More feet on the beat - Neighbourhood police join team

NPCs Jason Kemp and Roy "Bunny" Warren joined the Neighbourhood Policing Team this year.

Working alongside NPC Steve Croft, the officers cover all nine districts of Bexhill Town.

Roy Warren has been a police officer for 20 years, 15 of them in Bexhill.

After serving his probation in Brighton he came to Bexhill in 1994, working as beat officer for Old Town and Sackville before spending eight years with the response unit.

He said: "I've been wanting to get back on the beat ever since then."

A new emphasis on neighbourhood policing was introduced recently with dedicated Neighbourhood Policing Teams throughout Sussex. Neighbourhood Policing Sergeants, NPCs and Police Community Support Officers provide visible presence in agreed "beats", roughly coterminous with electoral wards.

Council departments such as the Park Rangers, Youth Offending Team and Licensing work closely with NPCs to target anti-social behaviour and youths with alcohol.

Officers also patrol streets, support traffic wardens and perform speed checks, taking members of the public with them to encourage accurate judgement of car speeds.

In March Neighbourhood Schools Officer WPC Sarah Ellis, Chief Inspector Heather Keating and PCSO Andy Smith visited Sidley Primary School for the first in a campaign of "Listening Lunches" with Bexhill schools.

The drive encourages children to see police officers as accessible within the community.

Neighbourhood Panel Meetings every three months allow the public to identify key issues for their NPC to focus on.

Roy Warren, who works in Central, Sackville and Old Town, said: "I think neighbourhood policing is particularly well received by the public. It's all very well seeing a police car whizzing by, but it's not the same as seeing a police officer on beat."

Jason Kemp has been a police officer for three years, coming to Bexhill three months ago from Battle and Rye.

He said: "I joined because I wanted to be a community police officer, it's something I've always wanted. We work with the community and for the community.

"This gives us an opportunity to be active rather than re-active. It's good for us to be out on patrol and deal with events and collisions as they happen, instead of someone having to call the 0845 number.

"Unfortunately, by the time we can react to that, sometimes half an hour has gone.

"Obviously we can't provide a police officer on every road, but we go some way to providing reassurance to members of the community."

Jason Kemp patrols in Kewhurst, St Marks, Collington and St Michaels wards.

Information on panel meetings can be found on the NPCs blog, accessed through the local policing link on www.sussex.police.uk