Suffolk Constabulary introduces new neighbourhood policing model across county

Suffolk Constabulary's restructure of local policing across the county is 'great news' according to the police and crime commissioner.

The new neighbourhood model, which came into force today, has seen more than 100 police officers move into Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs).

The extra resource aims to ensure the constabulary is able to respond to increasing demand and the public’s desire for more visible policing.

The changes mean more than 150 PCs and 28 sergeants will work in SNTs.

However, the number of police community support officers (PCSOs) has been reduced from the 81 full-time equivalent (FTE) PCSOs employed in July to 48 FTE PCSOs. Of these, 30 will work in SNTs.

Tim Passmore, Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk, said: "The message that comes through loud and clear when I speak to local communities is they want much greater visibility and I’m pleased to say we have listened.

"From today we will see an extra 104 police officers moving into the Safer Neighbourhood Teams, which is great news."

Other changes include new community engagement officers and a serious crime disruption team, aimed at tackling crime trends.

Three neighbourhood and partnerships teams (NPT) have been created to be responsible for the management of rural crime, licensing and retail/business crime.

Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Kearton said: "Moving more than 100 officers will allow us to be more effective in meeting the challenges we are facing.

"Our goal was to keep redundancies to as few as possible and ensure our staff were re-deployed wherever possible. A vast majority of the PCSOs who were put at risk have been retained within the organisation where their skills and experience will continue to be used.

"These changes to improve our policing model will be closely monitored and evaluated over the coming 12 months to ensure they are effective.”

Safer Neighbourhood Teams breakdown:

• Mildenhall – 14 PCs/ 3 sgts /3 PCSOs
• Bury St Edmunds – 14 PCs/3 sgts/4 PCSOs
• Stowmarket – 9 PCs/ 2 sgts/3 PCSOs