Cambridgeshire Police recruit 30 extra community officers
The move is part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee launched by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on a visit to the county in April.The Labour government is aiming to put named local officers into each neighbourhood and boost police ranks by 13,000 by 2029.Mr Dean said he hoped the extra officers would build on the community work already being done by other local teams."What I hope to achieve is extra visibility, extra engagement, really dealing with the crimes and the incidents that matter to our communities," said the chief constable."Our neighbourhood teams do a fantastic job and have done a fantastic job, but this really does enhance that offer to our communities."
Sgt Chris Arnold is part of the new city centre Neighbourhood Uplift team, who with another sergeant will be leading eight constables and a police community support officer."What I'm really looking forward to is increasing [officer] visibility in the city," he said. "It's going to be hugely impactful for the city to see an extra host of police officers to try and keep our streets safe."The force said the officers would provide increased coverage and visibility as police continue to work with partners and local communities to tackle key issues such as anti-social behaviour, retail crime, drug dealing and knife crime.
Danielle Campbell, 52, lives in Paston, Peterborough, and said more officers were needed. Her friend had a handbag snatched as they were unloading her car outside her house."I don't feel safe going out at night, and I'm from London, and I felt safe there," she said. She said it was not the police's fault, as it was stretched, but wondered how an extra 30 officers could impact the county. "Unfortunately it's the little crimes that are getting left," she said. "If there were more police I would feel safer, it's just a deterrent."
Mary Skyers, 75, who lives in Bretton said she would welcome more officers walking the streets rather than in cars "flying past", as they did in the past. "It's a reassurance for a lot of people, especially elderly people," she said."There's a lot of crime, knives and everything that goes on. You do need them."
Daniel Slack, 26, from Peterborough, said he has had "good and bad experiences with the police" in the past.He wants them to do more about the drug use and prostitution where he lives, and would welcome a better police presence. "The area I'm in, I've seen people robbed. I've been robbed at cash machines, seen people get attacked, especially due to drug use."And if there was more police hopefully that would prevent that happening."
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