Shake-up promises more community police but broader police areas

Thames Valley Police is introducing 80 more community police into its force – and is also shifting the command centres to have fewer covering a broader area.

Currently, there are 11 local police areas (LPAs), which includes one in Windsor and Maidenhead and another in Slough – a structure that has been in place since 2010.

By contrast, the five new command areas will cover larger geographic areas under the banners of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire East, Berkshire West and Oxfordshire.

The force has said that it is ‘working in a more complex environment’ with a rise in digital crime and complex offences, such as child sexual exploitation and county drugs lines.

Moving to a five-area command model gives TVP the ‘flexibility to refocus current teams’, which would allow 20 officers to work with schools and 10 officers focused on mental health.

The 20 officers will ‘a variety of tactics to target those posing the greatest threat to the community’, such as those who carry weapons.

There is set to be a new ‘harm reduction unit’ which will monitor and enforce Domestic Violence Protection Orders, among other things.

A key responsibility is responding to 999 calls.

Incident response ‘will be based on demand modelling’ which is currently being reviewed.

The police thinking is that moving to a five-area command model with more officers based across the neighbourhoods could reduce overall response times.

Some current vacancies in PCSO roles can be converted to police officer posts ‘dedicated to supporting neighbourhood policing’.

This will ‘not result in the removal of PCSOs’, which the force ‘recognise[s] is a critical part’ of visible patrolling and engagement with the community.

“However, with no clear career progression and lack of consistent supervision, the PCSO role is currently difficult to recruit and retain,” the force said.

A new PCSO supervisor role is intended, to provide this career progression and add greater supervision.

In seeking these changes, TVP asked for feedback on its proposals in March.

In response, it has addressed some fears over visible policing and local knowledge, among other concerns.

There are 108 neighbourhoods across Thames Valley and ‘this will not change’, the force stressed.

Moving to five local command units (LCUs) ‘will double the number of police constables in ‘visible patrol roles’ of neighbourhood policing.

“No neighbourhood area will see any reduction in the number of PCs and most will see increases,” TVP added.

Respondents also raised concerns that the new model would mirror a similar move by the Met in 2018 and could result in negative cultural changes within TVP.

The force responded that because TVP is much smaller than the Met, this structural change is ‘not comparable’ to those made in the Met in 2018.

It says it has ‘carefully reviewed’ the report into standards of behaviour and culture at the Met and considered them against TVP’s force proposals.

Though respondents also raised concerns about road issues such as speeding, driving recklessly, motorbikes and scooters, those do not fall under this particular review.

The force will now begin implementing of the new five-area command model. This will not be an immediate change, but a phased approach ‘to ensure a smooth transition.’