The Safer Neighbourhood Teams in Warwickshire are one year-old, and both Warwickshire Police and their partners see it as a cause for celebration.

They were introduced in the county on November 21 last year, with Tony McNulty MP, Minister for policing, security and community safety, visiting Camp Hill Primary School for its launch.

Thirty-three Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) have been set up across Warwickshire, each working with their communities and local partners to tackle local issues at a local level.

Warwickshire’s Assistant Chief Constable Bill Holland explains, “The national target is for every police force across England and Wales to have Neighbourhood Policing Teams in place by April 2008.

“Not only are we well ahead of this deadline here in Warwickshire, our Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) are firmly embedded in the heart of our local communities and they are working alongside partner agencies to make local neighbourhoods stronger and safer.

“The teams, led by a police sergeant and made up of police officers, police community support officers and special constables, are both visible and accessible and are making a real impact in the communities they serve.

“They have been welcomed by partner agencies and individual members of the public alike, and looking back over the last 12 months, we can really see how they are making a positive difference on a daily basis. Sometimes, for example, this is as a result of working closely with local young people. At others it is through strong enforcement measures, such as when arresting people involved in dealing drugs.”

Each team is ideally placed to identify, agree and influence neighbourhood priorities with their local partners and have tackled a wide range of issues, police related and otherwise, over the course of the last year.

Many of the issues raised have been centred on anti-social behaviour, parking or speeding, and recognising the adverse effect these can have on quality of life, police have listened and taken action at a local level to address such issues.

ACC Holland adds, “The good progress we have made with Safer Neighbourhoods in its first year has been very encouraging. However, there is no room for complacency and we are constantly looking for ways in which we can work more closely with the public.

“We are keen to develop the multi-agency approach further, recognising that together we can achieve still more.

“And we want to create more opportunities for dialogue between individual members of the public, police and partners, encouraging people to play a more active role in the neighbourhood they live or work in.

“It is clear that people feel reassured when they see a uniformed officer or PCSO patrolling locally, especially when they recognise him or her.

“They like knowing who is responsible for policing their neighbourhood and feel an increased sense of confidence in the police because of it.

“We really believe that Safer Neighbourhoods is making a significant difference every day and so would like to remind Warwickshire residents of some of the initiatives and good work that their local SNT has been involved with over the last 12 months."

A summary from Bedworth Town Centre SNT lists the following the initiatives:Crime prevention advice to gardeners : ASBO to teenager : Dying to Drive initiative : Anti-social deterrent fencing scheme : Operation Stockholm : Illegal substances arrest : Test purchase operation : Operation Kilwinning : DPPO implemented : Purse theft initiative : Operation Chester.

Combined across Warwickshire there are more than 365 initiatives, evidence that Safer Neighbourhoods really are making a difference every single day.

ACC Holland ends, " Every member of every Safer Neighbourhood Team across Warwickshire has been working hard with partners and within communities over the last 12 months to build safer neighbourhoods and I congratulate them on the results they have achieved.

Police and partners have been shared an anniversary cake at Camp Hill Primary School to celebrate a year of Safer Neighbourhoods. The scheme was launched at the school on 21 November last year and as the records from across Warwickshire show, we really are making a difference every day."