Episode 14 - How we engage with our local communities

As well as face-to-face engagement, modern technology helps our officers engage with communities in more ways than ever.

In the latest episode of The Beat Podcast, hear from PCSO Horton and Chief Inspector Cotton as they share their experiences of local policing and community engagement. Understand how they work with their local residents, businesses and partner organisations to better understand local issues and to tackle these together as a community.

Have any questions? Drop us an email at thebeatpodcast@staffordshire.police.uk

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:14:18

Hello, Staffordshire Police.

00:00:14:20 - 00:00:38:23
[Host]
Welcome to the Beat podcast. It's great to have you with us. This month we're looking at community engagement, which is a vital part of local policing. Two way engagement with our communities can help us to understand local issues, enabling us to work together with partners to resolve any concerns. Today, we'll be speaking to a couple of guests from our local policing teams to explore how they engage with their communities and the difference this makes.

If you don't know much about your local policing teams in Staffordshire, here are a few facts to get you started. We have ten local policing teams across the county, each of which is overseen by a local policing commander. These teams are responsible for tackling topics like anti-social behaviour, car theft and burglary. Now we've covered the background, I'm going to launch straight into it and have a chat with our first guest.

We've got PCSO John Horton here from Tamworth Local policing team. Hi, John, welcome to the podcast. It's great to catch up with you. Hello, you alright?
 
[PCSO John Horton]
Yeah, are you good?  

[Host]
Yeah not too bad thanks. You work as a police community support officer. How did you get into the role and how long have you worked in Tamworth?

[PCSO John Horton]
Well, I first noticed the job advertised in the job section of the Express and Star. Are the jobs pages still a thing these days it’s been a very long time and I've worked in Tamworth since day one, which is 15 years this year. Wow, that's a very long time. Yeah, yeah. I initially started on a team which was funded by the local authority and the police. It was called the Community Reassurance Team and we'd link in with youth services around youth-related anti-social behaviour from a problem solving perspective, using diversionary tactics, etc. it’s arguably a bit easier back then we had a wealth of youth clubs and services and facilities available that sadly we don't have today.

[Host]
So today we've got you in the office, but we know that isn't where you spend the majority of the time in your role. I think our listeners would be really interested to hear a bit more about what you do in your role to engage and support your local residents.
Can you give us a few examples of sort of what would be a normal day at work for you?

[PCSO John Horton]
Well, typically a typical day begins in the office as we have to check what incidents have come in overnight, emails, all the admin sort of stuff, and then we sort of plan our day accordingly around from there. If there's a current crime trend or any anti-social behaviour hotspots, we’ll try and show a visible presence in those areas.

If we're not already there doing house to house and inquiries and whatnot on a quiet day, it's nice to get into those sort of estates and streets where we're not normally called out to just to show a presence and say, you know, we are we are here you know and again, when it's quiet, we're not busy doing house to house or inquiries and stuff.

It's nice to do our school visits and our community engagement events, you know, be that again in schools or community centres, residential homes or old people's homes and that sort of stuff. There's loads different types we do and it's it's nice to get in there and just have a chat with people, sit down, have a coffee and put the world to right, so to speak.

00:03:10:19 - 00:03:29:02
[Host]
Yeah, it sounds very varied. So I'm guessing no two days are the same then.

[PCSO John Horton]
No. No. And you know, you can have a day where you might have planned to, you know, have a have a quiet day, so to speak, and you end up run, run off your feet, you know, And those are the days that are quite interesting because you don't know what's coming next.

00:03:29:07 - 00:03:51:20
[Host]
Yeah, definitely very varied. Brilliant. So I suppose thinking a bit about engagement that maybe isn't face to face because sometimes it's not possible to speak to everyone face to face. It'd be great to hear sort of what you do to make sure that you can get in touch with all your residents, those that you might not see say if they're at work when you're on shift.

Are there any ways that used to make sure that you can get in touch with more people?

[PCSO John Horton]
Yeah, well, I mean, I’ve covered my current patch for 12 years, you build up a lot of connections over time, so there's quite a large number of residents I can contact direct, you know, phone or email. So if they are at work, they pick it up eventually. But for the sort of the wider audience,

I'll use our digital messaging system, Smart Alert, or I'll utilise Facebook or Twitter, depending on, you know, what it is we're putting out there. Courtesy of local neighbourhood pages on such as Facebook, they end up sharing our posts or our alerts. So it really broadens our reach. So, for example, if I put out one Smart Alert for the whole of Tamworth, I think we've got about 3000 people signed up due to these community groups sharing those posts.

It broadens our reach to over the in the tens of thousands. It's really good. I mean, a lot of the alerts I've put out tend to be appeals for information or CCTV, updates from crime, and we do that as well on Facebook and Twitter. But I think with the social media side of it, we try have a little bit more fun as well.

You know, share the lighthearted side of policing and which funnily enough seems to get better response, and it’s some of our more lighthearted posts about the more the better interactions and more likes. And I think there's one where we'd rescued a swan. I'd helped some children with a rope swing it got caught in the tree, so I ended up climbing the tree.

Risk assessment was done and everything don’t worry, but unbeknownst to me, my colleague took a photo of it and ended up on Facebook. The public loved it. For some reason it's just this random photo of me in a tree, but it went down really well. And I think more recently we try and keep up with trends as well. And we did one for Star Wars Day, which is went down an absolute storm. It used lots of policy and Star Wars puns to make it fun.

So it was relevant to policing as well as, you know, Star Wars on May the fourth and yeah, went down really well. And you know, we try and mix that in with all the serious stuff as well. And I think the public kind of like that rather than it just all been doom and gloom. Yeah, it sounds great.

00:06:06:19 - 00:06:31:02
[Host]
Really good. I think just for those listeners that haven't heard about Smart Alert before, I mean, could you explain a little bit about what that is? If they, you know, if you're sending out messages, what would they be getting and how can they sign up?

[PCSO John Horton]
So they could sign up, obviously via the website or their local offices can sign them up, you know, it's a very simple form to fill in. We could do it on our mobile devices with them there and then. A Smart Alert is a very simple system in regards, you know, us sharing messages and appealing for information with people. It's you can, predominantly it’s via email. So all you do is you’ll receive an email off one of your local offices, either updating you with crime trends or you know someone that's been sent to prison example or as I do like appeals first CCTV. And it's great we're getting some really good results from it over in Tamworth.

I can't speak for everywhere, but in Tamworth it's working. Yeah, I think the great thing for anyone listening is it's actually free to sign up as well. So we'll give you the details. Yeah, it's free. 

[Host]
So two-way engagement and intelligence sharing can help resolve issues raised by residents. It'd be great to hear if you've got any sort of real life examples, ways that you've used that community engagement to resolve issues locally. Does anything come to mind that you could share?

[PCSO John Horton]
I think yeah. So when I do those appeals for CCTV and for information, you know, now people are sent, you can actually send files through as well, links to videos and images. So we're getting a lot of those come through, particularly the theft from a vehicle overnight crime.

We're getting loads of videos of those sent in via Smart Alert system. It helps us broaden our sort of scope in regards to inquiries. And, you know, that's the same guy that's done this street, this street and this street. So helps us piece things together. So that's really good. You know, it helps us with our investigations. There's another one recently was a nasty assault, happened in a nature reserve, initially I put out very vague information via a smart alert about the incidents.

And I got an offender's name put through. Eventually we put out a proper media release with a photo of the offender and then that confirmed the name I was given. But we'd already started doing a bit of digging into that person. So again, we've got this a bit of a head start thanks to this person responding to the Smart Alert that was sent out.

And same for Facebook, really. We get a lot of positive feedback from the stuff we put out on there. We yes, there's negative comments go on there as well. But you get that in all walks of life, unfortunately. But what's been great with the Facebook stuff is I'll go out and say if I'm dealing with a group of youths, they see me on Facebook and we we have a chat about it.

They'll go, Oh, you're that guy. You're the guy on Facebook. And then straight away, you know, is that normal? You know, that sort of shoulders back defensiveness that they can give off, it drops straight away and we can just have a chat nice and, you know, it resolves the potential conflict. So in that regard, it's been really positive.

Yeah. Yeah. Being able to sort of linking in person as well as digitally. So I suppose that gives people more of an opportunity I suppose, to reach you if they don't see you out and about. There is that chance through Facebook or on sort of smart alerts to have that two way conversation.

[Host]
Yeah, definitely. So we've heard a lot about what you do to reach out to residents do you link in with local businesses too. And how do you find this differs? Obviously, it's a bit of a different audience, but they still have issues with crime. So how would you sort of link him with them?

[PCSO John Horton]
Yeah, definitely. I mean, fortunately for me, I have an area that's not got many businesses on them or the small independent shops. So me I tend to just link in direct, you know, again in person, phone or sometimes email.

But I know the guys who cover the town or those that have industrial estates on their areas they do again they do the personal thing in person. But they do utilise like the town safe scheme or Business Watch and a lot of businesses should as they should, should be signed up to Smart Alert. So anything that happens on those estates, you can put an alert out and it goes through to those businesses.

And again, we can get the CCTV, you know, someone might message back saying, Oh yeah, we've got CCTV outside unit eight of such and such and then we can go and investigate that, which is, you know, been helpful as well. And in addition to that, you know, we do the community events at some supermarkets, for example, I'll tend to link with the local officers group and events. Recently we’ve had a load of purse thefts.

You know, we get that like in some like your Sainsbury's and M&S and stuff. So we’ll set up a community event just to increase awareness about purse thefts and maybe have some handouts like the little purse bells or the elasticated purse cables to hand out and they go down well and try and get as many Smart Alert sign ups while I’m there as well. Spread, spread the word. Definitely and it's a great there to see that sort of linking with both sort of business and communities all at the same time.

So everybody is kind of involved in in helping, I suppose, to tackle the local issues. Yeah, I mean, when I do my community events on my patch, I try and go for where my high footfall areas, which happens to be the shopping precinct. So I'll just pitch up there with a van for a couple of hours and the shops all love it, especially like the Spar for example, because deter shoplifting for a couple of hours there.

They're more than happy for us to do that. Yeah.

[Host]
So as a last question, I'm going to put you on the spot now. What's the best thing you've ever been involved in with your job and why? The best thing?

[PCSO John Horton]
That's a good one. As good it is to get involved in sort of like the nitty gritty and or should we say the cool parts of policing like the warrants and, you know, drug raids and stuff, for me, it's just like the community events. It's really good. Just seeing the kids getting involved, like, you know, turn up with the van, they can try on the uniform, jump in the van, put the blues and twos on. I it's just that I just like it. You know, they, you know, particularly some of the older kids as well.

You're breaking down barriers for young kids. They just they just love it completely. And I think it just helps build that bit of community relations as well. Particularly sometimes you get parents who might have otherwise been a bit anti or cautious and then, you know, the kids want to come over and say, oh, you've been at school, you know, that kind of thing.

And again, it breaks down those barriers as well. It's nice you know, there's lots of sort of negativity here, there and everywhere. It's nice to put a smile on a few faces. So yeah, that's that's the others.

[Host]
Yeah. Sounds fabulous. And it sounds like you do really enjoy your job, which is great. So that was my last question.

So thanks, John. It's been brilliant to hear more about your role and how you're engaging with your local community. If you're listening in Tamworth, you might see John out and about, or see his messages on Staffordshire Smart Alert. I'm sure he’d appreciate a hello when you see him next. Well that was a look at community engagement from a PCSOs point of view.

00:13:09:14 - 00:13:28:08
[Host]
Now we get a chance to see it from another viewpoint as we've got Chris Cotton coming up next to share his experience as the commander for South Staffordshire local policing team. Hi Chris. Thanks for taking the time to come and chat to us about what you do. To explain for our listeners your role oversees all the local policing team officers for your area, as well as the local response team.

That's quite a job. What's it like to work in local policing and how did you get into it and what do you do?

[Chief Inspector Chris Cotton]
Well, thank you. Well, I've been involved in local policing in some way or another, probably for every rank in my career, starting in the early 2000 in Birmingham and then more recently in South Staffordshire. And as the local police commander, I have responsibility for the delivery of every aspect of the policing response, which includes how we respond at pace to our spontaneous calls for service, right through to our approach to longer term problem solving and safeguarding.

It is challenging, but I have a great team supporting me and it really is a fantastic area of policing to be involved in. I genuinely believe the model which we recently introduced into the force puts us back to the heart of the communities and it really has improved our accessibility and visibility into the area.

[Host]
Working in a senior role, some people may assume that you're quite removed from community engagement yourself, so it be really good to understand how you get involved and if you're able to share some examples of things that you do to get involved with the local community.

[Chief Inspector Chris Cotton]
Certainly I mean visibility, it is challenging to try to try and to get into the community as much as I would like, but genuinely, I really believe that visibility is key to local policing. And when I arrived in South Staffordshire 12 months ago, I made a commitment that I would be exactly that visible and accessible. I think I'm doing well.

I regularly hold community engagement events across all the parishes. This provides an opportunity for our communities to meet with me personally and to let me know what matters to them and how we're doing as a local policing team and how we can improve. I also attend parish meetings and several events throughout the year, and I regularly meet with elected members of the community to discuss what matters to them and to what matters to people that they're representing.

And I'm currently holding a series of locality forums where I sit with South Staffs local authority, key members of the community across all five of our locality areas. And it's here that I'm held publicly to account for the delivery of local policing over the preceding quarter and where we discuss our plans moving forward. And I do genuinely get a lot from these discussions.

I learn a lot, I take a lot from from what's discussed and it really does help me to get a true sense as to how we're doing and if the activities are landing in the right way. And I'm really keen to, to, to get the, you know, the publics thoughts, expectations, reality testing this area, delivering local policing and to learn and to take things forward from there.

[Host]
Yeah, that sounds great. You get to set the priorities for your local policing team. How do you use that insight from and the engagement with communities to help shape the plans for your area?

[Chief Inspector Chris Cotton]
That's a good question. And well, what I don't do is assume what our communities want from their local policing team when setting the priorities.

It's really important to me that our communities are involved and that they are consulted and clearly the local councils have a have a big part to play in this process because they are trusted by their parishes to act on their behalf. But this doesn't take away the need to get out on the ground and to speak directly with with those that are impacted in policing of their areas.

And there is an element of reviewing the crime data, the patterns, the trends, looking at what's happening regionally, nationally, I suppose. But it's it's really important to make sure you are speaking and engaging with the community to understand what's important. I hold a number of events throughout the year. So the local policing team meet the commander events, which we run through Operation Cadence are really well attended.

So we try and run four or five of those a year where we advertise through social media, through our parishes, and it's a great chance for people to come and meet us unannounced without a ticket, just to give an honest update as to how we’re doing and to listen and learn for me and for me to learn from them around what's going on in the area and where we need to direct our policing.

00:17:13:24 - 00:17:34:24
[Host]
Brilliant, it sounds like you're out and about quite a lot, a very busy role, I'm sure. So some issues are tackled by local policing teams, such as antisocial behaviour. They require a partnership approach to resolve. How are you working with partnership organisations to tackle issues raised by residents or businesses? And what benefits do both parties get from working together?

00:17:35:01 - 00:17:59:05
[Chief Inspector Chris Cotton]
And so we we genuinely do have a fantastic relationship with South Staffs local authority and our wider partners, and we meet regularly to discuss the issues that are impacting our communities. We probably speak on a daily basis and, you know, we genuinely have some really good face to face conversations as the weeks and months unfold. We review and approach each issue on a case by case basis.

We ensure we have the right people around the table to make that difference. I know anti-social behaviour remains a real concern in some areas, specifically within our areas of open parkland, which there are many in South Staffordshire. Through our partnership approach, we've been able to secure public space protection orders. We've secured ten additional CCTV cameras in the area, plus a number of other target hardening measures as well, and really proud that we probably one of the first LPTs to have our own drone, which we use to great effect in capturing evidence to support positive action.

We also have issues concerning illegal street racing and car cruising along some of our main arterial routes, and we are working closely with West Midlands police who have experience in tackling this type of issue. And with their support we are making some good progress in applying for a high court injunction which will ban this type of behaviour. And optimistically, we hope to have that injunction in place within the next 12 months.

00:18:55:13 - 00:19:17:01
[Host]
Brilliant. I mean, that's a really good practical demonstration there of how working together with other organisations can make a real difference. I think, you know, it's not something we can tackle alone, really it's getting that support. So I think it'd be great to understand more about how you ensure your officers reach all of your communities with key safety messages.

So from your position, how do you ensure that that sort of two way communication is actually happening on the ground?

[Chief Inspector Chris Cotton]
So it is a challenge we are working hard to ensure we're communicating with our communities in the right way. And you know, South Staffordshire isn't unique, but it is it is an area that covers I think it's just over 157 square miles.

It's a diverse population of over 110,000 residents. So we know there is no a single catch all approach. So we do use a range of options such as social media, smart alerts, Parish reports those face to face drop in surgeries. We really do welcome the community's thoughts about how we can improve our communication. And I suppose it is an ask if if there's somebody out there that thinks we can do better and has some ideas, please share it with us.

But I would say as a starting point, I'll continue to encourage the signing up to Staffordshire Smart Alert. It really is a great way to keep informed about issues that are affecting your local area. Registration is free. It's quick, simple. Just search Staffordshire Smart alert dot co dot UK and and the instructions are there and we are regularly sending messages around what's happening in the area, how to reach us.

And it's a great way to let us know how we’re doing as well.

[Host]
Brilliant. So I asked John earlier, so I don't think we can let you leave without asking the same question. What's the best thing you've ever been involved in with your job and why?

[Chief Inspector Chris Cotton]
Well, I mean, policing does afford, just affords so many opportunities and I've been really fortunate to have been involved in so many different areas of policing during my service.

So it is difficult to to give you that one thing. I feel that I've still got the same energy that I had 22 years ago. I do genuinely want to make a positive difference to the communities and those that those who need our help and remain really proud to be a police officer. And I am lucky to still be able to go out there and and to play my part to make Staffordshire even safer.

But on a more personal level, I suppose something that's really current to me at the moment. Over the last 12 months, I've been working with the Royal Military Police to introduce the Royal Military Police External Placement Program into Staffordshire and hopefully within the next two or three months, we will then soon start to see Royal Military Police working alongside our own response officers.

They'll be starting first in South Staffordshire. And this is really has been a fantastic achievement for the project team and everybody that's worked together to pull this piece of work to fruition. And I personally take great pride as I know everybody else in Staffordshire Police does, to support those that serve. And it's a real privilege to be part of the program and those I've spoken to in South Staffordshire share my excitement.

So watch this space. It's a great project and more news will follow as we get closer to the live date.

[Host]
It sounds like a really interesting project and I think everyone will be really excited to see when that happens. So that's it. Really. Thanks, Chris. It was great to catch up with you and to hear what you're doing in South Staffordshire to help your local communities.

00:22:18:00 - 00:22:41:13
[Host]
Well, that brings us to the end of today's podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you want to keep up to date with your local officers, make sure you're following them On Staffordshire Smart Alert. As John and Chris mentioned, you can sign up for free at www.StaffordshireSmartAlert.co.uk. Thanks for listening. Thanks for listening to the Beat podcast produced by Staffordshire Police.

00:22:41:15 - 00:23:03:18
[Outro]
To learn more about the topics discussed in this podcast, including sources of information, help and support, please visit the Staffordshire Police website.

If you'd like to get involved or have any questions, you can get in touch with us by emailing thebeatpodcast@staffordshire.police.uk. Please remember that this is not a suitable place to report information about crime or safety concerns.

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