Transcript

INTERVIEWER:

Ben, could you tell us a little about who you are and what you do.

BEN HARGREAVES:

Yes, I'm Ben Hargreaves. I'm a Chief Inspector in Dorset Police. And I'm responsible for neighbourhood policing in eastern North Dorset. It's an area that's made up of a number of small market towns and quite a big rural community as well. So it's quite a diverse area to work in.

INTERVIEWER:

OK. From your perspective, what are the main objectives of community or neighbourhood policing.

BEN HARGREAVES:

I think, for me, the main objectives really are to ensure that the police has an effective engagement strategy, so that we are able to reach, not only the parts of the community that are easy to access, but also those that are hard to hear. So an understanding of the demographics, and understanding of age groups, and an understanding of the interests of the people that we're policing.

INTERVIEWER:

Who do you see as the main stakeholders in shaping community policing?

BEN HARGREAVES:

I think that there is a clear role for some of the statutory partners. I think local authorities are a big stakeholder. I'd also really like to focus on people who are volunteering. So that might be in neighbourhood watch schemes. It may be in the wider charity sector, and people who are key figures in faith communities as well. All of these people have a big role to play in community safety and community policing.

So in the past, we've relied heavily on schemes like neighbourhood watch and a range of community voluntary groups. But what we have to recognise is that people's lives are changing. And some of those groups might not be here in the future. So age of participants is changing. The way people like to meet is changing. So in the past, we've focused on physical spaces, so getting people to buildings, to street corners. But in the future, it might be the online space where we have to encourage people to participate.

INTERVIEWER:

So can you think of some examples of the kinds of impact that some of these key stakeholders have on community policing?

INTERVIEWER:

Yes, I think that quite often the police are very reliant on their own data to try and predict what's going on in communities. So we'll look at crime trends and types of incidents that have happened. But the really rich source of information has to come from the people in the communities. So I think making sure the channels are open, so that people can communicate what's actually happening right at the grassroots level, is really important, because that does have a direct impact on policing.

INTERVIEWER:

So is there a specific example or scenario that you can think that illustrates that a little bit more?

BEN HARGREAVES:

Yes, I think that a particular example would be around one particular housing estate in Dorset. And this could be probably transposed to anywhere in the country, but a problem with antisocial behaviour, particularly youth related. And through a process of engagement and engagement across the community, bringing people in, who perhaps hadn't been involved before, the neighbourhood policing team were able to engage in a problem solving process that really used the community to its own advantage and actually got it to solve some of its own problems by starting to take responsibility for things that were well within their control.

INTERVIEWER:

Thank you very much, Ben.

BEN HARGREAVES:

Thank you.