Local policing teams are groups of officers dedicated to serving the community. Teams are made up of officers based in an area, supported by additional officers from the wider area. 

Teams work closely with local authorities, organisations, partners and residents to decide policing priorities. This helps teams find long-term solutions to local problems thereby reducing calls for service to deal with those problems. 

A series of governments as well as independent reports subsequently drew attention to a range of issues and challenges and identified good practice in neighbourhood policing. Increasing emphasis was placed on how best to capture the needs and expectations of local communities and involve them in decisions. Known as citizen-focused policing, this variation on neighbourhood policing emphasised the importance of community engagement in securing the trust and confidence of residents. The government of the day underlined this with the introduction of a single target for the police – to improve public confidence

Major change often results in the long term being sacrificed to the short term, the important giving way to the urgent, the strategic being supplanted by the pragmatic. The key benefits of neighbourhood policing – the construction of trust, confidence and legitimacy – are long term, important and strategic and hence at risk. The chances of igniting a vicious circle, whereby prevention is replaced with reaction and demand spirals, are high. Well-known, also described as fast time policing and slow time policing. Fire Brigade policing versus meeting the same public, forming local relations through engagement methods, thereby investing in trust with community reps. Being on duty in a set area each working day making them visible and present each day.

 The key question is: What is the role and purpose of the police and where does neighbourhood policing fit into this? If the public’s priorities for policing are paramount, then neighbourhood policing must be protected. The public values highly the visibility and accessibility of neighbourhood patrols and having a say in what priorities their local police should take.

Fundamental Connections with Crime Investigation

In 1983 Neighbourhood Watch was set up and established by the Criminal Investigations Department at Thorpe Wood Polce Station for the Peterborough area. The principle clearly, when investigating crime, what information does the detective/investigator   want/need and from what sources is it available?

Research of effective neighbourhood watch highlights three basic areas of activity that local schemes should be doing for most effect.