Safer Neighbourhoods

Introducing a new era in policing

The Metropolitan Police Service is famed around the world and has a unique place in the history of policing. But there are new challenges: our mission as a police service is widening in a way that it has never done before.

London is becoming safer: crime is decreasing, more crimes are being detected and more offenders are being brought to justice. But despite this, Londoners tell us they continue to feel insecure.

For the first time, the Metropolitan Police Service is committed to a new kind of policing - the concept of Safer Neighbourhoods:

A team of officers dedicated to every London neighbourhood
A more accessible, more visible, more accountable police service
Local communities getting a real say in deciding the priorities for the area in which they live, allowing the police to provide long-term, local solutions to local problems while maintaining a focus on reducing priority crime

Safer Neighbourhoods is a truly local policing style: local people working with local police and partners to identify and tackle issues of concern in their neighbourhood.

Safer Neighbourhoods teams usually consist of one sergeant, two constables and three police community support officers (PCSOs).

They are trained to communicate with a wide range of people, communities and partners, to tackle and solve community problems. Experience suggests these are most likely to be quality-of-life issues, such as anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, abandoned cars and graffiti.

Safer Neighbourhoods teams are dedicated to the needs of each specific neighbourhood, with the policing priorities for that area decided in partnership with local stakeholders - the public, crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs), local authorities and other local organisations.

The teams are permanent, not a 'quick fix' brought in to respond to local changes in crime and disorder. What's important and different about this neighbourhood policing model is the officers' work at grass roots level in addition to London's other policing teams and specialist units.

Safer Neighbourhoods teams are assigned, in most cases, according to the boundaries of each of London's 624 electoral wards. The programme began its phased roll out in April 2004, and in April 2006 the remaining teams were put in place - two years ahead of the Government set target for national neighbourhood policing. All 624 neighbourhood wards across the capital now have their own dedicated Safer Neighbourhoods team - that's around 20 teams per borough.