Labour is putting more bobbies back on the beat, with the Government delivering up to 65 new neighbourhood police for Hampshire within a year.
The news has been welcomed today by Amanda Martin, Labour MP for Portsmouth North, and comes as part of a £200 million investment by the Labour Government to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs by the end of the Parliament.
This initial funding boost will see almost 3,000 more police officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood roles by March 2026. This vital boost includes up to 65 officers for Hampshire area.
This is an important first step in cracking down on the antisocial behaviour and street crime that has blighted our town centres for too long. From July, every force will be patrolling our towns at peak times, providing the enhanced visibility and presence that our high streets have been crying out for.
The Conservatives slashed neighbourhood policing and by the time they left office more than half of the public said they never saw a bobby on the beat. On the Tories’ watch, the number of PCSOs halved and the number of Special Constables plummeted by two-thirds, whilst shoplifting and street crime spiralled out of control.
The Labour Government is determined to restore the vital link between police forces and local communities, ensuring that officers are visible and present in their local areas, cracking down on crimes like antisocial behaviour, shoplifting and off-road biking.
Alongside the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, the Government’s new Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a suite of new powers for the police to crack down on local crimes. This will include Respect Orders to clamp down on persistent antisocial offenders and ban them from our town centres, new powers for the police to instantly seize dangerous and deafening off-road bikes causing havoc on our high streets and a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect hard-working shop workers. Unbelievably, the Conservative Party has voted against these measures.
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will give every area named, contactable neighbourhood policing teams by July, with officers carrying out patrols at peak teams.
Yvette Cooper MP, the Home Secretary, said: “The Conservatives decimated neighbourhood policing whilst crimes like shoplifting and street theft were spiralling out of control. That was the Tories’ disastrous legacy on law and order and our communities have paid the price.
“This Labour Government is determined to put bobbies back on the beat in communities across the country, and we will give officers the powers they need to crack down on local crimes.
“With 3,000 additional officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood roles just this year, we are showing the difference a Labour Government can make”.
Amanda Martin, Labour MP for Portsmouth, said: “I am delighted that the Labour Government is delivering new neighbourhood police for Hampshire region. Under the Conservatives, neighbourhood police numbers were slashed and public confidence in law enforcement drained away. On their watch, respect for the rule of law broke down and my constituents had no faith that justice would be done.
“Labour is bringing neighbourhood policing back to constituencies like mine in . We’re giving the police and councils the powers they need to crack down on repeated antisocial behaviour and keep our communities safe. As part of our Plan for Change, we are determined to take back our town centres from thugs and thieves”.
