Getting up close and personal

8:49am Wednesday 2nd April 2008

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When Roger Baker became Essex's chief constable he delivered all the usual suspects during his first press conference.

Reduction in crime (Essex would be a no-go area for all criminals), detections up, antisocial behaviour and fear of crime down, safer roads - they were all there.

So, too, was a determination to get us on their side; Mr Baker was, is, big on our satisfaction.

But then he came out with something which we thought had become our pipe-dream. He talked about getting up close and personal.

He wanted police officers on the "frontline" - and he certainly did not want them deskbound at police headquarters in Chelmsford or the county's larger police stations. He wanted them at community police stations and he wanted those stations manned 24/7.

Roger Baker was promising what we craved - police officers we could see and who would be there for us. Bobbies back on the beat? It all sounded a little too good to be true, especially as not all police officers shared their chief constable's enthusiasm.

Fast forward three years or thereabouts and neighbourhood policing has become part of our communities - and not just in Essex.

The Association of Police Authorities has just launched a national campaign insisting a "new era" has arrived, boasting "a dedicated and visible policing team" in every community - and it all began in Essex. Or, more precisely, Colchester and Tendring.

"It had always been the intention (of the Association of Police Authorities) that neighbourhood policing schemes would go national and be up and running by April, 2008 - in other words, now," said Sgt Chris Barker. "But Roger Baker wanted Essex's scheme live long before that deadline, and the Eastern Division (Colchester and Tendring) was first. We ironed out the bugs."

The Eastern Division was the "pathfinder", the guinea pig. It saw neighbourhood policing as the way forward and ran with it. Eighteen months later, Sgt Barker, Colchester's neighbourhood policing project manager, believes police and people working closer together has made communities in Colchester and Tendring better places.

In fact, to coincide with the Home Office's "new era" poster campaign, Essex Police chose Colchester to launch its A Name in Every Neighbourhood scheme which, via A5 leaflets and the internet, gives a named officer for every neighbourhood.

"The whole point of neighbourhood policing is to get out into our communities and find out what issues members of those communities have," said Sgt Barker. "Together with PCSOs (police community support officers) and special constables, we are tackling those issues through neighbourhood action panels."

In the past three years, most crimes in Essex have dropped ten per cent. Unfortunately, people don't see it that way. Fear of crime is still an uphill struggle - for all police forces, not only Essex - but neighbourhood policing is making a difference.

"There are 17 neighbourhood police teams in Colchester, based on council wards, and many of those neighbourhoods will have different issues which affect residents' quality of life," said Sgt Barker.

"These issues range from drugs and abusive people to litter and bad parking. They are raised at neighbourhood action panels' meetings and we try to work out what can be done."

Not everyone has the time or the inclination to turn up to those meetings. Which is why Sgt Barker stressed it is "so important" for police officers and PCSOs to be out on their "patches".

"One of the key issues is how do police officers engage residents? People are far more likely to talk about their concerns when asked in the street or on their doorstep by a police officer," he said. "So, we knock on doors, patrol streets and visit schools to talk to parents. This is how we find out what is going on and what we can do to improve matters."

Sgt Barker calls this type of grass roots policing high level customer service. It's pro-active, too.

"When PCSO Angharad Philips was told about antisocial behaviour at Colchester High Woods, she decided to set up a work scheme with residents, young people and the business community, including the local supermarket, on the estate," he said.

"It could be something as simple as a litter-pick, but the idea is to bring about changes in their community and for everyone to get pride from their contribuition."

Bobbies on the beat - and some.

BOBBIES ON THE BEAT

The Colchester and Tendring areas (Eastern Division) have:

• 410 police officers
• 85 PCSOs (police community support officers)
• 118 special constables
• 13 volunteers who help man the front offices at community police stations including those in Mersea, Tiptree and Colchester Shrub End
  
  MAKING CONTACT
  
  For more information about community policing, neighbourhood action panels, the A Name in Every Neighbourhood scheme or to contact local teams, go to the websites below or call the Essex Police non-emergency number on 0300 333 4444 or Colchester police on 01206 762212.