Linking with Other Structures
In order to support economies of scale and coordinate responses, partners should consider the possibility of working with key agencies with an established process on community engagement. For example, there is a statutory requirement on police authorities to produce local policing summaries. These are intended to be concise, insightful, publications geared specifically at reaching and engaging with local communities. For further details of these summaries, please refer to Plan for Action: Publish the Summary.
Effective community engagement is crucial to the successful delivery of Neighbourhood Policing (see Appendix B for further details). Through PACT (Police and Communities Together) community engagement processes, Neighbourhood Policing involves the community and partners together to identify priorities. With neighbourhood teams having an ongoing dialogue with the communities that they serve, this can be an additional approach when considering engagement and feedback. Neighbourhood Policing aims to provide the community with:
- Access – to policing or community safety services through a named point of contact.
- Influence – over community safety priorities in their neighbourhood.
This helps build much needed reassurance and confidence that local priorities and concerns are being addressed with the involvement of the community. Communities should be involved in the identification of priorities and this process should not just be led by the partner agencies.
