Northamptonshire’s Chief Constable and Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner have reaffirmed their commitment to visible and accessible local policing, following a visit to the re-opened front office and public enquiry desk at Campbell Square Police Station in Northampton.
Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet and Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone visited the new front office at Campbell Square to talk to staff about the relocation, as they further develop their plans to provide a stronger police presence in the county’s major towns.
The front office and public enquiry desk re-opened at the station in January, after relocating from its previous base at Northampton Guildhall. Bringing the enquiry desk back into a traditional police station location enables greater access to other policing services, such as neighbourhood policing teams. It also provides a better and safer environment for enquiry desk staff.
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone explained that putting visible and accessible local policing is at the heart of her public safety plan for Northamptonshire.
She said: “The Chief Constable and I share an absolute commitment to putting police officers in the heart of the communities they serve and making it easier for the public to contact their police.
“We are actively looking at ways to give Northamptonshire Police a stronger presence in the county’s other major towns. This could be through shared hubs with other organisations, seeking innovative ways of engaging the community, or by opening new facilities of our own, and we will balance the needs of the community with the operational demands of policing.
“We are working on this as fast as we can to ensure police officers are visible and accessible in the heart of neighbourhoods across the county.”
As well as reviewing the accessibility of its public-facing contact points, the Chief and Commissioner also remain committed to further strengthening neighbourhood policing in Northamptonshire. There is a renewed focus on proactive, prevention-focused community policing, and a strong partnership approach to targeted action in areas with higher levels of crime and social issues.
Chief Constable Balhatchet said: “Alongside our ambition to develop community hubs in key locations across the county, and our commitment to supporting our rural communities through better access to and engagement with their local neighbourhood and rural crime officers, we are also introducing new teams dedicated to proactive crime-fighting, reduction and prevention.
“The forthcoming introduction of a new neighbourhood crime team, as well as a realignment of Operation Revive resources with a team focused on ‘clear hold build’ principles, will strengthen our neighbourhood policing and help drive down crime and anti-social behaviour in local communities.
“The Neighbourhood Crime Team, which is set to launch in April, will focus on burglary and personal robbery. Neighbourhood constables will work alongside detectives to respond to and investigate those crimes that can really impact on feelings of safety within communities.”
“The Clear, Hold, Build team will build on the Operation Revive programme. This has seen neighbourhood teams working with response colleagues and detectives as well as councils, schools, social services and other partners, to take a multi-faceted approach to tackling crime in a specific community.
“Dedicating greater resources to this will allow us to identify and focus on the areas that really need it, whatever their size or location. This an exciting progression of the Op Revive approach, where these principles have already helped achieve safer, stronger communities in the Kings Heath and Blackthorn areas of Northampton.”
Clear, Hold, Build can be described as a three-step plan that sees organised crime, criminals and their associates cleared from an area through targeted investigative and enforcement activity. The area is then held and stabilised through high visibility policing, assistance from partner agencies and community support.
Mr Balhatchet added: “In the meantime, our neighbourhood policing teams continue to work hard to be visible and accessible in their local communities, engaging with those who live and work on their patch, and tackling the issues that cause most concern to local people.
“I encourage people to take the opportunity to speak with and share any concerns or information with their local officers and PCSOs. They can do this face to face such as at community surgery, or online via our website or community messaging service.”
Anyone wanting more information about neighbourhood policing, who their local officers are and how to contact them, can find out more at www.northants.police.uk/neighbourhoods. To receive email updates about crime and policing from local officers, sign up to the Force’s community messaging service Northamptonshire Talking.
The Campbell Square enquiry desk is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, and the locations and opening times of all the public enquiry desks can be found on the Northamptonshire Police website in the Contact Us section.
