Hampshire police announcement: New measures in war on crime with more officers in Portsmouth area

Chief constable Scott Chilton, who took over the role in February, has vowed to ‘relentlessly pursue criminals’ through ‘exceptional local policing and putting victims first’ after new changes were announced on Tuesday at Hampshire and Isle of Wight’s strategic headquarters in Eastleigh.

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Since taking over earlier this year, the new chief has been working at pace to fundamentally change the way the force is structured by bringing policing closer to the communities it serves.

The public now have a district commander overseeing all aspects of policing – from the officers responding to 999 calls, investigators dealing with crimes that cause harm in communities and bringing criminals to justice, and more visible neighbourhood officers to deal with issues that are causing concern.

CC Chilton has also announced the introduction of Neighbourhood Enforcement Teams who will be able to act fast on information and intelligence coming in from communities to target hotspots and catch those who are committing crime.

These teams have been created from the extra 50 officers announced by police and crime commissioner Donna Jones on top of the 600 already recruited as part of the uplift programme.

Working with commissioner Jones, CC Chilton also scrapped the requirement for officers to study for a degree to become officers and announced a new way to join policing, Hampshire Policing PLUS – the first of its kind in the country.

Chilton said he wants to create communities that ‘were safe but that felt safe’ with Portsmouth and surrounding areas already boosted by the changes.

He said: ‘In Portsmouth there will be a chief superintendent so they will have more proactive resources available to them. They can deploy detectives into things quicker and in a more agile way, and with releasing all the additional hours into policing along with the new recruits coming in over the coming months what we should see is more officers based in Portsmouth tackling crime.’

Speaking on how long before the changes will have an impact on crime, he said: ‘There is a reorganisation that needs to be done. I don’t want to put a time on it…we want to be looking at the crimes that matter most to the public. We started this new structure on Monday and we’ve been planning it for three months.

‘Even last month we took a lot of action in Portsmouth and surrounding areas in targeting criminals. We’re starting to see a real difference and as a consequence that disrupts crime and the most prolific offenders get justice.’

Defending the force against claims of failing to robustly investigate some crimes, such as low-level offences, CC Chilton said: ‘We need to consider what is being reported and the realistic chances of getting a conviction. We only have so many resources and we have quite a high demand. A lot of the demand on policing isn’t actually about policing so we need to make sure we focus on those types of crimes that are impacting the most on communities.

‘We’ll be looking at all crimes and making an assessment around it but with officers knowing their communities and knowing who’s committing crimes there I would expect to see a difference.’

Speaking of the force’s overall mission under the new mantra, the chief said: ‘Our communities want and expect to see police officers and staff dealing with the issues that they care about, responding when they need us, dealing with those who cause harm in our communities and making our two counties a hostile environment for criminals.

‘I have spent a lot of time since being back in force talking about how all officers will investigate crime. I want officers and staff to be looking for every opportunity to target criminals, taking a robust approach to those who commit crime.

‘There is too much time spent on unnecessary bureaucracy, or filling the gaps of other agencies, who are often much better placed and trained to deal with the issues we are being called to. This means we are diverted away from doing the job that only policing can do, and what my officers and staff joined up to do.

‘This is what I expect from policing, and what the public expects, and why I have changed the way the force is set up to deliver on this. I am also passionate about being a force where anyone who wants to join policing should have the chance to do so. There are so many people who would be great police officers but have been put off from joining because of the need for a degree.

‘There are many people, for example those who have served in the military, who want to join policing but whose skills and life experience are not recognised under the degree scheme. Not only does that make them feel completely devalued, it also means we are missing out on some really good people who could make really good police officers.

‘I also heard loud and clear from many of the student officers that time spent on academic study could be better spent with more experienced officers, out of the classroom, learning on the job and tackling crime.

‘That’s why I got rid of this requirement and created Hampshire Policing PLUS – the first scheme of its kind in the country. It goes live today, so to those people, who want to be part of making a difference to our communities, my message is simple. Come and join us and be part of relentlessly pursuing criminals, providing exceptional local policing and putting victims first.’

Crime commissioner Jones made the appointment of CC Chilton while pushing through new leadership at the top of the organisation in a bid to reset the standards being delivered to the public.

Commissioner Jones said: ‘Over the last few years the public have felt there has been a decline in police visibility and police responding to crimes. Call waiting times on the non-emergency 101 service are longer than they have previously been.

‘The recruitment of the new chief constable was an opportunity to fine-tune the police service across our two counties. I am determined to give the public the service they need and pay for. The changes Chief Constable Scott Chilton is making, will bring back a greater focus on local policing, moving CID back into local communities as well as locally controlled response officers, neighbourhood officers and other specialist teams. This will drive up visibility and enable the public to get to know their local police officers once more.’

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