Keeping in touch - stay up to date with policing in your neighbourhood

People living and working in Northamptonshire now have a variety of ways to contact their local police officers, get news and information about policing in their neighbourhood, have their say about local policing priorities and find out what’s being done to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

Northamptonshire Police’s neighbourhood policing teams cover the whole county and are made up of police officers and community support officers who have responsibility for policing a particular beat area.  Chief Superintendent Adam Ward, head of local response and neighbourhood policing across the county, explained how his officers are keeping in touch their communities both online and through traditional face to face engagement.

He said: “A vital part of a neighbourhood police officer’s role is to be visible and accessible within the community they police. Alongside regular patrols, officers hold surgeries in local venues on their patch, and you’ll also see them out and about with the Force’s two Neighbourhood Beat Buses.

“This provides a great opportunity for officers to meet and chat with people in person, but we know we’ll only get to speak with a limited number of people in this way. As such, it’s important we make use of online technologies and apps to help us reach and encourage dialogue with as many people as possible.

“One of the ways we do this is through our community messaging system, Northamptonshire Talking. This is a simple way for people to keep in touch with their neighbourhood team, and they can find out what’s happening in their area by signing up to receive regular email updates from their local officers.  

“It helps people stay informed about crime and policing activity local to them, and they can also reply to our messages to give feedback, ask a question, respond to a witness appeal or share information about local crime. Subscribers can also choose to receive messages in a language other than English.

“We’re keen to sign up as many people as possible so please visit www.northamptonshiretalking.co.uk to find out more.”

The local policing pages on the Force’s website have also been revamped to provide a range of easily accessible information.

Chief Supt Ward added: “The updated Your Area section on the Force website allows people to search for their neighbourhood team by postcode, where they can find out the names of their local officers and details of upcoming community surgeries and beat bus visits.

“The Contact Us tab provides another way for people to get in touch and there are also links to the team’s social media pages. The new crime map function gives an overview of the crimes that have happened in the local area, and information about local policing priorities and the actions being taken to deal with them can also be found on each team’s page.

“Through the website, our Northamptonshire Talking message updates, social media presence and regular community surgeries, we aim to provide as many opportunities as possible for people to get in touch and stay up to date with the policing activity in their neighbourhood.”

To find out more about your local neighbourhood team, who your local officers are and what they are doing to tackle crime in your area, visit www.northants.police.uk/yourarea. To share your views about the local policing priorities for your area, visit www.survey.northamptonshiretalking.co.uk.