More Investment Needed In Neighbourhood Policing

THERE needs to be more investment in neighbourhood policing if the force is to continue to get results, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

Chair Steve Kent was speaking after Labour pledged to tackle crime by putting an extra 13,000 neighbourhood police officers and police community support officers back on Britain’s streets.

Steve backed the plan, saying that neighbourhood policing had been neglected in recent years, but he added that South Yorkshire Police was making great strides.

He said: “In South Yorkshire it was a horror story when we basically got rid of neighbourhood policing 12 years ago. Now it’s back, and we’ve just received outstanding for our neighbourhood policing model, which is an unbelievable piece of work. It’s remarkable for our resources. Now we’ve got forces all over the country coming to the force to ask our advice, which is amazing.

“What we do need to see, though, is more bums on seats in neighbourhood policing. The model’s there, the structure’s there, the mechanics are there, but we just got to put some more petrol in and we’ve just got to get some of those resources in, because we’re started to see results. I know that’s something our Chief Constable is passionate about. We fully agree with that. And that reduces the strain on response policing, so it makes absolute sense.

“It’s also a public confidence issue. We hope that will get better now that we’ve got the systems in place. We want the local communities to start to recognise people more and more.”