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Gloucestershire Constabulary is restructuring the way it operates in the county through a re-assignment of officers to new areas to provide a more "localised service".

Assistant Chief Constable Rhiannon Kirk

Date - 11th September 2020
By - Chloe Livadeas

The changes began during summer when response officers covering Gloucester and Cheltenham who were based at a single site in Bamfurlong were split up and moved to more central sites in Gloucester and Cheltenham.

They are now based at the Gloucestershire Tri-Service Emergency Control building in Quedgeley, Quedgeley police station, Bearland in Gloucester city centre and the police station on Lansdown Road in Cheltenham.

Other changes include enhanced Local Policing Teams across the county with officers who will be the first to respond and investigate crime, new Superintendents for Local Policing Areas and Detective supervisors in each area.

Assistant Chief Constable Rhiannon Kirk, who has responsibility for local policing, said their response to COVID-19, which meant they had to move some of our teams, and the Government uplift in recruits prompted the force to “seize the opportunity to improve our operating model”.

She said: "The driving force has been our desire to stay connected with our communities by providing a more localised service - but one that is better equipped to meet the needs of those communities.

"Having more officers based in Gloucester and Cheltenham gets us closer to the people we serve in those areas and the design of the enhanced Local Policing Teams will provide a more robust and consistent service from the first report of a crime.

"Providing better links between the teams and our detectives will support them to deliver higher quality local investigations and help us tackle crimes that are often of most concern to the public like burglary, which can have a devastating effect on victims.

To implement the changes, three Superintendents began new roles last week overseeing the Local Policing Areas of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury; Cotswolds and Stroud and the Forest of Dean and Gloucester.

Over the next few months these officers and those from the current Local Investigation Teams will join together to form enhanced Local Policing Teams in those areas and the change will be replicated across the county, with enhanced Local Policing Teams in Stroud, the Forest, Cotswolds and Tewkesbury.

The three Superintendents are Supt Emma Davies, Supt Kath Davis and Supt Jane Probert.

ACC Kirk said they will “help our local teams to address the different issues faced in each of our diverse areas, develop our partnership work and ensure residents know that ‘every crime matters’ to us - a key priority of the Commissioner's Police and Crime Plan".

Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl said: "Policing local communities is essential to ensure Gloucestershire remains a safe place to live. I believe that every contact counts and every crime matters – so this move to provide a more visible presence across the county is most welcome. I’m pleased to hear the constabulary is continuing its efforts to tackle volume crimes such as burglary, but I welcome feedback from the public on the realities of these changes, to ensure the level of policing they deserve is in fact what they receive.”

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