The North East has seen sustained Government investment in policing over the last ten years. In 2008/09 total Government grants for policing in the region will be £185.8million more than they were in 1997/98. This has helped deliver 566 extra police officers and the region also now benefits from 764 Police Community Support Officers.
Every household across the country will have a dedicated neighbourhood policing team to solve local problems - contactable by phone or through community meetings. Details are also available through a new website.
Celebrating the successful rollout of Neighbourhood Policing, the PM and Home Secretary thanked police forces, under the leadership of ACPO, and police authorities for their hard work delivering a neighbourhood policing team in every community.
The new policing pledge, to be introduced later this year, will set out a national standard of what people can expect from their neighbourhood policing team. The standards could include arranging to visit you at a convenient time, regular reporting on the progress of detecting a crime, how a victim of crime is treated and supported, and how and when local crime information is provided to the public.
Neighbourhood policing teams will also be working with communities to set local priorities - whether it's tackling anti-social behaviour, drugs or alcohol- related crime for example. By drawing up local policing pledges, local people will have a real say over how their streets are policed.
This new approach is part of the Government's wider reform of policing and coincides with the start of new Public Service Agreements which set out the Government's clear commitment to focus policing around local priorities, as well as continuing to tackle serious crime.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:
"This marks a new era of policing. Police forces right across the country have done a magnificent job delivering this ambitious goal to give every household a dedicated police team. I congratulate them.
"Every community now has a visible, contactable, and accountable policing team, working with local people to keep their neighbourhood safe.
"I'm determined that every person has access to the same level of support and service when it comes to policing. That is why we are launching a new policing pledge to give everyone the opportunity to be involved in setting priorities in their area. I encourage everyone to get involved and have a say about how their streets are policed."
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:
"This marks the start of a fundamentally different approach to policing - with the citizen at its heart. I am delighted to have reached this momentous milestone with over 3,600 neighbourhood policing teams in place, consisting of 13,500 police officers and over 16,000 Police Community Support Officers. I congratulate all the forces involved.
"This new approach to policing builds on changes also starting today to slash red tape and reduce central targets for police - freeing them up to spend more time on local priorities and tackling serious crime."
Matt Baggott, Chief Constable of Leicestershire and ACPO lead for Neighbourhood Policing, said:
"Every area now has a team of staff dedicated to listening to local concerns and responding to them. Although a great achievement for the service, it is even better news for the people we serve who are noticing the difference. Public confidence continues to rise as does the level of awareness amongst local people of who their teams are and how to contact them."
"Problems faced by communities vary and we need to be realistic that in some cases there are no overnight fixes. That said, all over England and Wales neighbourhood policing teams are making a huge difference to improve people's lives."
Association of Police Authorities Chair Bob Jones said:
"This is a major achievement and credit goes to all police authorities and forces. Police authorities have worked extensively with their forces to ensure that neighbourhood policing is available and accessible to everyone.
"We know from our consultations with communities that they want a visible local policing presence to help solve local crime and disorder problems. Neighbourhood policing teams, working together with other local partners, will give them just that, and bring the opportunity for people to have a greater say in finding local solutions to local problems."
Pople will be able to find contact details for their local teams online at www.direct.gov.uk/neighbourhoodpolicing
