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From Norfolk RCC

Norfolk Police Authority commissioned Norfolk RCC to assess the effectiveness of Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) in rural areas. A sample based approach was used combining a range of consultation techniques including postal surveys and interviews to provide robust quantitative and qualitative data on:

• The knowledge of Safer Neighbourhood Teams in rural areas
• Community satisfaction with Safer Neighbourhood Teams
• The difference Safer Neighbourhood Teams are making in rural areas

Result Headlines

• The response rate allows us to be confident the conclusions below are representative of the Safer Neighbourhood Team areas examined. The data gathered also allows the views of key groups within the communities to be highlighted in terms of how they differ from those of the general community. Based on this research the following points can be made:

• Awareness of the ‘Safer Neighbourhood Team’ term is relatively prevalent with 46% responding that they had heard of it, however, understanding of what a ‘Safer Neighbourhood Team’ is and does is fairly limited. Knowledge of who the local police community support officer (PCSO) and police officers are and how to contact them is low with 82% not knowing how to contact their local team. It can therefore be concluded that additional efforts need to made to ensure rural communities are aware of their local police officers and PCSOs and how to contact them.

• Although average satisfaction levels with SNTs are reasonable at 2.5 on a one to five scale (with five being very satisfied), 44% are dissatisfied with community policing. Importantly based on this sample there is no strong relationship between satisfaction levels and settlement size. However, although rural areas fair well in terms of officers per crime the police invest less in their relationship with rural communities than their urban counterparts in terms of officers per head of population. Responses from the community would suggest that improved satisfaction levels are likely to be achieved through increasing police presence on the ground.

• Knowledge of Safer Neighbourhood Team priorities is very low and 83% feel unable to influence local policing priorities. There is also an apparent mismatch between Safer Neighbourhood Team priorities and community concerns suggesting that this feeling of an inability to influence has a genuine effect. Overall communication between Safer Neighbourhood Teams and local communities is poor. Safer neighbourhood action panel (SNAP) meetings are failing as a method to engage local communities and other methods of community engagement need to be explored.

• An emphasis on community development and the use of communications technology and more direct engagement with local residents may help improve communications and Safer Neighbourhood Team effectiveness. This report contains some specific suggestions under the ‘Way forward’ section.
  
  

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