New community house for police and partners opens in Page Hall in Sheffield
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The idea came in response to mounting concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour in the Sheffield suburb.
A new dedicated police team was set up to tackle the issues and an empty house was turned into their base and a hub for other agencies and groups in the area to use
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Hide AdSheffield City Council will be running advice sessions from the house and use it as a hub for environmental teams, responsible for dealing with litter and noise concerns.
Sergeant Tony Cartlidge, of South Yorkshire Police, said: “We know this area gets a lot of scrutiny, but since starting work last October we really have made progress. My officers are down here as much as possible, talking to people, dealing with incidents and being visible.
“Enforcement is taking place on a daily basis, we’re seizing vehicles, we’re dealing with anti-social behaviour, but we’re also trying to build relationships with the different communities who live in the area.”
He added: “When I started in this role, I floated the idea of having a police house and it’s something that the local authority has really got on board with.
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Hide Ad“The house will primarily be used by my officers, council staff, health workers and other agencies who are also showing an interest.
“It’s about taking baby steps, encouraging people to work with us and it’s changing attitudes, we get intelligence and information from the public which we’ve struggled with in the past.”
The empty property on Robey Street has been transformed by Sheffield Council into a safe space, suitable for use as a community venue.
Alison Teal, Executive Member for Sustainable Neighbourhoods, Wellbeing, Parks and Leisure at Sheffield City Council, said: “This is a great example of what working together can achieve and the council and police should be proud of their collaborative effort to make this base possible.
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Hide Ad“Already council and police teams are providing a service in the area, but this is a great opportunity to develop further joint working, involving groups in the community, to provide the best holistic service we can to local people.”