A NEW policing initiative has been launched, with basildon one of the first to benefit.

At a launch this week Essex Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington launched Neighbourhood Policing Teams and said: "We value our neighbourhoods which is why we're increasing local presence to increase visibility and reduce crime even further."

The teams – renamed from former Community Policing Teams – are seeing a total of 74 additional officer roles in response to the Government's Neigbourhood Policing Guarantee.

CC Harrington says the force knows how important visibility is, adding: "We value our neighbourhoods which is why we're increasing local presence and visibility.

"More than 90 percent of people in Essex tell us that they think a regular uniformed presence in their area is important and we're listening to that feedback.

"But these officers won't just be visible in your neighbourhoods – they'll be preventing and investigating crime, getting justice for victims, and working with partners to resolve issues that matter to you.

"This adds to our commitment to keep our cops visible in the communities they serve."

Chief Constable Harrington speaking to younger members of the public

"We're continuing to bring crime down - imagine what we could do with fair funding"

As well as working with councils and other partners to tackle issues in local areas and prevent crime, the Neighbourhood Policing Team's work also includes reducing criminal anti-social behaviour, carrying out proactive operations, enforcing orders, and targeting repeat offenders and those who exploiting vulnerable people.

The types of crimes they will investigate include some robberies and sexual offences, vehicle crime, shoplifting, business burglaries, and dangerous dog incidents.

CC Harrington is one of the longest serving Chief Constables in the UK and launched the new teams in Basildon alongside the Police, Fire, and Crime Commissioner for Essex Roger Hirst, leader of Basildon Council Councillor Gavin Callaghan, and Basildon councillor Kerry Smith.

He says crime continues to fall in Essex and Neighbourhood Policing Teams are playing an important role in that: "We've had nearly 10,000 fewer crimes reported in the last year and more than 22,000 fewer than five years ago, while anti-social behaviour is down about 65 percent on five years ago and continues to drop. We're also solving more crime than this time last year.

"Our NPTs work with our partners to prevent crime happening in the first place and provide solutions to issues in local areas.

"In the last year, officers who make up these teams made around 2,500 arrests and secured more than 2,000 charges. That's nearly 10 percent of all arrests made and about 15 percent of all charges.

"They're making a real difference to their communities, making you safer, and getting justice.

"And we've done this against a backdrop of years of unfair funding from central Government.

Just imagine what we can achieve if Essex Police had a fair deal when it comes to funding. It can't be right that the eighth biggest police force has the third lowest level of funding per head of population."

Sergeant Pentelow, Cllr Kerry Smith, PFCC Roger Hirst, Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington, leader of Basildon Council Cllr Gavin Callaghan, Acting Sergeant Waite

"We are grateful for the continued support from the public"

CC Harrington added that the public can help us keep their neighbourhoods safe by reporting issues or concerns to us: "We are really grateful for the continued support we have from the public, around 75 percent of people in Essex think we do a good or excellent job, and your continued support is really important.

"Information and intelligence from the public is crucial to identifying issues we need to target.

"You may not see us respond immediately but that doesn't mean that we're not acting on what you've told us. We will be building a picture of an issue, who's involved, and the most effective way of dealing with it.

"You can report information to us online or through the Live Chat function on our website.

"We would also love to see you at an engagement event or public meeting.

"And you can find out what we're doing about issues in your area on the 'Your Area' pages on our website or by signing up to our Dispatch email newsletter".

You can see the details of the Neighbourhood Policing Team officers in your area here.