Bedfordshire to benefit from extra 20 officers to boost neighbourhood policing

The new officers will be joined by eight Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) who will be recruited within the next 12 months.

In addition, a further 10 student officers will be recruited to be deployed into community roles at the end of their training.

The extra officers will increase police visibility, especially in town centres. And, as part of the Government's Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, it ensure every urban and rural neighbourhood has a named officer.

Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, John Tizard, said: "The Prime Minister’s announcement is both exciting and welcome – the Safer Streets Mission and Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee reflects my own mission in the Police and Crime Plan to reinvigorate local policing.

"For Bedfordshire, I have secured £1.8million of extra funding for this new financial year, and in partnership with the government I expect to expand the community police team further annually over the next four years.

"Community policing is core to ensuring public confidence in policing. Community policing is no soft option. It is hard edged policing. It is core to prevention, problem solving and intelligence gathering.

"Good community policing is about much more than just recruiting a bigger team. It is about developing a new approach to local policing, where the police work with local communities and other public professionals, collaborating at a neighbourhood level to set priorities, prevent crime and address wider social problems. It is core to ensuring a safer, fairer Bedfordshire."

Bedfordshire Chief Constable, Trevor Rodenhurst, added: “Community policing is at the heart of what we do. These extra officers will allow us to increase visibility in our neighbourhoods and build relationships with businesses and residents to work together to problem-solve at an early stage and prevent issues escalating into serious criminality.

“We are committed to making our streets safer and have already had some exceptional successes targeting hotspot areas for anti-social and criminal behaviour.

“This includes the setting up of our Community Enforcement Team, a dedicated resource focused on providing targeted activity against identified community issues and concerns which will be bolstered by the new neighbourhood funding.

“We also work closely with our partners on interventions in areas such as High Town in Luton, and Biggleswade, where bespoke plans have helped to improve the safety and security of residents, cut down on anti-social behaviour and tackle issues including drugs and sexual exploitation.”