Where are the Police Community Support Officers?

As PCSO numbers drop sharply we look at the current situation regarding neighbourhood policing in Northamptonshire

By Sarah Ward

Eighteen months ago the chief constable of Northamptonshire police and police and crime commissioner made a pledge to visible neighbourhood policing in Northamptonshire with their jointly issued policing with purpose blueprint. With concern from residents and councillors about the numbers of PCSOs and police officers serving the communities we take a look at what’s happening.

At the most recent police and crime panel meeting, long-serving councillor Winston Strachan voiced his frustration with an absence of police community support officers walking the streets.

He told crime commissioner Stephen Mold:

“I really think the police service is failing Northampton and it is failing Northampton badly. I’m sorry to have to say that, but that’s a fact. When we had borough councils we had a number of PCSOs patrolling and doing a good job to prevent crime in Northampton.

“We don’t have the borough council anymore and we have to rely directly on the police.

“But where are the PCSOs? I don’t see them. My other colleagues don’t see them. But we keep hearing the notion of visible policing. There isn’t any visible policing - not in Northampton.

“We have so many problems in parts of Northampton where we desperately need PCSOs. We are not talking about the police officers, we are talking about the lower level, so we have visible policing to help prevent crime, to help stop fly tipping, to speak to people, to build relationships. We haven’t got that. So I think the police force is failing Northampton.

“I’m sorry to have to say that. But I’ve been coming here [panel meetings] for years, and I've bloody well had enough.”

The promise

The pledge made by the chief constable and crime commissioner back in February 2021 in the policing with purpose document was a renewed focus on the needs of the communities. The Neighbourhood teams had been realigned to work with the new ward boundaries - which had come into existence when the North and West unitary councils were formed.

Since 2010 the numbers of officers had fallen in Northampton - down to a low of 1170, the number now stands around 1,478.

The chief constable Nick Adderley, who has been in charge for the past four years, said he had made a  promise to the Northants public to develop a force which was flexible enough to deal with the different demands of urban and rural policing and to make his officers more visible and contactable.

He said:

“In order to achieve this, it vital that I put bobbies back on the beat, putting them right at the heart of those communities and building enduring relationships which enables those partnerships to prevent crime, detect crime, create a sense of togetherness and security as well as seeking every opportunity to create life chances and opportunities for those who might otherwise have taken a different route towards a life of crime.”

What the inspectors say

Inspectorate the HMFRICS in its latest visit to Northamptonshire Police in November 2021 rated it as requiring improvement in eight categories (such as responding to the public and managing offenders) and adequate in two. Not one category assessed was rated as good. 

In its assessment of how the force engages with the public it found it was clumsy.

It said: “Northamptonshire police engages with communities in a number of ways and for a variety of reasons; and while some of this activity is effective, it lacks co‑ordination. It has a reasonable understanding of communities and their needs in the county, but it has some gaps – in particular around Eastern European communities, young people, those with protected characteristics (for example LGBTQ), and those with disabilities.

“Neighbourhood teams carry out meaningful engagement activities including surveys, leaflet drops, social media, meetings, and patrols, and are supported by two dedicated engagement officers. This could be further enhanced if it was coordinated with the work of the positive action officers, those involved in public scrutiny, or with partners’ engagement activities. The force’s online engagement relies heavily on Twitter and Facebook.

“There has been no analysis of who is being reached by the force’s engagement activities, either online or face-to-face, in terms of current demographic information. And it carries out limited evaluation of how effective these are. This means that the force doesn’t know whether it is successfully engaging with communities and may be missing hidden harms and opportunities to identify vulnerable people.”

Inspectors also found that neighbourhood officers were also often taken off of their core duty to help fill in for gaps in response policing. It said trained neighbourhood officers were being asked to drive response cars due to staff shortages which was impacting on their community engagement and crime prevention roles.

“At the time of our inspection, neighbourhood officers were regularly being transferred from their core role to support response policing. This is a temporary problem arising from the number of new recruits who have been posted to response teams but haven’t yet acquired the necessary skills and experience. The force should keep records of each time neighbourhood officers are required to fill skills gaps in response policing so it can review the frequency and impact.”

The inspectors also said that the Northants force had told them that at the time of inspection last year there were currently 50 police officers and 92 PCSOs dedicated to neighbourhood policing in the county. 

The HMFRICS said that the force had said by September 2022 there will be double the number of police officers, and all new recruits from the national uplift programme will be assigned to increase capacity in neighbourhoods. 

It said, referring to the policing with purpose policy: “We have reviewed the force’s plans and will monitor progress with interest.”

It is expected it will be at least another 18 months before HMFRICS returns for a full inspection.

The current situation

Northamptonshire police told us there are currently 69 (full time equivalent) PCSOs, which is a drop of 23 on the 92 in the ranks last year.

A media officer said recruitment was currently taking place and that it intended to take on 20 PCSOs at the end of this month. This would bring the total PCSO numbers in the county to still less than they were last year.

In terms of neighbourhood officers there are 117 across the 18 local policing beats in Northamptonshire.

Concerns of the police and crime panel

The role of the police and crime panel - which meets every two months and is made up mostly of local councillors, with some independent members, is to make sure the commissioner is doing his job properly.

Minutes from its April meeting show the panel has looked at and been concerned by community policing, particularly with regards to the numbers of PCSOs. Cllr Strachan’s outburst at the most recent meeting indicates the situation has not improved.

The Panel considered progress on enhancing visible policing in Northamptonshire. Members made the following points: 

• The focus on safety in the night-time economy should not detract from the importance of the daytime economy and the need for more visible policing during the day. 

• The PFCC was challenged about whether the recruitment of additional police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) was making a practical difference to visible policing in the county that would be seen by residents.

The PFCC made the following points: 

• The amount of police activity during the daytime in Northamptonshire had increased. Information reported to him demonstrated that additional officers were deployed in Northamptonshire and were going out on patrol in the community.

• It was necessary to recognise that Northamptonshire Police still only had 1,500 officers to cover the whole of the county. 

What people say

During our visit to recent left behind neighbourhoods the absence of community officers was an issue for many people we spoke to. It was only on the Avondale Grange estate in Kettering, where we found there had been a real shift in presence, with residents saying police had become more visible in the past year.

Last week, just under 30 NN Journal readers told us their views on community policing where they live. 81.5 per cent said they thought policing was not visible enough and two thirds said they had not seen a police officer or staff member patrolling the streets near where they live in the past year. A third of those who gave their views lived in Northampton.

More than three quarters said they did not know the name of their community police officer or local officer. (In last year’s Policing with purpose document commissioner Mold said he was confident that local residents would be able to 'identify the police officers who are able to deal with the issues that matter to them in their area.')

The crime commissioner’s explanation

Conservative politician Stephen Mold was re-elected in May 2021 to serve another five years as the county’s crime commissioner, a role he was first elected to in 2016. Since then the force has not made significant strides in improvement.

Following the comments made by Cllr Strachan and having heard from local residents of their dissatisfaction with visible policing we put some questions to him.

He said: “I made a pledge to increase the focus on neighbourhood policing in Northamptonshire, as that is something that I know is incredibly important to people.  I delivered a significant increase in the number of police to help renew that focus, which is underway. The Force has many officers now who are young in service and are learning about community policing for the first time. This will take time to bed in but will continue.

“I do want to see communities building a relationship with their local officer and for local councillors and residents who want it, to have a stronger and more consistent relationship with their local policing team.  There are many initiatives under way to try to improve that engagement: the Police Liaison Representatives are councillors dedicated to being a link with police, receiving updates and information so that they can update residents; we are providing training for police officers to help them deal better with neighbourhood disputes: we have bid for and received significant additional investment through the Safer Streets initiative for high crime areas.....these are just two examples of the ongoing focus on improving neighbourhood policing.”

Asked whether Northamptonshire officers are too busy dealing with serious crime and involved in operations to be able to adequately resource community policing, he said:

“Neighbourhood officers do not simply patrol an area, their role is to actively police their neighbourhoods, to play a part in problem solving and that means they will become involved in dealing with serious crime.  

“In terms of response, demand is such that officers in a neighbourhood may always  need to respond to an incident from time to time.

“PCSOs are less likely to be abstracted in that way: I know how well regarded PCSOs are in their communities, and I continue to challenge the Force over why recruitment for more PCSOs is not happening more quickly. We need more PCSOs, and I am determined that they will be recruited.  Any underspend from current vacancies for PCSOs will be used to support the existing PCSOs in their work in neighbourhoods and to extend neighbourhood policing while recruitment continues.”   

What the police force says

A spokesperson for Northamptonshire Police said:

“Northamptonshire Police currently has 69.52FTE PCSOs, plus an additional nine sponsored posts. We acknowledge there have been past difficulties recruiting PCSOs, but the Chief Constable has voiced his continued support for them as part of our wider commitment to Neighbourhood Policing and increased visibility across the county.”