Neighbourhood Policing, and PCSOs

My role at Sussex Police invvoles:

• Dispatching the most appropriate officers and resources to emergency incidents and incidents requiring prompt attendance.
• Keeping in regular contact with officers using the airwave radio system, updating and monitoring cads.
• Having initial command and control of incidents, often dealing with these incidents simultaneously.
• Prioritising incidents based on the threat, harm and risk. Regularly reviewing these incidents.
• Undertaking authorised searches on various police systems to support response officers with Intelligence gathering.
• Taking calls from other agencies, including other police forces, ambulance, fire service and coastguard.

I enjoy the variety of the role, every day is different. I joined Sussex Police in 2009 as a Crime Management Assistant. After a year i applied to be a 999 call taker, as i was attracted to the fast paced environment and after 3 years in this role, I became a Controller which I have been doing for 10 years. 

After working for Sussex Police for 14 years, it is incredibly difficult to remember one thing i am most proud of. Every week the role enables me the opportunities to help find strands of intel that are missing, for example, to help locate suspects of crime or high risk missing people.

Over the years I have helped to locate a murder suspect in his vehicle fleeing the scene by using ANPR, kept a lady calm who had fallen onto a ledge over Beachy Head and had regretted her decision. I helped to work out her location, engage in conversation until the coastguard could rescue her. Many times during the call the chalk started crumbling and I had to react quickly to calm/distract her again.

I have helped officers gain entry to the back of a town house by using our mapping system. They couldn't force the front door and the female had hung herself inside. Thankfully by finding an alternative route on a different road, officers gained entry and saved her.

More recently I was recognised by our Chief Inspector for helping save a lady's life who had gone into woodland in the early hours to take her life. I pieced together her last movements through the night and realised what she had done before anyone else had yet noticed. I resourced a dog unit and she was located and taken to hospital. I have always been proud of working alongside police officers in this civilian role and the differences we can make to our communities.

My role in the Central Crime Recording and Resolution Unit (CRRU) at Greater Manchester Police is to take and make calls to/from the public and assist them when they are victim's of crime whether that is offering civil advice, referring to suitable agencies such as action fraud and recording crimes based on the information they provide.

I enjoy interacting with different members of the public and expanding my knowledge daily being aware of new legislations and policies that come into play. I enjoy working alongside my team to provide the best customer service possible to our customers that trust us enough to provide information and open up about the crime's that they have fallen victim to.

I started working as an apprentice doing a Customer Service Level 2. As my love for the job grew, so did my knowledge and confidence, enough to enable me to be recognised by supervision and management and be offered a full time role.

I have been trusted on multiple occasions and approached by managers and supervision personally to mentor and train new and current staff so they can reach their full potential in the role. I am most proud of this as it shows that all my hard work and dedication pays off.

My role is provide overarching support to the Neighbourhood Policing Teams at West Yorkshire Police, through a variety of core functions, processes, mechanisms, and support.

My responsibilities are vast but some of the key outputs for the role are as follows:

• To monitor, review and grade the incident reports in respect to ASB and vulnerability calls on the Anti-Social and Vulnerability Analytical Tool (ASVAT).
• To highlight any emerging problems, missed vulnerability actions or Crime Data Integrity issues to the Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant, the Force Call Centre Supervisors or Force Crime Management Unit as appropriate via the agreed reporting methods. In addition, the recording of any new crimes identified as part of the ASVAT process or on behalf of the Office of the Force Crime Registrar.
• Responsibility for the maintenance of the NPT social media web sites including the researching and compiling of Neighbourhood Policing units’ news in liaison with the Force press office that would be of interest to the community and local media.
• To organise and assist in the organisation of internal and external events for the NPT, including, venue bookings, availability of staff and relevant equipment. Liaising with partner agencies for collaborative approach, days/weeks of action and operations.
• Collating and analysing data, creating Neighbourhood Profiles and Areas of Interest and informing the NPT Supervisors of areas of concern, trending crimes and incidents and identifying locations and repeat victims where there may be a requirement for a problem-solving approach for early intervention.
• Keeping the public up to date in relation to the work of the the Neighbourhood Policing Team, local priority updates and actions taken to address issues, in the 'You Said, We Did' format. Promoting positive action taken and ensuring Police and Community Together meetings, contact points and NPT events are published across a range of channels and via our key partners to promote and encourage engagements.
• Formulating and writing local news releases.
• Management of the Community Safety Tasking documents, updates, data, and attendee lists, along with the circulation of the invites. Attending all meetings when working, recording minutes and providing a range of up-to-date key information and data for a collaborative approach, to better serve communities and address local issues identified, whilst noting positive actions taken, sharing key funding information, wards events, local provisions and good news.
• Delivering key and important information to the NPT teams and partners, to help them better serve the communities of Leeds East - examples include sharing information on agencies, third sectors and their referrals, local activities, engagement opportunities and information in respect of the Partnership Intelligence Portal.
• Mapping of communities and identifying communities to engage with, as part of the Community Engagement Strategy, whilst adding all engagements into the PWA calendar.
• Creating local news releases, posters and identifying media/potential engagement gaps for example identifying key media items from WYP ie videos on how to contact the police, Not 999 calls and pocket dials could be shared within local community hubs. This work was completed following.

The work is vast supporting the NPT Teams, other operational departments for weeks of action, partner agencies and the public. Pretty much anything and everything that can be done to help the Neighbourhood Policing Teams build stronger and safer communities, whilst ensuring the communities we serve best interests, safety and inclusion are at the forefront in what we do collectively.

What I enjoy most is knowing that the work I do helps in making a difference. Despite being extremely busy on a day-to-day basis, the work variety is great, there are lots of opportunities to become actively involved in service delivery, even if not on the front line.

Knowing that the work and support mechanisms I provide are there to better serve communities, keep them updated, whilst continually looking at areas we can improve to provide safer, stronger, and inclusive communities for all. In addition, being given the opportunity to be able to share my ideas and implement them, along with working with many likeminded people who genuinely care about the communities we serve and wanting to provide the best service we can.

I applied for the role following a period of thirteen years as a Police Community Support Officer. I actively looked at postings, but knew I needed to be in a role that helped others and had a strong focus on communities. When I saw the role of District Neighbourhood Support Officer advertised, it was almost like it was created at the right time, for me and would mean I could still support NPT and communities. (Perfect timing!). I applied and was thankfully successful in the interview, returning the locality I was a PCSO for many years.

Whilst I have been nominated and received a range of awards, from Assistant Chief Constable award for extraordinary service, employee of the month, nominated and shortlisted for the force awards for my service delivery, I have to say my greatest achievement/what I am most proud of is dedicating the last 18 years to Leeds East Neighbourhood Policing Teams.

I find there is just something that draws me to the very busy area, to the wide and diverse range of communities, the wonderful community spirit, along with the issues some communities face with several of them being the most deprived localities across the country.

It is a want to try and make things better, to help improve the quality of service we provide for all making sure that all communities receive a level of service that is deserved, right and just.

I am proud of what I deliver to support the NPT Teams and communities, knowing that the contributions and efforts delivered are well received, appreciated and that I am helping others.

My role as a PCSO at Greater Manchester Police is to be a link to the community, intelligence gather and problem solve long standing and high demand issues.

I enjoy the variety my role affords me, it allows me to get involved in various types of community events and use legislation to resolve complex issues.

I wanted to be a police officer when I was younger, however, I decided to apply for the PCSO role to gain experience first, 17 years later here I am still doing the role.

I have several big achievements that I am very proud of throughout my career, however, my latest achievement was to secure an order against a juvenile of which it was the first of its kind.

This case also is supported by the fact the victim had been suffering for approx. 18 months and felt her voice was not being heard. This result will give her and her family some welcomed relief and safeguarding measures to positively impact her life.

I have various duties in my role at Lincolnshire Police:

• Community Engagement.
• Contact for Primary and Secondary schools for the St Neots NPT. St Neots Youth PSG.
• Traveller liaison officer for St Neots.
• Attending community meetings.
• Contact for social housing providers.
• Community patrols with councillors.

I had a friend that was a PCSO with Lincolnshire Police and he advised me to join in 2006. I like that it is a different job every shift and that you can help people in a positive way and in some cases change their life and the choices they make. I have seen this especially in some of the young persons I have helped.

My proudest moments are working with some of the young people on the fringe of crime and working with local sports clubs to divert them from local drug gangs. 

My role at West Mercia involves complex problem solving and working with multi-agencies to formulate working strategies. This is to address issues which present themselves and deal with problems in the community. I have built up a large portfolio of contacts in various departments both internally and externally, that allows me to assist SNT's and help them problem solve.

I am an ASB specialist and advise colleagues on methods of to deal with it effectively. I also work closely with the Community Safety Engagement officers in identifying seldom heard communities and establishing links with them to ensure that they receive a high level of service. This will involve me being out and about in uniform and promoting Neighbourhood matters and or speaking with communities which are often overlooked. I will also ensure that any relevant work with partners/groups/communities is posted on social media, ensuring that any good work is promoted.

I enjoy problem solving, meeting people, multi-agency working, writing and co-ordinating operations and working on projects to help the community.

After nearly 10 years of being a PCSO, I have a vast array of experience. I quickly became something of a specialist in writing operations involving police and partners to address various issues - ASB/speeding/bike thefts/NPCC calendar priorities. Often going above and beyond what was expected of me. I have conducted over 50 in the Wyre Forest now for various reasons and have had some excellent results with objectives achieved and media coverage.

It has meant that our relationships with partners have been galvanised and we have demonstrated to the public that we have taken their issues seriously. The role of Senior PCSO was advertised and I applied as I felt this was a perfect fit for me, given the job description. I have mentored 6 student PCSO's and this gave me the confidence of being placed in a 'supporting role' to other SNT's.

My proudest achievement was after winning PCSO of the year 2023 at the Quality Policing Awards and being personally recognised by Chief Constable Pippa Mills.

Alison has been described as someone who consistently goes above and beyond for her colleagues, partners and her community displaying commitment, pride and passion. Alison is a PCSO at Lancashire Constabulary, based in Grange Park, Blackpool - a challenging area where trust from the community must be earned.

Alison has consistently done this by developing new and exciting ways to engage with her community, build relationships, solving problems and promoting a better understanding of the work we do.

Alison’s innovative approaches include ‘Acts of Kindness’ competitions, Operation Role Play and Operation McLane which involved local children and Police Cadets participating in events where they could ‘be a police officer’ for a day undertaking fingerprinting, wearing public order equipment, arresting their friends and dealing with a crime scene.

Alison is a dedicated and much-loved Volunteer Police Cadet Leader. Alison involves the Cadets in her community, whether it be providing hi-visibility patrols in burglary hotspots, staffing at community events, or supporting her with other creative and innovative projects!

Alison Williams was recently awarded the George Herbert Redman Award. When nominating Alison, PS Thomas Higgs stated: “I firmly believe that Alison epitomises the principles of The George Herbert Redman trust in everything she does, often using her own time and resources to do so.“

Her natural public service motivation is an absolute asset to the team, the constabulary, and the community that she works in, and I cannot imagine a person more fitting for this award".