More Community Support Officers for Kent
More Community Support Officers (CSOs) are to be recruited in Kent to help tackle crime and anti-social behaviour across the county.
The Home Office has announced that Kent Police is to be given money to recruit an additional 22 CSOs over the next few months.
The announcement has been welcomed by Kent Police Authority and the partner organisations who will be assisting with the ongoing funding arrangements for CSOs throughout the county.
Currently there are 63 CSOs out and about on patrol assisting their police colleagues to make the county a safer place to live. They are involved in a variety of local initiatives and have been part of a number of notable successes as they build up strong working relationships with their local communities.
Kent’s Chief Constable Mike Fuller said: “The additional CSOs will provide an increased visible presence in the community and will provide important support for our new neighbourhood officers.
“Tackling the quality of life issues such as anti-social behaviour is a large part of the CSO work and this is being done in a variety of ways. The feedback we are getting from our existing CSOs is that the work is rewarding and that they are seeing some real benefits emerge from working closely with local people and other agencies at the neighbourhood level. People are also telling us that they welcome the increasing local and visible presence being provided by neighbourhood police officers and CSOs.”
