Citizen focused policing
Delivering high quality customer service and establishing neighbourhood policing in every community are key objectives of the current reform of the police service. It’s what the government calls Citizen Focus.
Nottinghamshire Police is developing its approach to citizen-focused policing under the banner Getting Close.
But Getting Close isn’t just a name.
We’re Getting Close to the people we serve – individuals and whole communities alike – so we can better understand their needs and expectations and ensure these are routinely reflected in the service we provide.
Our Getting Close programme has three broad objectives. They are:
Neighbourhood Policing
Establishing visible, accessible and responsive Safer Neighbourhood Teams in every community who work in partnership with other agencies to tackle local problems and protect people’s quality of life. We have piloted neighbourhood policing in our City Division and we will establish a dedicated Safer Neighbourhood Team in every part of Nottinghamshire by 2008.
Quality of Service
Ensuring that people receive a high quality service from the police whenever they have contact with us and for whatever reason. The Quality of Service Commitment is a set of national minimum standards for customer service that all police forces must comply with by November 2006. The commitment covers a number of customer service principles and practice – from making it easier to contact us to dealing with complaints.
Community Engagement
Engaging local people on policing issues is a pre-requisite for truly effective neighbourhood policing. Community engagement is the process by which we will find out the needs, experiences and expectations of local communities and then use that knowledge to shape local policing priorities and tailor the service we provide.
Our Getting Close programme does not change our core business of protecting people, promoting law and order and reducing and detecting crime in Nottinghamshire.
It will, however, change our style of policing to ensure that the law-abiding citizen is, without exception, at the heart of what we do and why we do it.
We believe that by Getting Close to customers and communities, they are more likely to feel reassured and more confident in the service we provide.
This, in turn, should help to improve our customer satisfaction levels and our overall performance, as well as contribute to our vision of making Nottinghamshire safer for all.
You can find more information about local policing in Nottinghamshire by visiting the Your Local Police section of our website.
