Crime concerns raised over Rotherham PCSO shake-up

The Advertiser understands South Yorkshire Police intends to slash PCSOs’ working hours, raising fears they would be unable to respond to residents’ concerns at evenings and weekends.

The move is also expected to see PCSOs’ salaries cut by more than £400 a month.

A spokesman for Eastwood Neighbourhood Watch said PCSOs did a valuable job in dealing with anti-social behaviour, which would be damaged by the changes.

“We have a very successful watch because we have a WhatsApp messaging group and our officers and PCSOs are in the group,” he said.

“It is live all the time and incidents we report are acted upon.

“If these changes are brought in, they will not be able to react in the same way. We fear they will not be patrolling at all.”

Assistant chief constable David Hartley said the changes currently being consulted on could see resources put into funding extra police officers.

But the proposals have been drawn up just a month after police and crime commissioner Dr Alan Billings imposed an increase in the police precept, which he said would ensure “a more visible presence of officers”.

A police source said this week while police officers’ jobs were more heavily involved in reacting to incidents and crime trends, PCSOs are given time to address long-term issues in a particular community.

Restricting working times to “office hours” would also prevent them from responding quickly to concerns about anti-social behaviour, he added.

Mr Hartley confirmed PCSO roles were being reviewed — and denied the move was about saving money, adding that there were no plans to make any PCSOs redundant.

He said the review was to ensure “we are providing an outstanding service to our communities and effectively matching our resources to demand”.

Mr Hartley said following “reinvestment” in neighbourhood policing teams “it is right we build a service that is modern, fit for purpose and based upon clear roles and responsibilities”.

He added: “If any changes are made that result in a reduction of PCSOs in our neighbourhood teams, we will invest in additional neighbourhood officers that will be required to work evenings and weekends to address issues around proactive enforcement opportunities, provide a wider depth of problem solving capabilities and to reassure the public in their local communities.”

Dr Billings said PCSOs had been “almost the only constant and visible presence in some communities” during changes in policing which initially saw the withdrawal of neighbourhood officers.

“Now that we are putting police officers back into neighbourhood teams, the chief constable thought it right to review the role of PCSOs in those teams and what was the right balance between PCSOs and police officers,” he said.

“Options have now been formulated and views on those options are being sought.”