Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl has given his backing to the way the county will be policed in future.
The changes which came into effect on Thursday 23 July, 2015, have been described as the most comprehensive review of the Gloucestershire Constabulary in 40 years and is the result of an extensive examination of all of its finances, buildings and resources.
Among the changes announced by the Constabulary are:
- A new structure for operational policing
- More effective mobile working to allow officers and PCSOs to spend more time on patrol
- Common working practices across the entire Force area so that regardless of where officers work they will operate in the same way
- A single neighbourhood command replacing six local policing commands
- Officers and PCSOs will be deployed beyond their own neighbourhood policing area should the need arise
Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl, who began the review following his election in November 2012 said,
“I think the Chief Constable and her chief officer group deserve great credit for the way they’ve restructured the force with the aim of getting the very best results from the resources at their disposal.
“It might take the public some time to get used to the changes but this will keep more officers out on patrol for longer. Yes, there are fewer officers now than many years ago, but that is due to austerity measures beyond our control.
“My job, and that of the Chief Constable, is to make the best of what we have and I will be monitoring the new working arrangements very closely.
“I understand that many still lament the loss of their local police station but those decisions were taken some years ago and cannot be reversed. Advances in technology and improvements in mobile communications will free officers from their desks and keep them on the streets for longer which is what the public have told me they want”.
