THE Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (CIOS), police teams have highlighted the vital work they do every day in their communities, as part of the national Neighbourhood Policing Week of Action.

Using the hashtag #NeighbourhoodPolicingCornwallIOS to update communities on social media, the police family encouraged people to get to know their bobbies on the beat and find out more about the work they do.

Neighbourhood officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and volunteers, working across the peninsula, revealed updates about the work they do to protect the public. Highlights from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly police team included:

Bodmin’s neighbourhood team highlighted a typical patrol on of the force’s state of the art e-bikes. Neighbourhood Beat Manager PC Andy Currie covered more than 13 miles in a day, patrolling Bodmin town centre, making enquiries into an assault allegation, and looking to locate someone wanted on warrant.

All in a week’s work for policing teams across Cornwall & Isles of Scilly: Speed watch operations took place, arrests were made, attendance of community events to give crime prevention advice prioritised and partnership walkarounds in St Austell and Liskeard towns brought emergency services, councils and town management teams together to review security, and potential antisocial behaviour hotspots.

‘Giving back’ initiatives such as the 999 Academy relational session in Penzance and a burgeoning Shopwatch project in Bodmin continued, with a view to educating, safeguarding communities and preventing crime. Some local teams also distributed posters to raise awareness of who to contact in neighbourhood policing teams to encourage communities to connect with them if they need.

At the start of Neighbourhood Policing Week of Action, Devon & Cornwall Police Assistant Chief Constable Jim Nye, said: “Neighbourhood policing is at the heart of everything we do – being a trusted presence within the community, working closely with people and using a range of problem-solving skills to address community issues, is vital in helping us to prevent crime, bring offenders to justice and keep people safe – especially the most vulnerable.

“This week of action is an ideal opportunity to recognise and celebrate the vital work that all our neighbourhood policing teams, and our wider policing family perform every day to keep communities safe and make Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly a hostile place for criminals.”

Alison Hernandez, The Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly added: “We know neighbourhood policing is valued by our communities and is fundamental in both crime prevention and recording”.

“In recent public survey, which helps set the policing budget for 2023/24, 2,263 people (93.28%) told me preventing crime is an area which needs greater investment. One focus of our new Chief Constable is to have a ‘strong police focus on access and visibility with our communities’ so further investment in neighbourhood teams is planned.

“We have budgeted for more police officers in Devon and Cornwall than there ever have been. This approach will help deliver on my policing priorities of tackling drugs, anti-social behaviour, reducing serious violence and making our roads safer.”

During action week, on Thursday, January 26, the latest crime figures were released by the Office of National Statistics and show that Cornwall remains one of the safest places to live and visit in England and Wales.

To find out more about your local policing team please visit the Local Policing section of Devon & Cornwall Police website and search for your area or follow their updates on social media.