New training for neighbourhood officers to tackle organised crime gangs

Neighbourhood police officers & PCSO’s are to receive new, intensive training from the College of Policing to help identify and disrupt serious and organised crime in their local areas.

The classroom-based training gives frontline officers a clearer understanding of how organised crime groups operate and the harm they cause to communities. It also covers the part neighbourhood policing plays in tackling this, working alongside specialist teams and partner agencies.

Officers will be taught how they can use ‘Clear, Hold, Build’, an innovative policing approach that aims to disrupt organised crime in a specific geographical area and prevent it from returning.

The approach was successfully piloted by several forces and led to a reduction in violent crime, drugs and other offences.

• ‘Clear’ involves officers moving in on those behind organised crime – using intelligence to make high profile arrests of gang members and seizing guns, drugs and cash to disrupt their networks.
• ‘Hold’ capitalises on the disruption, with increased police presence, additional ‘mop up’ arrests and engagement with shops, schools and the community. This makes sure other criminals don’t step in to fill the gap.
• ‘Build’ then uses the foundations set by the previous two steps, working with councils, schools and local people to tackle the root causes of crime, such as poor provision for young people or unsafe public spaces.

The training will also teach neighbourhood officers how to spot the signs of vulnerability and exploitation, so they can safeguard those at risk at an early stage.

This could mean checking on the welfare of a young person hanging out with an older group, or an individual appearing anxious and submissive to another person, among many other potential signs.

Additionally, the course covers how to recognise emerging threats, including artificial intelligence enabled crime, so neighbourhood teams are equipped to respond as criminal activity evolves and affects their communities.

Policing Minister Sarah Jones said:

“Neighbourhood police and Community Support Officers play an invaluable role keeping communities safe and building public confidence.

“We are putting thousands more boots on the ground, with 3,800 already in roles, alongside new training to equip officers to tackle the ever-evolving crimes that blight our communities.

“Raising standards in neighbourhood policing is central to our police reform programme, which will see the biggest changes to policing in two centuries, bringing it closer to the communities it serves.”

Chief Superintendent Andy Sidebotham, Head of Uniformed Policing at the College of Policing, said:

"Neighbourhood policing has a crucial role to play in tackling serious and organised crime. Officers and staff working in communities are often the first to spot the signs of criminal exploitation, county lines activity and other organised criminality that causes significant harm.

“These new training modules will strengthen their ability to identify risk, safeguard vulnerable people and take early action to disrupt organised crime groups before they can exploit victims and communities.

“Effective neighbourhood policing is about more than visibility. It is about building relationships, understanding local concerns and using that insight to prevent crime, protect the public and target those who seek to cause harm."

The training forms part of the College’s wider Neighbourhood policing programme (NPP), which supports the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, and its wider police reform plans.

It aims to establish Neighbourhood Policing as a recognised specialism alongside other areas like investigations and firearms.

By setting a consistent national standard, the College is aiming to help forces provide skilled, visible neighbourhood policing across cities, towns and rural communities

Along with tackling serious and organised crime, the newly released training modules include working with community partners to prevent crime and managing offenders in the community.

They complete the College’s six-part Neighbourhood Policing Programme, which also includes community engagement, problem solving and tackling anti-social behaviour.