCTV and have increased patrols in the West Village area.
Set: 2026-06-16
Retail shops in Reading Town Centre are targeted frequently by drug addicts who shoplift to support their habit.
Shoplifting remains an ever present issue within the Town Centre with continuous ongoing work to tackle the offending. The neighbourhood team have recently achieved a number of successful prosecutions which are often highlighted on social media. Diversionary work continues in a bid to prevent re-offending and the team continues to liaise directly with partner agencies in an attempt to reduce the demand from persistent offenders.
Set: 2026-07-01
Sex workers loiter on Western Elms Avenue throughout the evening and into the night, waiting for customers. This is noisy and increases ASB and litter in the area.
Ops continue to be run monthly to target the males who use sex workers and a number of CPWs have been issued and arrests made. We are also working with the council and support agencies to address the underlying causes of the issue.
Set: 2026-06-16
Public events & surgeries
Have Your Say
2026-07-23 · Lidl, Oxford Road, Reading
Have Your Say Event
Have Your Say
2026-07-31 · Kennet Walk, along Alexander Road Reading
Local PCSOs will be holding a HYS outside Tesco, Portman Road, Reading.
Have Your Say
2026-08-24 · Tesco, Portman Road, Reading
Have Your Say - opportunity to come along and discuss any policing matters that you may wish to report
Event listings reflect the last data refresh — check the official team page before attending.
Team locations
- Reading Police Station (station)Atlantic House, Imperial Way, Reading, RG2 0TD
Nearby teams in Thames Valley Police
- Minster and Katesgrove
- Mapledurham and Thames
- Peppard and Caversham
- Redlands and Park
- Southcote and Norcot
- Kentwood and Tilehurst
Source: data.police.uk API · Licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0 · Fetched 2026-07-13. BlueLineHub is independent and not affiliated with Thames Valley Police.