A NEW structure in the provision of policing begins on 10 October 2016 which will enhance community policing in Dumfries and Galloway by increasing the number of operational constables fulfilling dedicated community roles” explains the Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Gary Ritchie.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll suddenly see lots more officers walking the beat, but community officers will be more focussed on community business, such as attending community councils and area committees, responding directly to community concerns and of course continuing the good work we currently do in partnership with our schools, social work, housing and other agencies. Our partnership arrangements will be helped by the fact that we will deploy our community officers to align with the local council area committee structures. There will be a Sergeant heading each team, overseen by two dedicated Community Inspectors, Inspector Gordon McKnight who will cover the east of the division and Inspector Stewart McColm who will cover the west.
“Having this dedicated approach means there’s less chance of community officers being pulled away on other business elsewhere in the division and also we can reduce some of their administrative duties so they will be able to spend a lot more time in their areas. I’m hopeful that they will become very familiar to people in the community and we are looking at ways to improve direct contact to the teams for routine, day to day community issues. We will publicise any new developments in this respect, in the meantime you can contact the Community Inspectors or the teams via the 101 system.
“We can achieve an increase in front line operational constables by having fewer Sergeants and Inspectors overall and giving the supervisors who are retained wider geographic responsibilities and better defined roles. I’m hopeful that we will be able to build on this structure to have better community relations, better contact from and with our communities and continue to provide for years to come the excellent service the people of Dumfries and Galloway have become accustomed to.”
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