Police to offer public the opportunity to meet local officers

By Jessica Durston - 19 November 2021

Community

Swindon Police will be running its Community Policing Shop meet for residents this week.

The pop up shop launches on Wednesday 24 November in Canal Walk, Swindon town centre.

The shop will be run by Neighbourhood Policing Teams from across the town and will enable local people to meet officers from a range of different policing departments including the dog unit, the drone unit, fraud department and digital investigations, as well as representatives from partner agencies including Swindon Women’s Aid, InSwindon BID and Swindon Borough Council’s Trading Standards Department. 

PC Paul Bezzant said: “We welcome back the Community Policing Shop for the third time next week, and as ever, we are extremely grateful for the opportunity the Brunel Plaza have provided with the available vacant unit.

“It’s a great chance for us to engage with the local community and to further strengthen our ties. This year we welcome back a number of partner agencies and look forward to welcoming the community inside to listen to their concerns, provide crime prevention advice and to provide them with a better understanding of policing work within their communities.”

The shop, which is located next to McDonalds, will be open between 10am - 3pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays up until December 22.

PC Bezzant added: “Over the past couple of years this initiative has proven itself to be a great success and we are keen to meet once again with the community face to face.”

Sergeant Rich Fay said: “In previous years the pop up shop has been a great success. To date we have welcomed over 1,100 visitors through the doors of the shop and we look forward to building on this success and welcoming visitors again this year. We have a range of partners and specialist officers along with our Neighbourhoods Team ready to meet the community.”

The Police and Crime Commissioner is also supporting this important scheme. 

PCC Philip Wilkinson added: “This is a great initiative and I’m always pleased to see the police working alongside partners to engage with the communities they serve. 

“I often hear from the public that they want to have more facetime with their local officers and this provides the perfect opportunity for residents to get information and crime prevention advice to help them stay safe in their communities and online.”

Members of the public can stay up to date with the shop by visiting the Swindon Police Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SwindonPolice , throughout the lead up to Christmas.

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