New neighbourhood inspector vows to listen to communities

The new inspector in charge of neighbourhood policing in Nottingham South has vowed to engage with the public as his team continues the fight against serious crime and drugs.

Inspector Steve Dalby has taken over the reins as the new inspector for communities across St Ann’s, The Meadows, Sneinton, Mapperley and The Wells and Clifton.

After 19 years as a detective in CID, he is looking forward to playing his part in making communities across this vibrant part of the city safer.

He wants to continue to tackle the area’s key crime priorities – serious violence, serious acquisitive crime and drugs – as well as engage with partners and residents across the area’s different neighbourhoods.

Insp Dalby, who has 23 years of policing experience, said: “I’m excited to be taking over the role of neighbourhood inspector for the City South.

“We’re currently in a very good place with local crime rates falling – but I’m not complacent and we are determined to do even better.

“I am confident we can achieve this. We have more officers than we have had in a long time and my team are working on a number of exciting initiatives – alongside internal and external partners – that are designed to make the local community even safer than it already is.

“My experience as an investigator will help with this goal. Much of my career has been about public protection and keeping the most vulnerable people in our society safe.

“Our crime priorities remain the same. Serious violence is thankfully very rare but we know the impact knife crime and other violence can have on people.

“Therefore we are working with the force’s knife crime team, Operation Reacher, council partners and the Youth Justice Service on a number of initiatives. Much of this is about prevention and helping to steer people away from criminality.

“Drugs and associated criminality continue to have a devastating impact on our communities and we will do everything we can to lock up drug dealers, take drugs off the streets and educate people.”

Insp Dalby says the make-up of his beat team will be remaining the same for consistency and to allow neighbourhood officers to continue their engagement work within the community.

He is also keen to continue the work of former neighbourhood inspector Karl Thomas and take an active role in community initiatives and partnerships between police, charities and community groups.

In order to deliver on the area’s policing priorities, Insp Dalby said his team would also need help from residents.

He said: “The public know how they want to be policed so I need to know what they want for their neighbourhood, how can we make them feel safe and listened to and how we can deliver that to them.

“In order to achieve our aims I want the community to continue to tell us about the issues which are causing them concern and to have the confidence to report information to us.

“I promise that all information shared will be reviewed by an officer to see if we can take action and, of course, anything reported will always be treated in the strictest confidence.

“My intention going forward is to keep people updated on the proactive police work going on in their communities to tackle our neighbourhood policing priorities, giving them the confidence to share their concerns and enabling us to take the appropriate action to combat crime.”

You can contact the City South neighbourhood policing team via the Nottinghamshire Police website or by calling 101.