Ballymena’s neighbourhood police on awards shortlist

Ballymena NPT will be competing against six other nominees from across Northern Ireland in the award scheme which is organised annually by the Police Service in partnership with the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

There are eight categories in total; Probationer Police Officer of the Year, Problem Solving in Partnership Award, Neighbourhood Policing Team of the Year, Police Staff member of the Year , Police Officer of the Year, Diversity in Action Award, Police Staff Lifetime Achievement Award and Police Lifetime Achievement Award.

Each category is judged by a panel drawn from the Police Service, the Policing Board and independent external representatives and the winners will be announced at an event in mid-June.

The Ballymena Neighbourhood Policing Team have over the past few years set up a number of initiatives to engage with the local community.

One such initiative was the introducing of the Partner and Communities Together initiative (PACT).

The PACT meetings are held every three months and allow the community to discuss any topics or concerns they may have. They also provide the Neighbourhood Policing Team with the opportunity to update and give the community feedback on any ongoing issues.

The Neighbourhood team have also successfully set up twitter and Facebook sites allowing them to communicate with groups that may be deemed harder to reach.

The effectiveness of the Facebook page has allowed residents of the local community to engage with police on a daily basis and undoubtedly has helped and reassured the local community.

The team have used Facebook as a means to overcome barriers to participate and also post live updates from local DPP meetings so that people at home can also engage.

Also, the Neighbourhood team, in conjunction with other statutory and voluntary groups, set up the Ballymena Respect Individuals Diversity Groups Environment (BRIDGE) and secured £40,000 worth of funding to get involved with local youth, vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities and develop a number of initiatives.

The aim of the BRIDGE project was to improve relationships with young people and the Police Service and to reduce sectarian and hate crime. The young people produced a showing what life is like from their prospective and their DVD was officially launched by Minister Alex Attwood and allowed other stakeholders to hear first and about safety issues in the town.

Ballymena NPT have worked had to develop and maintain relationships with all sections of the community and listen to the needs of the community.

Chief Superintendent Chris Noble, District Commander, said: “The Policing with the Community Awards allow us to publicly recognise and reward outstanding examples of local police officers and police staff engaging in partnership with local people to find local solutions to local problems.

“Many of our officers and staff who have been nominated for Awards are continually delivering a personal, professional and protective service to the community.

“We have recently launched our Policing Commitments - a set of promises to communities about the service they can expect from us. Community engagement, partnership and service delivery are critical to how we tackle local issues,” he said.