Surrey Public First - Surrey Police - Co-Location

Co-location – a success story

Co-located in Runnymede Borough Council's office in Addlestone

The first co-location of a Safer Neighbourhood Team with council colleagues took place in Runnymede Borough Council's iconic new building in Addlestone in 2008. This was a national first that marked a bold new step in neighbourhood policing. In 2009 a similar move followed in Woking where Safer Neighbourhood Teams now operate from the borough council offices.

These moves placed Safer Neighbourhood Team officers alongside their council’s Community Safety team, giving them instant access to the borough's CCTV coverage and to council colleagues dealing with such priority issues as anti-social behaviour, drug misuse and anti-social driving/inconsiderate parking.

The co-location initiative has proven a great success, with the close proximity of police and council colleagues leading to greater co-operation between the two services and a marked increase in public confidence.

For example, Addlestone Town's Safer Neighbourhood Team worked successfully in partnership with the local council, Youth Services, Safer Runnymede CCTV and Surrey Trading Standards to tackle an outbreak of anti-social behaviour, graffiti and underage drinking in the area. Co-ordinated from the shared facility, this multi-agency exercise involved test purchasing at local shops and extra Safer Neighbourhood Patrol in the evenings. As a result two individuals found themselves nominated for an ASBO and local people were reassured.

As part of our continuing intention to put the Surrey Public First, we are now seeking more co-location opportunities. To help in this endeavour we are inviting members of the public to have their say in where they would like to meet our officers in future.