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Home Secretary visits Leicester

Posted on 26/06/2009

police,constabulary,leicestershire police Home Secretary visits Leicester The Home Secretary with Insp Shane O'Neill and Sgt Emma Matts

The Home Secretary with Insp Shane O'Neill and Sgt Emma Matts

The new Home Secretary Alan Johnson has met with police in Leicester as one of his first official duties. 

Mr Johnson visited Spinney Hill Park Police Station in Highfields today (Friday June 26) to chat with local officers about neighbourhood policing and the introduction of the Policing Pledge in Leicester. 

Earlier in the day he also met with local police officers and key members of the community at Highfields Community Centre to discuss local policing and ways in which the police can better engage with the diverse community they serve in the area. 

Speaking outside the Highfields Community Centre, Mr Johnson said: “I wanted to come here to Highfields and Spinney Hill today because Leicester has been at the forefront of initiatives like neighbourhood policing. They were doing neighbourhood policing here long before the term was coined. It is a natural part of what they do. 

“Leicester is also good at community cohesion. The city brings people of different backgrounds together and ensures there are places like this magnificent community centre where the community can come and gather together and deal with the problems and issues the community faces.

“Leicester is such a good example and the sort of place I want to learn from. I’m three weeks into this job and there is nowhere better than Leicester to come and learn some of these lessons.”

Inspector Shane O’Neill, commander of Spinney Hill Park local policing unit, said: “It was a pleasure to meet with the Home Secretary today to discuss neighbourhood policing and the ways in which we are constantly striving to improve the service we provide to our communities.

“We were also able to demonstrate some of the new technology we are utilising, such as mobile data terminals, which enables officers to increase public confidence by being more visible and accessible in the community.”

The Policing Pledge is a commitment made by all police forces which informs the public of the standard of service they should expect from their police service. It also gives communities a stronger voice in setting local policing priorities.