Why things happen, not just how things happen is focus for new Powys policing teams.

Dyfed-Powys Police goes live with new policing model; one focused on tackling the issues that have the greatest impact on people’s every-day lives.

The issues that repeat themselves time after time and often cause the greatest harm to those who are most vulnerable.

The new structure sees the existing neighbourhood policing teams come together in bigger numbers, giving officers, communities and others responsible for maintaining community safety and spirit, a better chance of finding solutions that work in the long term.

T/Assistant Chief Constable Vicki Evans said: “We can’t continue to fire-fight our way through our communities’ calls for support. Through informed community engagement and problem solving, the new neighbourhood structure will reduce the long-term demand for officers and deliver positive, sustainable outcomes for our communities.”

The new neighbourhood teams, made up of police officers and police community support officers (PCSOs) are being referred to as problem solving teams – trained to investigate why something happened, as opposed to only identifying how something happened.

By identifying the causes of issues, and understanding the impact of those issues, the aim is that interventions can be put in place to manage out repeat incidents or manage down escalations of issues which often lead to further harm.

T/ACC Evans added: “Good neighbourhood policing is at the very core of how we protect the public, prevent crime and meet the challenges of policing today. It’s the fundamental and constant part of our whole policing system.”

“We’re changing how we work and have made some brave decisions. Doing nothing and continuing as we are, isn’t an option. The model will be monitored closely and we’re open to feedback and further suggestions for improvement.”

Dyfed-Powys Police also hopes that working in this alternative way, which is in line with guidelines for best practice set out nationally for policing, will also reduce repeat calls from often frustrated members of the public.

The force is keen to state too that there is a clear role for communities within this new model – to problem solve effectively, officers rely on information from the public and in order to build whole pictures, the communities must work with us to share their concerns and tell us what they know.

Police & Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn said: “I hope local communities will feel the benefit of these changes and I will be listening to feedback with interest as this change is rolled out.

“The Chief Constable assures me that all areas now have a neighbourhood policing presence, all supported by response teams, CID, roads policing units and other specialist resources.

"All team members have received enhanced training in problem solving, vulnerability and investigation and within each team, there are crime prevention advisors who are able to advise on designing out crime and support victims on target hardening.”

The restructure of teams means that all areas now have an neighbourhood policing presence, all supported by response teams, CID, roads policing units and other specialist resources available across the force.

All team members have received enhanced training in problem solving, vulnerability and investigation and within each team, there are tactical crime prevention advisors who are able to advise on designing out crime and support victims on target hardening.