Latest news with #PCSOs
South Wales Argus
a day ago
- South Wales Argus
Gwent Police pressures identified in inspection report
Police and Community Support Officers, PCSOs, told HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services Gwent Police sends them to incidents they aren't trained or equipped to deal with including reports of people threatening violence, sometimes with weapons. The report has laid bare the pressures facing the force which has also had to regularly divert neighbourhood policing officers from their duties to attend incidents ranging from collecting drugs seized at ports and airports 'well outside the force area', to reports of illegal possession of XL Bully dogs and acting as detention officers in custody suites. Crime and disorder reduction officers said they have had to support domestic abuse hearings at court 'at short notice, which they don't feel trained for'. The inspection report, which found the Gwent force must improve how it investigates crime and protects the vulnerable, noted as a result officers often have had to cancel planned work with communities and partner agencies. The report also highlighted the demands on police sergeants with some overseeing more than 100 criminal investigations each while there were examples of sergeants responsible for as many as 247 and 336 cases. Investigating crime, protecting the vulnerable and leadership and force management were all graded as requiring improvement while recording data about crime was marked 'outstanding' in the report that covers the period 2023 to 2025. All other graded areas of the force's work were ranked as adequate including preventing crime which is where the inspectors highlighted concerns from PCSOs and neighbourhood policing teams about being pulled away from their core duties and responding to incidents they aren't equipped for. The inspectors also noted: 'Many neighbourhood policing staff reported low morale and infrequent contact with sergeants and inspectors.' Since January this year neighbourhood policing, along with response and criminal investigation departments, has formed one of the three pillars of Gwent Police's new operating model based on policing functions rather than local policing areas. But at the time of the inspection the force was yet to decide the optimum number of skilled staff required for the neighbourhood team and inspectors said it is 'too early to judge how effectively its new structures will translate into stable and consistent neighbourhood policing.' A Gwent Police car. The report did find neighbourhood teams 'are well briefed and work effectively to tackle crime and disorder in local communities' and highlighted a number of initiatives across the force area. Where the inspectors identified shortcoming in how the force investigates crime it highlighted the demand on sergeants and on protecting vulnerable people raised concern it doesn't have enough staff in its safeguarding hubs to meet demand. In response to the inspection report Chief Constable Mark Hobrough said Gwent Police has taken steps, over the past six months, to address the areas requiring improvement and was pleased the inspectors 'recognised us as outstanding in promptly and accurately recording crime, particularly in cases involving sexual offences and anti-social behaviour. 'We have made significant improvements in how we respond to the public, including consistent rapid responses to 999 calls from our force contact centre.'
Fashion United
12-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion United
UK retailers welcome two billion pound funding for police
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined a more than two billion pound increase in police spending as part of the government's latest two trillion pound Spending Review. Reeves outlined the plans during a speech on June 11, in which she said the funding reflected a 2.3 percent per year increase in police spending power 'to protect our people, our homes and our streets'. The funding also backs the government's 'Plan for Change' initiative, which aims to put 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles within England and Wales. The uptick in financing was welcomed by director of business and regulation at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Tom Ironside, who noted that the organisation supported the plans outlined by Reeves, particularly 'with the huge rise in retail theft and the continued impact of violence and abuse on retail colleagues". Ironside did call on the chancellor, however, to funnel additional policing resources into directly addressing these issues, 'with over 2,000 incidents every day, and shoplifting, which costs retailers and their customers over four billion pounds a year'. Elsewhere, Ironside said the BRC further welcomed Reeves' plans to increase funding for skills and training, given that retail was 'one of the biggest spenders on upskilling its workforce'. He added that the organisation looks forward to seeing more detail on the planned Skills & Growth Levy. Reeves announced a 1.2 billion pound 'record investment' for skills a year, which she said would support 'over a million young people into training and apprenticeships'. 'We've seen growing businesses eager to recruit, look elsewhere. Potential wasted and enterprise frustrated,' she added.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Cash pressure forced PCSOs' 20:00 finish plan'
"Financial challenges" have forced the need for a consultation on police community support officers (PCSOs) finishing shifts by 20:00, a new police chief has admitted. Chief Constable Richard Cooper said West Mercia Police would be saving money on extra payment officers get when they work unsociable hours. Following a backlash over the plan by councillors in Shropshire last month, Mr Cooper stressed that if the consultation pans out, the same amount of PCSOs would still be working the same amount of hours. "Its not a case of do we need to save money, it's how do we save the money?," he told BBC Hereford & Worcester. "The cost of running the organisation is now stripping the funding available to us," he said, speaking on the mid-morning Hot Seat spot, on Thursday. "We've had to make some really difficult considerations. Our police staff and officers receive an unsociable hours payment for working into the evening and we need to save money." As chief constable Mr Cooper - who was appointed in March after working in the role temporarily since last August - is responsible for the delivery of operational policing across Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. A caller on the programme's phone-in had asked about whether the PCSOs are needed later than 20:00. In response, Mr Cooper said many officers deal with anti-social behaviour issues, which generally "diminishes rapidly" by that time. "The data supports the fact the peak [for anti-social behaviour] is between 5 and 6. It starts dropping thereafter and stops dramatically after 8 o'clock," he explained. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Backlash over plan for no PCSOs after 8pm West Mercia Police
BBC News
01-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Chief constable defends West Mercia plan for no PCSOs after 20:00
"Financial challenges" have forced the need for a consultation on police community support officers (PCSOs) finishing shifts by 20:00, a new police chief has admitted. Chief Constable Richard Cooper said West Mercia Police would be saving money on extra payment officers get when they work unsociable hours. Following a backlash over the plan by councillors in Shropshire last month, Mr Cooper stressed that if the consultation pans out, the same amount of PCSOs would still be working the same amount of hours."Its not a case of do we need to save money, it's how do we save the money?," he told BBC Hereford & Worcester. "The cost of running the organisation is now stripping the funding available to us," he said, speaking on the mid-morning Hot Seat spot, on Thursday."We've had to make some really difficult considerations. Our police staff and officers receive an unsociable hours payment for working into the evening and we need to save money." Anti-social behaviour issues As chief constable Mr Cooper - who was appointed in March after working in the role temporarily since last August - is responsible for the delivery of operational policing across Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. A caller on the programme's phone-in had asked about whether the PCSOs are needed later than 20:00. In response, Mr Cooper said many officers deal with anti-social behaviour issues, which generally "diminishes rapidly" by that time. "The data supports the fact the peak [for anti-social behaviour] is between 5 and 6. It starts dropping thereafter and stops dramatically after 8 o'clock," he explained. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Backlash over plan for no PCSOs after 8pm
A decision by a police force to stop employing PCSOs after 20:00 has faced a backlash from local Bayliss, Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner for West Mercia Police, said the change would mean no reduction in hours, with shifts switching to earlier in the he said the chief constable had suggested the 20:00 cut off, because it would mean PCSOs would not need to be paid an additional shift councillor Roger Evans, a member of the Lib Dem group which now runs the authority, said the idea was "intolerable". He said he could not recall the change being part of budget consultations and he worried it would leave some areas without police cover in the evenings."!A number of people have contacted me saying they're very upset about the loss of police and availability in the evenings, especially in the summer," he Bayliss said there would be extra police officers on duty to "bolster our availabilities to cover those night time economy areas".Viv Parry a Shropshire councillor in Ludlow, also raised concerns and said she has struggled to speak to a police officer about issues in her Bayliss said he shared her concerns about overstretched police officers and said: "The policing guarantee is likely to mean more officers in Ludlow int he very near future." This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
