Recommendation 17

The lack of capacity in neighbourhood policing teams to build relationships with retailers, identify prolific offenders and respond swiftly to incidents of retail crime has damaged the confidence of retail workers. It has made it harder to maintain close relationships between the police and local high street retailers, or to pursue community relationships, which has had a significant impact on crime prevention work. These teams play a vital role in identifying and addressing the specific challenges facing retailers on their local high street. We believe it is extremely important that neighbourhood policing teams are prioritised for new resource as part of the 20,000 police officer uplift programme. Both Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables should make neighbourhood policing a priority. Chief Constables should examine their current resourcing arrangements and ring-fence a proportion of their additional policing capacity to expand neighbourhood teams.