Career stories, available roles, progression and working environment.
Neighbourhood policing is used to describe the teams of police officers, police staff and PCSOs (police community support officers) that police or support policing within the local community.
The defining features of neighbourhood policing are:
- police officers, staff and volunteers accessible to, responsible for and accountable to communities
- community engagement that builds trust and develops a sophisticated understanding of community needs
- collaborative problem-solving with communities supported by integrated working with private, public and voluntary sectors
The combination of these features distinguishes neighbourhood policing from other broader policing functions.
It is an essential part of the UK policing approach that aims to connect our communities directly and seamlessly to specialist policing services at local, regional and national level.
Career stories
- PC Matt Eld on being a neighbourhood police officer
- Inspector Barry Gosling on working in neighbourhood policing
Possible entry routes
The role
Each police force will often work slightly differently, as each community is different.
Generally, neighbourhood policing teams are made up of PCSOs and constables who are supervised by a neighbourhood sergeant. Usually, an inspector oversees a neighbourhood policing area, although in some larger cities this may be a higher-ranking officer.
The focus of neighbourhood policing officers and PCSOs will be linked to force and local priorities. While having the skills to engage with communities and work with them and partners to problem-solve local issues is key, the ability to focus attention on targeting issues like serious youth violence and county lines drug dealing is equally important.
PCSOs
PCSOs provide a visible, accessible, and approachable presence in communities. They are engagement specialists. For example, in the aftermath of a critical incident, the role of a PCSO in engaging with the community and providing a two-way flow of information is critical to the investigation and management of community tension.
A possible career route is to apply to become a constable, but other roles are available too. PCSOs are often key intelligence gatherers in the local community. With these skills, PCSOs may want to progress into roles within intelligence.
Problem solving is also a key skill of the PCSO, and other staff roles in crime prevention may also be a possible progression route. They may also develop their skills and knowledge in anti-social behaviour and become an anti-social behaviour specialist. In some forces there is progression for PCSOs into a PCSO supervisor role.
Police constables
In addition to the skills needed for PCSOs, police constables have policing powers and investigation skills that they can use in a proactive, fair and just way to address issues in their neighbourhood. For constables there are many lateral progression opportunities.
Constables will often develop pro-active skills such as:
- search warrants
- stop and search
- problem solving
- partnership working
- prevention
- offender management
Constables may be able to add more to their role by undertaking training in:
- public order
- method of entry
- searching
- tutoring
- disaster victim identification
- CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) response
- football spotter
- negotiator
- family liaison
This will allow them the opportunity to take on additional duties around the force.
Sergeants and inspectors
Sergeants and inspectors will likely follow an in-force promotions process that will see them posted into other roles across policing.
The exposure that sergeants and inspectors get within the Neighbourhood Policing environment provides solid building blocks to further progression. It is a great opportunity for those seeking promotion to work with a large array of partners such as community safety partnerships, criminal justice partners, fire and rescue services, schools, social services, local authorities and voluntary sector partners, a skill that is valuable in any policing role.
In-role training
- offender management
- safeguarding
- basic investigation (PIP 1)
- PIP 2
- procedural justice
- problem-solving
- partnership working
- basic driving
- standard driving
- officer safety
- comms
We are also piloting a new training programme for neighbourhood policing. This is currently limited to 11 forces, but if successful, will be rolled out to all Home Office forces.
Other training
- digital media
- police search advisor (PolSA)
- tutor constable
- disaster victim identification
- public order
- method of entry
Neighbourhood policing guidelines
We have produced support materials on the neighbourhood policing guidelines for frontline officers, staff and volunteers. You may find this useful when considering a move towards neighbourhood policing.
Progression
It is likely that constables will have some experience from other policing roles before starting in neighbourhood policing.
If you are looking at progressing through the ranks, you should look at the national police promotions framework (NPPF) information.
It may not be possible to progress through the ranks within a particular area, as forces may assign newly promoted individuals or those in acting posts, in line with organisational need.
Fast track
The fast track programme for serving constables is a development programme and promotion mechanism to enable the most talented serving police constables to advance to the rank of inspector within two years.
Exit routes
- learning and development
- specialist support
- roads policing
- investigation
- response policing
- licensing
- crime reduction/prevention