Community police team at Grange Park, Blackpool are feeling right at home

And the officers who are now in the @TheGrange community centre off Bathurst Avenue, are hoping to develop even closer ties to the people they serve in 2021 once the coronavirus crisis has died down.

The team's move from Boundary School was delayed a couple of times due to logistical reasons but was completed despite the lockdowns and Inspector Dave Wilson, who was due to retire when he spoke to the Gazette before Christmas, said it was the best thing that could have happened to the team.

He said: "We moved in during February with plans to really engage with the public. The building is right in the centre of things, with so many good things going on, so it allows us to be far more rooted in the community. We were really grateful to Boundary School for allowing us to be there and for all the support they gave us over the years, but we were behind a big security fence and that restricted engagement with the public.

"Coming to @TheGrange was an immediate improvement. There was immediately more interaction and we could get involved in community events such as the garden at the back of the centre.

"The every day mechanics of just walking in and out the door makes us far more accessible to the community. Interacting in the cafe, meeting the school children coming for after school activity. And we could get involved with the council staff in the events. However, the coronavirus outbreak has restricted many things.

"Blackpool North neighbourhood police is now fully staffed up in terms of PCs and PCSOs. We have two PCs here and six PCSOs on a full-time basis plus Sgt Gareth Tupman who splits his time between here and Bispham.

"The officers who work from here cover Grange and Layton. It's about us understanding what the community need and the community feeling confident knowing who we are and where we are and that they can come and speak to us about anything and everything.

"The partnerships with the council allows us to use the lecture theatre for training and events.

"There is no front desk here, but the officers are in and out all the time and if a member of the public wants to speak to an officer they can talk to the council staff here and they will come through and get an officer.

"Since closed Bonny Street down, I was keen to open community bases because it is almost like people think we have retreated out of the town centre. So we opened this, we opened at the municiple building in the centre of the town and we are still working to open in Revoe. We just don't want people to think we stay in the big operating centre from divisional HQ and Fleetwood, but that community policing is still right at the heart of the communities they serve."

PCSO Kenny Bullock said they had quickly got to know more people in the area. He said "As soon as we go out people we have seen spoken to or helped out wave and we have some real great interaction with the kids.One thing we are involved in is the delivery of food parcels for those self- isolating together with Groundworks which runs the centre. It feels like you are making a difference to the people you help."

Insp Wilson added: "Its not just about law and order, its about building trust and confidence. Without trust and confidence people don't tell you anything. They share information with us and that makes our job of keeping them safe is easier.

"When I was a PC when I joined 30 years ago and was out on foot patrol. The nature of the demand now is that PCs have to be in a car to be as efficient as they can be. When PCSOs came in it was about putting people out on the street to give people confidence. But the role of a PCSO has changed again its not just about waling the beat and talking to people. They do so much more they are the names and face of policing in the wards of Blackpool. That's really important. The role of the PCSO has developed so much more than the original concept

PCSO Bullock added: "That's the good thing about the job, we get to listen to our community and their real concerns. The things you can't find on a computer screen or police logs, and then get to solve those problems."

Sgt Gareth Tupman agreed that being based in the community makes their work moire efficient. He said: "One thing I have noticed since we moved to the community centre, is the ability to find out the vulnerabilities a lot quicker. Cath and the team here are constantly telling us about people who have got problems and we can go out and do what we need to and go back a few days later to follow up.

Both he and PCSO Bullock enjoy the community aspect of the job saying it is a rewarding role, making a difference to people's lives and seeing the effects of their efforts.

SGT Tupman was South African born but his family moved to Blackpool and he grew up in the area and went to Claremont school. He said: "In other roles such as emergency response, you don't get that chance to work in the community. It's far more rewarding when you see actions work in the end. It puts a smile on your face."

Insp Wilson concurred: "I do recruitment interviews and without fail they all tell me they are joining the force to make a difference. And if you want to make a real difference, you need to be in neighbourhood policing.The other parts of policing are massively important. You need the emergency response you need that investigations side, but in terms of making a long term difference to communities and people's lives that's neighbourhood policing."

PCSO Bullock said: "I grew up here. I went to Grange Park junior school. We all take pride in our respective areas and do the best for them as we can. People I went to school with, most of them are still here. They don't want to leave.

"I like the area, there's a real sense of community. Seeing people coming into the centre and get involved with the various projects here really underlines that.

Insp Wilson added: "There are people who are born on Grange and they will die on Grange. They will never move away. It is like a village within a town.

Sgt Tupman said: "It is shame we had lockdown. You could see what we were achieving at the start of the year and it will be good to get back to that."

During lockdown he said the PCSOs were out and about talking to people where safe which helped target problems such as motocross bikes on the park.

He said: "We did a joint operation with the TAC OPs team and we issued Section 59 warnings on the park."

Insp Wilson added: "Off road Motorcycles and anti-social behaviour, which has died off now the colder weather has come, was a big problem in the summer. We want to talk to our communities more to find out about issues such as that which affect them. We are here and if people want to talk to their local PCSO, just come down and grab one of us. For emergency issues though, people should still dial 101 or 999, but for long term community issues the community team is the one to talk to."

Blackpool Gazette:

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