Times are changing so we’ve been looking at how people want to contact us. For non-emergencies, most people want to contact us in ways that are most convenient to them, usually by picking up a phone or going online or, more infrequently, seeing an officer in person.

We want our service to be more flexible and convenient too. If you do want to see a police officer in person, you can make an appointment to see someone at a time and place that’s best for you - at home, at work or at a local police station close to either.

We will continue to have our 29 public receptions in police stations across the

Avon and Somerset area and we are revising the opening hours of these so that there are more stations open at lunchtimes, in the evenings and at weekends.

Since 2007 every neighbourhood has had its own local officers on the beat spending time in their local communities, attending community meetings and listening to people’s concerns. We are committed to maintaining and improving these services by joining you, at the local supermarket for example, or a leisure centre, community hospital or Age UK meeting. And we’re looking at new opportunities to team up with local partners such as councils to create police contact points and neighbourhood stations.

www.avonandsomerset.police.uk

Avon and Somerset Police0845 456 7000 or Text ‘Emergency’ to 18000.www.avonandsomerset.police.uk

In touch with you and your community

Inspector Julie Bowle, Neighbourhood Team Inspector“People often don’t have the time to visit their local police station front office and they prefer to contact us in different ways like by phone or online. We need to make sure we are out in the community working with local people and keeping them in touch by being there alongside them and working together to tackle the things that matter to them.

“Our response to emergency calls won’t change, and our response teams will still be located at the same place, able to respond swiftly to any incident that needs their support.”

Constable Chris Adams, Neighbourhood Beat Manager“You can book an appointment with one of the neighbourhood team by calling us on 0845 456 7000 –we can come to you at a convenient time and location or you can come and see us at a local station if you prefer”

HOW YOU CAN CONTACT THE POLICE IN YOUR AREAlBy phone 0845 456 7000lOn our website www.avonandsomerset.police.uk lBy booking an appointment with your local neighbourhood team lCalling in to a beat surgery – local details are on the ‘in your area’

pages of our website

lOnce Newfoundland Road front office is closed, you can always visit an alternative:

lTrinity Road (half a mile)

lThe Bridewell (one mile)

lFishponds (three miles)

If you are deaf, deafblind, deafened, hard of hearing or speech impaired, please use:

lEmergency text number: 80999lNon-emergency text number: 81003lNon-emergency Textphone: 18001 followed by 0845 456 7000

December 2010

Avon and Somerset Police0845 456 7000 or Text ‘Emergency’ to 18000.www.avonandsomerset.police.uk

NEWFOUNDLAND ROAD

At the moment, Newfoundland Road public reception opens from 8am-4pm, weekdays only, and on average gets just three or four visitors an hour. The immigration service use the front office as a reception which inflates these figures.

We already run beat surgeries at locations such as St. Paul’s Family Learning Centre, Montpelier Health Centre and St Werbergh’s Community Centre where we come to you rather than expecting you to come to us. Here you can discuss neighbourhood issues, pass on information that you think we should know, report a crime, an accident, or lost or found property.

Alternatively you can book an appointment with a member of the local team who will visit you at home or at work, or a local station of your choice if you prefer it. This means you can see us in the course of your daily activities when it’s convenient for you. You can also come along to our neighbourhood meetings where you can meet the local team and have your say on local issues.

NEXT STEPS

Newfoundland Road front office will close by June 2011 but your neighbourhood policing team will continue to come to community meetings and events, hold beat meetings and surgeries, respond to non emergency calls and deal with local priorities. The plans actually mean that we will be providing a better service to the public with better and more regular updates about all the ways we can be contacted, and exploring new ways of increasing our visibility and presence in local communities.

We are also working to bring new services to you:

lMobile Neighbourhood Stations these vehicles will travel to different locations in towns and villages to bring services out to where they are needed

lPolice Contact Points located with partners, here you can talk to someone for advice, phone us, visit our website and also see what’s going on in your area

lPolice Information Points located in doctors surgeries, village shops, supermarkets and more, you can leave a message here for your neighbourhood team and see what’s going on in your local area

WHAT WE DO NOW

We will be providing you with clear details of these in the coming months under the heading of ‘In Touch’.