Hampshire Local Policing Conference - key takeaways

CLA South East rural adviser Lucy Charman recently attended the Hampshire Local Police Conference, held at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton. Hosted by the Office of the Police Crime Commissioner and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, here is Lucy's summary of the day...

The event was well attended, with representation from the whole of Hampshire, local authorities, external partners and members of the public. It was held to share the future direction of local policing capability in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and also to showcase some of the key successes seen across the area.

Dame Diana Johnson, the Policing Minister, joined the conference remotely and delivered a keynote, reiterating the government’s aim to deliver first class policing no matter where in the country you live, a goal that underpins the recent move to restore community led policing. Dame Johnson also emphasised the importance of the Safer Streets campaign with safety and security being the foundation for the Neighbourhood policing guarantee which was announced in April.

The importance of restoring trust in the police and confidence in the justice system was also mentioned, with progress being made with online access through https://www.police.uk/pu/your-area/ to names and contact details for your local officers.

Hampshire was the first force to reintroduce “local Bobbies” back in 2023 and the force has employed a further 800 officers and is in the process of reopening 8 police stations across the county. Enabling full force capability through training, engagement and upskilling officers are all objectives in the Hampshire Neighbourhood policing strategy 2025-28.

Rural crime is a key focus for the force, with welcomed additional resource being allocated to the Country Watch team who have now been rebranded to “Country Watch Rural Task Force”, launched at the conference.

With a particular focus on rural crime, the PCC has supported area cars, ANPR capability, Drones, thermal imaging and a rural crime analyst, with a desire to ringfence rural officers to support improved response times, visibility and improve relationships. This conference is one of a series of both small and larger meetings across the county aimed at improving dialogue.

Work is also being undertaken to improve the understanding of the severity of rural crime with the Criminal Justice System, an announcement that was warmly welcomed and is long overdue.

The conference showcased some of the key achievements of the force, with 101 and 999 response times having dropped and now in the top 3 in the country, joint cross border operations delivering key wins, reductions in wildlife crime across the county and improved cross division working, bringing the wider force officers into strategic operations to disrupt and engage with local communities.

There was much to celebrate throughout the day, however as we are aware there is also a lot of work still to be done.