DROITWICH will be getting ten new police officers based at the town’s station under plans revealed by West Mercia Chief Constable Anthony Bangham.
The ten new response officers will equate to two-per-shift and complement the two Safer Neighbourhood Teams (Droitwich East and Droitwich West) which each have one PC and two PCSOs each.
The allocation is part of the 115 new officers promised by West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) John Campion in the budget.
It will be the first time since 2013 has had response officers based in the town – as part of cost-cutting then the system was centralised so the teams serving Droitwich worked out of Worcester.
Sgt Sarah Kent from the Droitwich SNT welcomed the news.
She told The Standard: “When officers are based in the town, they get to know the people and the problems faced there.
“That local knowledge is invaluable – from knowing who to look out for, who has information and even which alleyways connect different parts of the town.
“I have a very dedicated team here who work really hard and do their best to keep the town and its people safe.”
In October West Mercia was one of the forces slammed during Channel 4’s hard-hitting Dispatches programme ‘Lawless Britain: Where are the Police?’
It stated 31.21 per cent of crimes in the force area were logged but not investigated but police bosses, including the Police and Crime Commissioner vowed to deliver an improved service with more officers.
Supt Damian Pettit, South Worcestershire Commander, said the new officers would bring an increased presence to the community.
The officers would be joining through various pathways, including new recruits or as already serving officers transferring from other forces.
This would determine when they were in post by but it is expected they will all be in their roles by April 2020 at the latest.
Supt Pettit added the extra officers would be beneficial force-wide.
“Our communities and local officers are also supported 24 hours a day by the Local Policing Priorities Team and Operational Policing Units.”
He said those officers enforced the law on roads and within communities, carried out operations and surveillance and provided different specialist skills or resources to solve various issues.
