New Melton policing set-up will involve more officers and faster responses

From Wednesday, Leicestershire Police will reconfigure the areas covered by its Neighbourhood Policing Area (NPAs) teams in a major strategy change.

The Eastern Counties NPA, which encompassed Melton, Rutland, Harborough and Lutterworth, will no longer exist and be replaced by a new Melton and Rutland NPA.

The change will see more serious offences investigated locally by a CID team managed by Det Insp Dan Granger, instead of a team of detectives based more centrally in Leicester.

The new NPA area will be led by Insp Audrey Danvers and have the capability for patrol, incident response, investigation, problem-solving and community engagement.

Insp Danvers joined Leicestershire Police nearly 24 years ago, having completed a Masters degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Loughborough University.

She has covered multiple roles across the force from Sergeant to Patrol and Resolution Inspector to Triage Sergeant and Staff Officer and says her vast experience will help her in her new role.

“The changes will provide even greater local focus on policing our neighbourhoods, making us more receptive and responsive to the challenges happening on our doorsteps,” said Insp Danvers.

“I’m very much looking forward to getting out into the community and speaking to people about what their priorities are for policing.

“My previous roles have been in both the city and rural communities in Leicestershire and I know that only by engaging and working with others can we deliver on these.

“I’ve already met a number of key partners and I follow in the highly experienced footsteps of Siobhan Gorman who has done a great job.”

Insp Siobhan Gorman, who took charge of the former Eastern Counties NPA in November 2018, will move on to another newly-created force area, covering Harborough and Wigston.

Commenting on Leicestershire Police’s new Target Operating Model (TOM), Deputy Chief Constable Rob Nixon said: “This new way of organising how we deliver our services will ultimately put more police officers directly into neighbourhoods where the public want us to.

“In the first few months people may not see any major changes but over time they should start to see more officers in and around their communities.

“It will mean more crime being investigated locally by dedicated officers from initial allocation through to arrest and preparation for court or resolution.

“This means better ownership of issues and the ability to build trust and confidence with the public.”

A new role of Neighbourhood Patrol Officer (NPOs) is being introduced with a capability to respond to incidents, carry out pro-active patrol and investigate volume crime such as burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage.

They will be overseen by additional locally based sergeants and work alongside existing Dedicated Neighbourhood Officers and teams who work to address local issues and priorities with partners.

All newly trained police officers joining the force will become an NPO and be allocated to a neighbourhood policing area in Leicestershire.

The force is recruiting dozens of additional police officers this year, paid for from local Council Tax payers and from the government’s ‘uplift programme’.

Deputy Chief Constable Nixon added: “The model is very much based on detailed analysis we have done over time and feedback from officers on the frontline on how best we can deliver 24/7 response.

“We want to remove some of those boundaries that currently exist that creates silo working, to ensure a greater level of team working.

“With more officers based at local level it will mean stronger local knowledge and intelligence and quicker response times.

“This will take time to embed, particularly as we will be busy recruiting and training officers for the frontline throughout the year.”

Leicestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Lord Willy Bach has been travelling round a number of police stations in the city and county talking to officers to find out what they think about the new model.

He said: “The reaction is very positive.

“I think officers like the idea that now they will usually handle an incident or crime from start to finish, and I know that residents will find that appealing.

“Personally, I like its localism, it’s a good thing.

“Officers in the heart of communities, dealing with the problems in that community.

“That’s just what people have told me, over and over, that they want to see.

“I promised to increase the number of frontline officers tackling local issues and now people are seeing the proof of that.

“The aim is to also use our resources to better meet the demand on our services.

“I think that this new model of service delivery will achieve that and I’m proud to have been involved.”

There will be nine Neighbourhood Policing Areas (NPAs) across the city, county and Rutland as a result of the changes.

Aside from Melton and Rutland, they will cover North West Leicestershire, Charnwood, Harborough and Wigston, Hinckley and Blaby, West Leicester, East Leicester, South Leicester and Central Leicester.