Communities are being brought closer together this summer thanks to a series of new engagement events in Hyson Green.
Families were invited to an afternoon of fun activities and had the opportunity to learn more about the work of neighbourhood officers at Bridlington Street Playground on August 7.
The event, which was organised by Nottinghamshire Police’s City Central neighbourhood team, saw around 60 people attend the first event during the afternoon, including children, families, and other members of the public.
Three additional events will take place between 2pm and 4pm on August 14, 21, and 28.
Children had the opportunity to clamber aboard police vehicles, meet the drone team and armed response officers, and continue to form positive relationships with local officers.
They could also create fingerprint keychains and dust for clues with the force’s crime scene investigation team, alongside other arts and craft activities.
Charity Support Through Sport also offered boxing, football, and an assault course-style challenge, providing visitors the opportunity to play a variety of games with officers.
The events offer an opportunity for parents and adults to discuss practical crime prevention advice to help make communities a safer place to live and work.
Expert officers and staff are available to talk about key topics, such as fraud, cybercrime, and hate crime, and other crime prevention advice around burglary and bike theft, while children and young people are preoccupied with engaging activities.
Three successful problem management plans to target retail theft, aggressive begging, and antisocial behaviour around Alfreton Road, Radford Boulevard, and Radford Road have helped contribute to a significant reduction of criminality in the wider Hyson Green area.
Bridlington Street Playground is included in a patrol plan, which has seen more than 80 hours of additional patrols so far this summer.
Local neighbourhood officers have also made use of criminal behaviour orders to tackle persistent nuisance offenders, which can ban individuals from a certain area.
The events have been enabled via funding from Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner and were held in partnership with charity Support Through Sport, Asda, Forest in the Community, Fearless, Team Valentine Boxing, Al-Hurraya, and Notts County.
PCSO Lucy Oram, of Nottinghamshire Police, who has organised the events, said: “The first of these events has been an overwhelming success and it has been great to see so many people engaging with our officers and staff.
“We want to make Nottinghamshire a safer place to live, work, and visit, by reducing offending, victims, and the demand on policing, and community engagement is a key tool to help us achieve this.
“This park has previously experienced issues with littering and low-level antisocial behaviour, and reports of people misusing play equipment.
“We know this kind of nuisance behaviour can have a negative impact on residents, which is why officers are working hard to tackle this with area patrols.
“Engagement events like this complement enforcement action and are key for helping our diverse communities to feel confident in reporting their concerns to us and to improve cohesion.
“As part of my role as a PCSO, I’ve worked closely with local schools and teachers to encourage pupils to attend as part of a comprehensive approach to continue building positive relationships with our officers.
“One pupil who attended now wants to join the police cadets after socialising with other cadets who were there. This just further helps demonstrate the importance of offering opportunities where there may not otherwise be much provision.
“Our crime prevention team signed up plenty of bicycles as part of their marking scheme to prevent thefts, and bags of waste were collected with litter pickers to spruce up the area.
“By being visible in the community, we are showing families and the public that we are there to support them and listen to their concerns – and we look forward to welcoming many more people at our next event.”
