PCSOs and youth workers will be a big plus for neighbourhoods

Law and order reaps the benefits of good financial management

Good financial management at the county council will deliver a really tangible benefit for communities across Staffordshire in the coming months.

We have teamed up with the Police to deliver an innovative partnership scheme that could attract interest from across the country.

The county has assigned around £3 million - money that has come from efficiency saving - to fund 38 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and 16 new detached youth workers.

Together they will work together to form new "Partnership Reassurance Teams" targeting specific neighbourhoods. Recruitment to these posts is underway now.

The target will be anti-social behaviour on our streets and near our homes - this is the sort of irritant that people tell us really can make their lives miserable, and there is no escaping the fact that it largely involves teenagers and young adults.

The teams will be ideally placed to tackle this behaviour. Teenagers themselves tell us that they don't want to be demonised, and much of the action that causes this concern is thoughtlessness born of boredom rather than criminality. It is behaviour that youth workers are ideally placed to deal with in a positive, creative way.

The PCSO's, although they have had their critics, are now a firmly established part of the law and order framework - and this extra funding from the county council will boost their numbers in Staffordshire by almost 20 per cent.

They are ideally suited to tasks that tackle this kind of nuisance behaviour. They provide an appropriatelly skilled uniformed presence, but free up our highly trained and specialised police officers to deal with serious criminal activities like burglary, drug offences and violent crime.

Of course the county council already works with the police in a wide number of areas - road safety and consumer protection being great examples - but this partnership is unique. I am really looking forward to receiving the first update on the progress being made.

Page Last Modified: 24/07/2008 12:48:59

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