POLICE in the Westbury area adopted a new way of working this month, with the intention of officers spending less time in offices and becoming more available in the community.
The ‘community team’ operating model has been rolled out by police in Trowbridge, Warminster, and surrounding towns and villages, and will run for a minimum of ten weeks.
The pilot intends for officers to use mobile technology, including 3G laptops and smartphones, to be able to spend more time out of the stations and working in small community teams.
The force will spend £600,000 on modern technology this year, as part of a projected £3.5million investment between 2014 and 2019.
Wiltshire Police chief constable Mike Veale said, “Wiltshire continues to be one of the safest counties in the country. New technology will enable officers to set up their office in the heart of the community, in coffee shops, libraries, parks and village halls.
“By having a police force that is more visible and accessible to the community, we will be able to work more closely with communities, potentially helping to prevent and resolve more local crime.”
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon Angus Macpherson said, “This project fits with one of the four priorities in my new Police and Crime Plan; to secure high quality, efficient and trusted services.
“A single team covering local policing, response and investigations will, I feel sure, provide a better service to victims, in line with another of my priorities.
“I am very keen to see police officers getting out of their police stations and into the community and I very much support the idea of a local officer ‘owning’ a case from beginning to end.
“I will be following the progress of this pilot closely and will be very interested to see the results.”
