|
A Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) from Maidenhead has achieved recognition for his outstanding contribution. At a recent performance review, attended by Thames Valley Police's Chief Constable and senior police officers from across the Force, PCSO Andrew Hitchcock was commended for his tireless commitment to neighbourhood policing and to serving the people of Pinkneys Green and Furze Platt. In his citation, Ch Supt David Lewis, commander of Berkshire East Basic Command Unit, praised Andrew for his dedication, proactivity and energy, which have made him one of the best performing PCSOs in the Thames Valley. Since joining the Pinkneys Green and Furze Platt neighbourhood team in April 2007, Andrew has established an exceptional record. He has: • Carried out 49 stop checks between March-May 2008
• Regularly volunteered for late shifts on Friday and Saturday nights to assist with Operation Legless (combating anti-social behaviour)
• Carried out the highest number of Environment Visual Audits in the Local Police Area (LPA)
• Set up and maintained the graffiti database for the LPA
• Been involved in many multi-agency clear up campaigns
• Taken on responsibility for one of the neighbourhood priorities - parking - for which he acts as a conduit between the police and local authority
• Detained a high number of people, leading to many arrests
• Established regular links with local schools and good liaison with the head teachers
• Used his experience as a web designer to update the Force intranet Talking about his role as a PCSO, Andrew said: "One of the things I most enjoy about my job is the variety it gives me. As well as patrolling the neighbourhood and interacting with local residents, I have also been involved in gathering intelligence, providing care and advice to victims of crime, setting up crime prevention initiatives and assisting with the policing of major events such as Royal Ascot." PCSOs are a vital part of the wider Thames Valley Police family. They are uniformed members of police staff whose role is to support the work of regular police officers working within a community. PCSOs wear a similar uniform to police officers and provide high visibility patrols to tackle lower level crime and disorder, nuisance and anti-social behaviour within the neighbourhood. In order to reduce these problems, the PCSOs patrol known crime and anti-social hot-spot areas, as well as with monitoring Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. Having these officers to patrol the area frees up time for regular officers, so that they can concentrate on more serious crimes and incidents. Thames Valley Police is currently recruiting PCSOs in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough and Bracknell areas. For further information, please see our advertisements in the local newspapers, contact the recruitment team on 01865 846612 or email: recruitmentpcso@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk News Source:
http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/ |
