NEIGHBOURHOOD policing is vital for police officers to build links with local communities, the Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Zuleika Payne was responding to comments by Neil Basu, the Senior National Counter-Terrorism Co-ordinator, who said funding cuts for local policing could harm intelligence efforts and hamper vital preventative work.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police has made a conscious decision to invest in neighbourhood policing, despite budget cuts, a move that Zuleika said was vital.<\/p>\n
She explained: \u201cWhen the cuts started to bite, the organisation had to look within and review different ways of working, the concern at the time was the loss of neighbourhood policing and the impact that this would have.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what we now find is that we are resurrecting neighbourhood policing and looking at local uniform policing patrols. We feared that a lack of engagement in our communities would be of detriment, we know only too well that neighbourhood policing is absolutely vital, it is core to what we do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to have the engagement with the community, we\u2019ve got to have very frank and open and honest dialogue and it has to be a two-way conversations. It\u2019s the communities that are our intelligence source so it\u2019s really important that we secure that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at the horrific incidents that have taken place this year, it highlights the need to have that exchange of information and a police presence on the streets. We need a neighbourhood policing model in order to build trust and confidence among communities, ultimately striving to improve how we answer to the needs of the community and gather the intelligence and the information that\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Zuleika says that the force\u2019s work has been made harder by the shrinking budgets that have led to reduced officer numbers.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to get any more officers and we\u2019re not going to get any more money, so what we\u2019ve had to look at is how we reintroduce neighbourhood policing, bringing back a neighbourhood policing model with vastly reduced officer numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe organisation will have to examine how we pool our resources, recognising this is key if we are going to be effective. Other areas of the organisation may have to work differently, working smarter to try and reduce the demand on response officers so that we can facilitate the creation of neighbourhood policing teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe budget cuts are key to all of this, we\u2019ve lost so many officers, we\u2019ve got depleted resources. We need a sustainable model if we are going to keep our communities safe and deliver the service they deserve.<\/p>\n