Enhancing neighbourhood policing and early intervention among key targets in Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Gary Godden’s plan

Neighbourhood policing and support for vulnerable young people is to be strengthened as part of a new four-year policing plan.

Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Gary Godden’s new Police and Crime Plan ‘A Safer Nottinghamshire For All’ was launched in the city yesterday (March 20), and outlines priorities including tackling violence against women and girls, knife crime, anti-social behaviour, and enhancing neighbourhood policing and community cohesion.

Mr Godden’s core pledges are to put communities and victims first, to strengthen partnership working and to ensure effective and resilient policing with an aim to support Nottinghamshire Police to become one of the strongest performing police forces in the country.

“My vision is for a Nottinghamshire where communities are safe, feel safe and have the highest levels of trust and confidence in local policing, community safety and criminal justice services,” said Mr Godden.

“I feel privileged to publish my first Police and Crime Plan for Nottinghamshire, which sets the strategic direction for policing and crime prevention in our area over the next four years.

“Nottinghamshire Police can’t work in isolation — but by working with partners we will embed a shared focus on prevention and early intervention approaches to tackle some of the most pressing crime types in our society today, including violence against women and girls, and serious violence and knife crime.

“My Police and Crime Plan is an ambitious one and it will require public involvement and support across all our diverse communities. From the city and its suburbs to Nottinghamshire’s towns and rural villages, everyone should be safe and feel safe in their community and have confidence that, if needed, the police, community safety and criminal justice agencies will be there for them.

“By working together, we can create a safer Nottinghamshire for all.”

His vision includes “getting further upstream” to target the root causes of serious violence by bringing partner agencies together to help children and young people who may be experiencing challenging homes lives, struggling with mental health issues or facing exclusion from education.

Multi-agency safeguarding, coordinated by the Violence Reduction Partnership, could be triggered “earlier than ever before” if children are identified as being frequently missing from home, excluded from school or have a sudden involvement or swift escalation in crime — to help prevent them becoming involved in serious violence.

Mr Godden added: “We have seen from recent events in the city centre that serious violence and knife crime can often involve young people, either as perpetrators or victims, so it is really important that we try to have an impact on young people’s decision-making as early as we can.”

This will also involve community organisations, such as the Community Recording Studio in St Ann’s where the PCC launched his plan, to offer vulnerable young people a positive outlet.

The PCC also aims to “get more police back on the beat”, to enhance the visibility and accessibility of neighbourhood policing teams.

He proposes to ensure officers are only “taken away to perform other policing duties in exceptional circumstances”, and that they have the “skills, knowledge, and resources” to tackle key community concerns of anti-social behaviour, road safety, and drug use, alongside partner agencies.

The plans also sets out aims to commission services, and award grants to community organisations, to provide crime prevention and victim support services.