Police Foundation: Neighbourhood policing is crucial for tackling 21st century crime

The Police Foundation studied local policing at first hand in four police forces and found that well-resourced neighbourhood teams were able to operate more effectively and were better placed to tackle crime and prevent harm. 

As the police look to tackle more complex, hidden and ‘new’ crime such as child sexual exploitation, fraud and terrorism, the Police Foundation today presents a set of recommendations for police leaders on how neighbourhood policing should adapt:

-      Neighbourhood policing should aspire to be the ‘first tier’ of policing, supported by the rest of the service rather than an ‘add on’ to response and investigation functions. 

-      There should be a partnership approach to tackling harm, risk and threat; neighbourhood teams are well placed to act as ‘gate-keepers’ to health, education and social services.

-      Neighbourhood policing teams need good connections with specialist policing units so there is a two way flow of intelligence between local and specialist teams. 

-      A one-size fits all model of neighbourhood policing is outdated. An understanding of local need and demand is crucial so that teams are situated where they are most needed. 

-      Neighbourhood police officers need to develop a full understanding of problems in their locality and implement plans to solve them, balancing response-led policing against the proactive work that is vital to addressing local issues that generate crime and demand.

-      Neighbourhood teams must offer stability and continuity of relationships amid shifting crime in fast changing, globally inter-connected neighbourhoods.

The Police Foundation recently worked with four police forces, looking at how the police can most effectively tackle traditional crime problems, and more complex crime, harm and risk. 

Our five year project which tackled local and persistent crime problems in Bedfordshire and Thames Valley showed contrasting situations in two towns: in Slough where there was one neighbourhood officer or PCSO for every 1,800 residents, officers were able own and deliver project work and participate with other agencies and the local community to tackle crime and harm. In Luton, which at the time of our research had one neighbourhood officer or PCSO for every 4,400 residents the reverse was true. 

Our two-year project  with Avon and Somerset and West Midlands police forces on the impact of organised crime on local communities showed intelligence flows between local officers, specialist policing teams and other agencies, and the public were vital to protecting victims and preventing crime.  

Police Foundation Director Rick Muir said “As vulnerability and harm reduction move higher up the policing agenda, police leaders must ensure they do not lose sight of the importance of neighbourhood policing, which far from being an ‘optional extra’ is more vital than ever. Our research has shown how strong neighbourhood policing ensures proactive capacity, local insight and outreach, trusted community contacts and inter-agency relationships which will provide vital tools for meeting the challenges of policing in the 21^st century”.

For more information contact the Police Foundation on 020 3752 5630 or catherine.saunders@police-foundation.org.uk. 

Notes to editors

The Police Foundation’s paper A natural experiment in neighbourhood policing is published today. It is the fourth publication from a major research project, Police Effectiveness in a Changing World, funded by the Dawes Trust. 

Drawing on observations from five years of research conducted in two police forces (Bedfordshire and Thames Valley), the paper describes the way in which two very different approaches to neighbourhood policing enabled and constrained effective working practices in two sites. Our findings showed:

1.     Neighbourhood policing is commonly viewed as an add-on to ‘core functions’ of response and investigation and as a consequence of austerity some forces have significantly cut back on their neighbourhood policing function.

2.     Local policing needs to be structured to allow meaningful resources to be directed at non-immediate goals, which if achieved should result in a reduction in demand for immediate, reactive resources.

3.     Proactive policing needs to be informed by local knowledge derived from effective use of the information held on police systems, from individuals in and data held by partner organisations, and from working closely with local people.

4.     To be effective in practical efforts to reduce crime, local police must have an underlying bedrock of engagement and consistent personal connection with people living in the places where they work.

5.     Building local knowledge and engaging and involving local people in making places safer is particularly challenging in changing and churning communities such as those encountered in this project.

The Foundation also studied the impact of serious organised crime on local communities (see http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/projects/reducing-the-impact-of-serious-organised-crime). Drawing on two years’ of research conducted in two police forces (Avon and Somerset Constabulary and West Midlands Police) our findings show: 

1.     Police and partner agencies had a poor understanding of the extent and impact of organised crime. 

2.     Attempts to bridge the knowledge gap through the development of multi-agency, problem-oriented approaches to tackling organised crime were hampered by poor information exchanges within and between agencies and the absence of clear guidance on what to collect and who should collect it.

3.     In communities where organised crime groups were feared, reporting rates were low and gathering intelligence from community members could be very challenging, giving the police little information to work with. 

Neighbourhood policing, sometimes called community or local policing, typically involves locally dedicated officers and PCSOs  building links with local people, and working proactively to tackle the problems most important to them, often in partnership with other local agencies and residents themselves.