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Devon and Cornwall Police has announced how the force intends to work with local communities in their new Neighbourhood Policing Charter. Read our latest blog to learn more.
According to crime figures from the Office for National Statistics, Devon and Cornwall has consistently been rated in the top three safest areas to live in the UK. Having been assessed as the third safest policing area in England and Wales, Devon and Cornwall Police have launched their Neighbourhood Policing Charter, developed in consultation with local communities, partner agencies and others.
Policing charters like this are not new and later in this post we briefly look at other UK police forces that have previously launched their own. Charters of this type provide formal, detailed statements-of-intent against which police performance can be assessed and evaluated. They give the public valuable insight into exactly how the police force intends to deliver services and what people can expect from the force.
The new Devon and Cornwall Police charter is built around six fundamental themes, aimed at improving the quality of policing and boosting community safety in the south west.
Six Key Themes of the Charter
The six key themes of the new neighbourhood charter are:
- Visibility and Accessibility
- Responding to our communities
- Prevention
- Vulnerability
- Relationships
- Partnerships
Visibility and Accessibility
Locally based neighbourhood policing teams are responsible for undertaking what would be considered traditional local policing responsibilities. These teams play a vital role in supporting visibility and accessibility to police services. The new charter states that they will focus on persistent problems, such as anti-social behaviour, and local teams will dedicate time to address specific local problems. Police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) will be known to local communities and will take part in local engagement events. Communities can expect to receive regular updates on all ongoing issues and know exactly who their local police officers are.
Responding to Communities
In order to respond to local communities the Devon and Cornwall Police Force aims to undertake surveys and offer drop-in sessions to hear local concerns. They have committed to efficiency in quickly responding to feedback and correspondence and aim to make effective use of social media and other channels of communication.
Crime Prevention
The police force has stated that the prevention and reduction of crime is a priority that’s embedded in everything they do. They intend to focus their local teams on early intervention and prevent organised crime groups (OCGs) from becoming established in communities. All frontline police officers will undergo high quality training to enable the the provision of actionable crime prevention advice to communities.
Vulnerability
Importantly, the new charter emphasises how the force identifies those who are most vulnerable and ensures police resources are effectively targeted toward communities where the risk of harm is greatest. Neighbourhood Policing Teams will develop their understanding of those who are most vulnerable in their areas and the needs of the most vulnerable will be prioritised.
Relationships
The new charter recognises the importance of building and maintaining relationships. It recognises that policing is performed by consent and community relationships are vital in order to maintain that consent. Staff training is highlighted as a priority, as well as police officers and PCSOs being highly visible at parish council meetings, schools, care homes,churches and community events. The force will not only invest in established watch schemes, such as neighbourhood watch and farm watch, they will also develop new community-based watch schemes.
Partnerships
Devon and Cornwall Police acknowledge that problems and challenges are continuously evolving, growing in complexity and that they don’t always have what’s needed to deal with them. They recognise the need for collaborative solutions, supported by vital insight derived from developed partnerships. They intend to work more closely with other bodies, securely share data and effectively use data analysis tools to inform and improve decision making.
Do Local Policing Charters Work?
Hardly a week goes by without at least one of our Police Forces claiming that they need additional resources, be it extra funding or additional people to help to tackle the ever-growing list of areas added to their responsibilities. Therefore any initiative by the Police to get closer to, and to work with the local community should be applauded and supported.
Over recent years, and with some high-profile cases reported in the media, a number of Police Forces have faced criticism for a variety of failings, with some being placed into special measures.
Devon and Cornwall Police was one of the Forces placed into special measures, but having tackled many of the issues that led them to be placed there, they have now been taken out again, although they are still working on improvement in some areas including the recording of crime.
The new Neighbourhood Policing Charter is considered to be part of the Forces effort to make significant improvements and rebuild public trust in local policing. Acting chief constable Jim Colwell has stated that Devon & Cornwall Police is dedicated to neighbourhood policing and this is at the heart of the organisation. The new charter is intended to reinforce their pledge to provide quality policing services and to protect people from harm.
As previously noted, local policing charters like this are not new. In 2022 West Mercia Police Force launched their own local policing charter and Derbyshire Constabulary launched theirs at around the same time. If you look at the text of these charters and the features of regional websites it is clear that they all conform to a similar template.
The effectiveness and impact of these charters is apparently assessed by inviting feedback from local communities. Police forces have rebuilt their websites to make it simple for people to submit comments, their thanks and complaints, and they are using social media to improve engagement and communications.
Interestingly, over the last couple of years, a handful of people have submitted reviews of regional police forces to the Trustpilot reviews website. Devon and Cornwall Police has been the subject of 17 reviews, Derbyshire Police 21 reviews, and West Mercia Police 43 reviews.
It would be fair to say that averaging around a 2 star rating, there appears to remain plenty of room for improvement, however as always, with no risk of comeback, it is easy to criticise any organisation on-line. It’s good therefore to see some positive reviews mixed with the negative ones, and we should also recognise that reviews posted while Forces have been in special measures and / or involved in active improvement, do not necessarily reflect current levels of performance.
It obviously takes time for new practices and processes to bed in once a new Charter is launched, and for new relationships to be formed, so it will be interesting to see whether the new Devon & Cornwall Neighbourhood Policing Charter has any beneficial impact on people`s experience of policing in the south west, but we wish them every success.
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