South Holland gets new 'Safer Together' team working alongside police
A new team of recruits drawn from all walks of life is to be the "eyes and ears of the community" on matters of policing in South Holland.
The "Safer Together Team", made up of a group leader and four co-ordinators, is to work alongside the area's neighbourhood policing team to help prevent crime and identify its causes.
Launched within the last six weeks, the new team is the idea of Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones (PCC) who described it as "the voice of the public" to himself and Lincolnshire Police.
South Holland and Boston is one of four areas across the county where teams will work within police stations, such as Spalding, with the other teams will be based in North and South Kesteven (including the Deepings and Bourne), East Lindsey and Lincoln/West Lindsey.
Mr Jones said: "The Safer Together Teams are something that I'm really excited about and they are specifically designed to operate in that space of the community where people don't engage with the police, or don't need to.
"One of the things I've always stated is that I'm the voice of the public to policing, not the voice of policing to the public.
"We've not been able to find an effective way for the public to engage at grassroots level and really make a difference to policing on a day-by-day basis.
"With the commitment I made last year that council tax revenues will help to deliver a new neighbourhood policing model, we'll be directly joining up the co-ordinators of each Safer Together Team with their neighbourhood policing team.
"This will ensure that the community is getting the best possible service from their neighbourhood policing teams.
"Equally, it will ensure that the neighbourhood policing team is getting the best possible information from the community."
In a report for Police and Crime Panel members, district and county councillors from across Lincolnshire who oversee the PCC's work, Mr Jones said the new teams will "identify local issues and seek local solutions, working with partners to reduce demand on the force".
Charities, community groups and parish councils are among the parts of the community that the Safer Together teams will be helping and working with.
Mr Jones said: "South Holland remains my favourite part of the county and I come here as often as I can to see that services are provided appropriately across the county.
"The Safer Together Team will ensure that we get the best possible value from not just the policing element of council tax, but all the public money spent in the area to affect community safety.
"Coordinators will allow our community groups and small councils to have direct contact with the PCC's office if they are unhappy about anything.
"The teams will be the eyes and ears of the community to prevent crime and help find the causes of crime.
"But they're not the police and they're not working for the police.
"They're working for me and their sole purpose is to support and link the community with the police."