A NEW team of police officers is poised to take up duties in Ipswich over the next few months.Fifteen community support officers (CSOs) are due to be recruited in the coming weeks, to provide a reassuring uniformed presence in Ipswich town centre.
A NEW team of police officers is poised to take up duties in Ipswich over the next few months.
Fifteen community support officers (CSOs) are due to be recruited in the coming weeks, to provide a reassuring uniformed presence in Ipswich town centre.
As well as conducting high visibility patrols and dealing with anti-social behaviour and nuisance offences, their presence will allow regular officers to focus on more serious crime.
Suffolk Constabulary asked the Home Office for funding for the 15 CSOs, and the bid was confirmed as successful in May.
Suffolk's first CSOs will be recruited and trained over the summer and autumn, and take up patrol in Ipswich by October.
Chief superintendent Geoff Munns, southern area commander said: "This is excellent news for the constabulary and especially for Ipswich, and I am delighted to have the first community support officers working in the town. The public's demand for visible patrol has never been greater and, when fully operational, the CSOs will enable regular police officers to be freed up to tackle more serious crime."
"Community support officers are not replacements for regular police officers. But, as is the case with traffic wardens and special constables, they will provide a valued and additional presence on the streets of Ipswich, strengthening our links with local communities and improving reassurance."
"The constabulary's commitment to Suffolk First – which aims to make the county the safest in the country by 2006 - is not only about reducing actual crime but also about lowering people's fear of crime."
"The community support officers now destined for Ipswich provide a unique opportunity for us to engage more closely with those local communities who are suffering disproportionately from anti –social and nuisance behaviour, often at the hands of a minority of persistent offenders."
All 15 CSOs will be posted to Ipswich - and recruitment adverts will be placed in local newspapers within the next week. Details will also be posted on the website: www.suffolk.police.uk
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