The Association of Convenience Stores has welcomed an announcement from the Home Office, confirming that over 3,000 additional police officers and Police Community Support Officers have been put into neighbourhood roles in less than a year.
Figures released today show that 3,123 additional neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs have been hired or redeployed since April last year and are now focused on fighting local crimes in communities.
Last year the government pledged to have 3,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of March 2026.
The announcement follows a number of community policing initiatives over the last year, including the Home Office’s Winter of Action which saw almost 18,000 arrests across more than 600 towns and cities. Of these, over 5,000 were for retail crime.
Crime and Policing Minister, Sarah Jones, said: “Neighbourhood policing was hollowed out under the previous government. Communities were left to face an epidemic of everyday crime that all too often seemed to go unpunished. To make matters worse, too many officers have been stuck behind desks in support roles when we need them out on our streets. We’re delivering the biggest reforms to policing in over 200 years and, crucially, putting 13,000 more neighbourhood officers where they belong – on the beat and fighting crime in our communities. The Government will halve knife crime within a decade, saving lives and protecting communities”
The early delivery of additional neighbourhood officers marks a major milestone in progress toward the government's Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which will ultimately see 13,000 additional neighbourhood personnel by the end of this parliament – an increase of more than 75%.
All police forces have now also published bespoke Anti-social Behaviour Action Plans – another key commitment of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee – setting out how they intend to continue tackling anti-social behaviour in their communities. The plans were published by each force’s designated anti-social behaviour lead, roles that were established last year as part of the Guarantee.
Dal Babu, former Chief Superintendent at the Metropolitan Police, said: "The government’s investment in an extra 3,000 neighbourhood officers is an excellent opportunity to focus on the crimes which cause huge harm in our communities. As someone who worked on reducing anti-social behaviour in my 30-year police career, I am extremely pleased to see the decades-long hollowing out of neighbourhood policing is being reversed.”
Association of Convenience Stores Chief Executive, Ed Woodall, said: “We strongly welcome the government’s commitment to increasing police presence in communities, which has led to a majority of retailers reporting better relationships with their local police forces. We now need to capitalise on this momentum so that more repeat shop thieves are brought to justice and taken out of the cycle of reoffending. Local shops remain committed to working with the police to make this happen.”
ACS' Crime Report shows that 64% of retailers have stated that they're reporting more crime to the police than last year, and that 62% of retailers now describe their relationship with neighbourhood police as good or very good.
