A week recognising community and neighbourhood policing has been marked by Durham Constabulary.
With fewer than a third of the incidents that the force deal with being reports of crime, the neighbourhood policing teams are often called upon to respond and provide assistance in the community.
Earlier this month neighbourhood officers PCSO’s Kirsty Lawrence and Steven Bell responded to a call from a member of the public reporting they had found a confused elderly couple at the Arnison centre. They provided information that the couple were disorientated and that they previously lived in Jarrow but were travelling in a different direction on a bus towards South Shields. PCSO Lawrence identified that she knew the couple and had previously attended their home address.
After tracking the bus on the Go North East app they were able to arrange for units to intercept the bus in Chester-le-Street. The couple were then taken home by PCSOs.
PCSO Bethany Mason explains to Bishop FM that there are different sections within the force, such as response policing, CID and traffic, as well as neighbourhood policing.
“Our main kind of focus is to look to problem solve issues and take a look into things that are causing high harm in a little bit more detail,” says Bethany.
Last week the team responded to calls around anti-social behaviour, off-road bikes and requests to pick up CCTV footage.
The force is currently recruiting for Police Community Support Officers.
Applications for the role, which provides a visible, accessible and approachable uniformed presence in communities, is open until 5pm on 5 February at http://tinyurl.com/yz9sxmx9
Residents in Durham and Darlington can keep up-to-date with information from Durham Constabulary’s neighbour policing teams on the Keep in the Know website.
The alerts from the neighbourhood policing teams include crime updates, road closures and requests for CCTV information.