The Commissioner has welcomed the Constabulary's first Community Engagement Panel which met for the first time this week.

The Panel is looking at how police engage with the public in and was scrutinised by community representatives from around the county.

Neighbourhood Policing Teams are tasked with seeking the views of the public on the local crime or anti-social behaviour issues that matter most to them. They then work to address the concerns and feed back to the public what they have done.

Chief Inspectors who lead local policing teams in each district and borough presented their community engagement plans to a public panel at police headquarters on Monday.

The meeting, held during the national Neighbourhood Policing Week, was led by Hertfordshire Chief Constable Andy Prophet with Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards.

Community leaders from across the county were able to ask questions and give feedback on the plans to ensure they are effective. Organisations presented included One Vision, Herts Pride, St Albans Islamic Centre and Watford Women’s Centre.

Police & Crime Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards said: “Effective engagement with the public is key for the police to understand and act on the views of Hertfordshire residents and businesses.

“Engagement isn’t an end in itself. It’s about building public trust and ensuring people have confidence to come forward with information about crime or anti-social behaviour. I welcome the work Hertfordshire Constabulary is doing to develop its engagement plans and the openness to scrutiny and feedback from myself and community representatives.”

Chief Constable Andy Prophet said: “I would like to thank everyone who attended this event offering their time and great advice. Community feedback is vital. It helps us understand what is happening in communities which in turn means we are better able to prevent crime and arrest criminals.

“My teams will continue to listen to the residents and businesses in Hertfordshire, acting on their concerns and importantly letting them know what we have done as a result. This is key to maintaining public trust and confidence.”

Police & Crime Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards said: “Effective engagement with the public is key for the police to understand and act on the views of Hertfordshire residents and businesses.

“Engagement isn’t an end in itself. It’s about building public trust and ensuring people have confidence to come forward with information about crime or anti-social behaviour. I welcome the work Hertfordshire Constabulary is doing to develop its engagement plans and the openness to scrutiny and feedback from myself and community representatives.”

Tyson Martin from Herts Pride who attended the session said: “Police in Hertfordshire should be proud of their efforts to engage with the LGBTQ+ community, including developing one of the largest LGBTQ+ liaison officer programmes in the UK.

“There is still more to do to build trust across all the LGBTQ community and underrepresented groups, but the commitment to listen and improve is clear and we look forward to this continuing.”

Hertfordshire Constabulary is supporting #NeighbourhoodPolicingWeek which shines light on the vital work Neighbourhood Policing Teams do to keep people safe and tackle crime.

You can find out more about the work of your NPT by following your local police Facebook account or joining our community messaging platform Herts Connected at hertsconnected.co.uk and select ‘police’ when you sign up to receive free local messages.