Councillors,Colleagues and Partner Agencies,
I am the new District Commander for Basingstoke & Deane. As part of ongoing work to achieve 20% budget cuts and force savings plans,difficult decisions are being made. To date we have been able to retain all our police officer numbers.
The Northern Area now has to reduce by a relatively small number of officers. For Basingstoke and Deane this means the loss of four police officer posts. In reality this means posts will not be filled when officers retire or move,and work will be redistributed. All areas will retain named neighbourhood teams of officers and PCSOs.
We cannot reduce our patrol officers (TPT) emergency and incident response,for obvious reasons.
For us this means a reduction of four neighbourhood officers (SNT posts).
After very careful consideration of workloads and risks,I have made the decisions as below:
- SNT South Basingstoke to lose one PC from early 2013
- SNT North Basingstoke to lose one PC from early 2013
- SNT Rural Basingstoke &Deane to lose two PCs from early 2013
On the positive side we are retaining our patrol base at Whitchurch,as well as our overall PCSO numbers. We are also recruiting Police Staff Investigators to work in our CID teams. We continue to receive excellent support from the Community Safety Patrol Officers from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
I am happy to answer queries by email,and I or my managers will endeavour to speak to you face to face and in groups where this can be facilitated. Crime is currently down 18% (800 offences) so far this year, and we intend to keep it that way!
Steve Wallace| Chief Inspector 22478
Basingstoke &Deane District Commander
Hampshire Constabulary
Int:621129 | Mobile:07901 102361
Email:steven.wallace@hampshire.pnn.police.uk