More police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) will be joining Safer Neighbourhood Teams across Warwickshire following a £1.3 million grant from the Home Office.

The neighbourhood policing grant, "designed to rebuild the vital connection between the police and the public to enhance trust and confidence", will enable eight additional police officers to be deployed within neighbourhood teams and 10 more PCSOs to be recruited for Warwickshire Police.

An additional four Special Constable volunteers will also be supported, and the grant will also help to pay for recruitment and associated costs.

The announcement has been welcomed by Philip Seccombe, Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, who called the funding "a significant boost to efforts to strengthen neighbourhood policing across the county."

He said: "The visibility of policing is consistently raised by the public as a top priority, along with the importance of Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) to local communities.

"Through my 'A Safer Warwickshire for All' plan, I have made a clear commitment to enhance neighbourhood policing, recognising that our SNTs are essential to building public trust and confidence, tackling local priorities, and ensuring people feel safe where they live.

"This funding will allow us to put more officers and PCSOs on the streets where they are most needed, enhancing Warwickshire Police's ability to address issues such as anti-social behaviour, retail crime and deal with community safety concerns in both urban and rural parts of the county.

"It will also provide greater opportunities for meaningful engagement with residents, enabling local teams to respond more effectively to the concerns that matter most to them."

advertisement

The funding forms parts of the Government's Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which aims to ensure every community gets the visible, proactive policing it deserves and makes £200 million available to police forces nationally in 2025/26 to support the increase of neighbourhood officers in years to come.