A police sergeant has spoken about how his proactive experience and desire to get more officers on the beat has set him up for his new local role.
Sergeant Brett Price will be serving communities in the south of Rushcliffe, managing the Neighbourhood Policing Team based in Cotgrave.
The 40-year-old has been in policing for 17 years, transferring to Nottinghamshire Police in 2013 and jumping straight into emergency calls as a temporary response sergeant.
During his time on response, Sergeant Price has responded to incidents across the county and city, starting off at Oxclose Lane, moving to the city centre and before being fully promoted to a Sergeant on response in West Bridgford, where he has been since 2018.
During his response career, he has attended a wide variety of incidents, has previously been one of the first officers on scene to a murder and road traffic incidents.
Sergeant Price said: “The incidents and the variety that you are challenged with through being on response is definitely an experience which will set you up for doing a wide range of policing roles. You learn how to think on your feet, make efficient decisions and deal with everything.
“This can range from being the first on scene to the most serious criminal offences, to breaking up incidents of antisocial behaviour.
“We also get an immediate sense of how this can affect the communities that they have happened in, which I think is really important as I move into this neighbourhood role and aim to build on those all-important community and partner relationships.
“The neighbourhood team’s role is to listen to their communities and proactively act on what they’re telling us is an issue, and to do this I want my teams to be out and about getting to know their communities so that they feel comfortable coming to us.”
Not only has Sergeant Price been on the front line in Nottinghamshire, but he previously also spent time with West Midlands Police, where he was part of the neighbourhood, CID and Community Action and Priorities Teams.
Bringing this proactive experience to Rushcliffe is something he is really looking forward to when taking on the role.
“The proactive work has been some of my favourite. Starting off with the Community Action and Priorities Teams, we would be heavily involved in the planning around warrants as well as football matches in and around Birmingham,” he added.
“Even on response in Rushcliffe most recently, we have continued to work very closely with proactive operations in terms of intelligence. This includes warrants for drugs, property and, in particular, taking action on rural crime, which remains a priority for the whole of Rushcliffe and in particular the south of the borough which is very heavily rural.
“Having worked in the Rushcliffe area for a number of years now, I know how brilliant and diverse it is when it comes to policing, so it is really exciting for me to be staying there and working more closely with the community.
“As well as this, I’m really looking forward to joining up and seeing how we can work together with partners in the area to tackle the issues that matter to the community. I consider myself quite ‘old school’ in my approach in the fact that I’m really keen to ensure officers are out on the beat, are visible, and are consistently among the community.
“Cotgrave and the south Rushcliffe villages are absolutely perfect to implement this and I know this is what residents want to see as well. I would also urge anyone in the area with concerns, reports or suggestions of what they want to see from us to get in touch by speaking to officers out in the area or by calling 101.”
Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Rushcliffe, Rob Lawton, said: “I am very keen for Rushcliffe’s neighbourhood teams to be proactive and out in their communities.
“It is great to be welcoming Brett to the neighbourhood team. Not only does he enjoy and have some great experience of the proactive work, he has also assisted in a number of our operations whilst on response here, including gathering intelligence for Operation Sahara, which is our targeted rural crime action, as well as around other issues such as drugs.
“He knows the community and the area well through his work responding to incidents and is already getting stuck in to getting to know not only his teams but also his partners, which is essential when it comes to making sure our joint work is effective.
“I’m looking forward to what is in store for the south Rushcliffe villages and I’m sure Sergeant Price and his team will be out meeting residents very soon.”
