Posters to outline police's 'community commitment'

Published on Thursday 2 September 2010 16:51

POSTERS of dozens of community beat officers are set to be mounted in public buildings across the Lothians as part of the force's new "community commitment" scheme.

The roll-out is designed to help residents identify officers tasked with policing their local area and make it easier to approach with problems.

The photographs are set to be posted in community centres, town halls, and libraries, while police surgeries will be held for residents to attend.

Along with the posters, the community commitment agenda makes "11 promises", including pledges to identify the public's top three policing priorities for each area.

Chief Constable David Strang said he wanted the scheme to demonstrate the force's dedication to having "highly visible" officers on the ground despite fears over budgets cuts.

Mr Strang faces the prospect of losing 20 per cent of force funding over the next five years, with measures including overtime freezes and voluntary redundancy for police staff already introduced.

He said: "With all the talk about budget cuts, we want to show we remain committed to our communities and responding to their needs.

"In each area, we're looking to work with residents to identify their top three priorities. They could be anything from low-level offences to housebreakings or drug dealings."

"Successful policing depends on the relationship between the public and the force. They need to know we're on their side and that becomes easier when they know the name and face of their local officer. And if we hold surgeries people know they can come along to raise their concerns in person, not by phoning up an organisation."

Among the other community commitment pledges was a promise to attend emergencies within ten minutes in the Capital, and 20 minutes elsewhere in the Lothians.

Mr Strang added: "We want to get people's views but also give them feedback about what the police are doing about an issue. We don't want them to raise a concern and be unaware of how it was dealt with.

"The budget is a political issue which will be resolved politically. We want to target the resources we have where they're needed most.

"However Scottish forces are structured in the future, the vast majority of policing is about how we respond to local concerns. Our community commitment is concerned with improving that further."

The community commitment programme was launched at Pathhead Village Hall in Midlothian yesterday.

Ed McNairn, whose wife Jackie runs the Pathhead Youth Project (PYP) at the hall, said: "People see community officers walking about and can talk to them, and if any wee issues pop up, then those bits of information that the officers receive can maybe stop bigger issues from happening, by knocking them on the head there and then."

Pledges to you

Police chiefs have made 11 pledges to the public.

1. Make sure you know who local officers are and how to contact them

2. Be visible and accessible in your area

3. Work on community priorities first and foremost

4. Arrange regular community meetings

5. Work with you to identify local concerns

6. Work with others to solve these problems

7. Regularly update you with progress made

8. Answer 90 per cent of 999 calls within ten seconds

9. Answer 90 per cent of non-emergency calls within 40 seconds

10. Get to emergencies within ten minutes in the city, 20 minutes elsewhere

11. Help you understand how to report crime, and what happens after you do