Fire and police teams link up to strengthen safety work

The new joint community safety department brings together staff from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and South Yorkshire Police to work together — and they hope it will make the work of both to prevent emergencies and reduce demand more efficient and effective.

The teams' current work includes home safety checks, crime prevention visits and youth engagement activities such as the award-winning Princes Trust Team Programme, which has helped to transform the lives of more than 200 young people in two years.

The teams also operate the Lifewise Centre in Hellaby. 

It opened in 2011 to deliver education packages to more than 20,000 local people every year, including nearly every Year 6 pupil in South Yorkshire.

Area Manager Steve Helps, who was jointly appointed by both organisations to lead the team, said: “Police and fire have worked closely to make people safer for many years. 

“But we truly believe that by bringing together the skills, experience and specialisms of both teams, we can do even more to reduce demand and better protect the communities we serve. 

“Vulnerability in our communities is going up at a time when our resources are not, so we need to become even more targeted in what we do and the people we engage with. 

“This project is about meeting that aspiration and providing early intervention to better meet our future demands.”

The Policing & Crime Act 2017 placed a new statutory duty on all three emergency services to look at opportunities to work with one another better to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, Stephen Watson, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue chief fire officer and chief executive, Jamie Courtney, Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings and Chair of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, Cllr Chris Lamb, signed a collaboration agreement earlier this year to outline the terms and vision of the work between the organisations.

Other big collaboration developments have included the development of a joint police and fire station in Maltby and the appointment of a head of joint vehicle fleet management and head of joint estates and facilities management.