Two more Doncaster villages set for major policing boost next year: Police column

In my last column I revealed that we planned to create more neighbourhood police teams, taking the current three teams up to eight. Central, Doncaster West, based in Mexborough, and Doncaster East, based in Thorne, are already in place, and a team in Edlington is set to start work in February.

The remaining four will be in place by April 2021.

Rossington, and a joint neighbourhood team for Conisbrough and Denaby will be in place by next Summer. Additional teams are also required in the communities located within central Doncaster and we are currently in consultation with our partners, such as the council and St Leger Homes, over where these neighbourhood teams will be based.

It is our intention to place teams in areas that are going to have the most significant and positive impact on the local communities. We therefore need to consult with other organisations and local people to make sure we understand the issues and make an informed and collective decision as we expand neighbourhood policing.

We will be setting up a team in Conisbrough and Denaby because these are communities with significant policing needs, including antisocial behaviour and some elements of organised crime. I think it is only right that we have dedicated teams working with the community to address and resolve issues that exist in those areas. We are therefore working closely with Doncaster Council and other partners to ensure we place the team in a location that will best serve the local communities.

With Rossington, the issues are slightly different. There are some crime issues and antisocial behaviour, but there is also the issue that Rossington is a significant distance from the town centre , making it harder to have a consistent visible policing presence.

Rossington has a police station, so an obvious option would be to base the new team there, in a refurbished building. But we are also considering working with other partners and taking a joint approach, perhaps sharing their premises. That is a detail that is yet to be finalised..

But all these teams will hopefully in place by the end of the next financial year.

By dealing with underlying problems at a neighbourhood level we can more effectively reduce crime levels and reduce the pressure put on the policing service as a whole. We are wanting to build something in Doncaster that will be better than it has had before, and is truly integrated with our partners.