Thanet will have eight dedicated police officers for beat areas on the isle following a recruitment drive.
The officers will serve urban communities and high streets by tackling crime during the evening hours, including anti-social behaviour and theft.
A total of 38 new constables will be recruited in Kent and will join 18 other police officers who are already in post as part of a pilot.
Allocations include a new officer for Cliftonville with a total of three in Margate, three in Ramsgate and one in Broadstairs.
Chief Constable Alan Pughsley said: “Increases in the police element of Council Tax and Kent Police’s financial planning over the last few years – which has been independently graded as ‘Outstanding’ – means we have worked hard to steadily increase officer numbers, protect our 300 PCSOs, and improve the great service we already provide for people in Kent.
“Through analysing crime levels and service demand we’ve identified where’s best to put these officers and we’re confident we have identified the areas that will benefit from them the most in terms of keeping people safe, preventing crime, and enforcement action.
“But it should not be forgotten that every town, whether they have a dedicated Town Centre PC or not, will still be served by our Local District Policing Teams, our Community Safety Units, our PCSOs, and our Special Constables who pride themselves in putting victims at the heart of everything they do.”
The additional officers have been recruited under Kent Police’s More Than the Badge campaign – the largest recruitment drive in the force’s history.
It has been funded by an uplift in the council tax precept secured by Matthew Scott, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent.
Mr Scott said:”‘I am delighted that the Chief Constable is deploying these extra officers to communities right across Kent.
“They have been funded by local residents through my decision to increase the policing part of council tax bills earlier this year. It was not an easy decision, but one which is enabling Kent Police to recruit an additional 180 officers to increase visibility and deal with residents’ concerns.
“As a result, 26 towns – from Maidstone to Margate and from Dartford to Deal – now boast their own dedicated Town Centre PCs.
“Precept rises have funded an additional 450 officers since 2016 and we have been able to protect our 300 PCSOs too. The Home Secretary has also announced we are receiving Government funding for a further 147 police officers in the first year of the national recruitment campaign to boost numbers further and make us even safer in Kent.”
Hope Ramsgate town gets its own PC’s to rid us of the workshy, feckless, layabout paupers, all of working age, and poncing off the goodwill of people, mainly pensioners, because its more lucrative begging than working! I saw 7 unskilled jobs advertised in the Employment Agency window in York Street recently, so why are there beggars? Perhaps Workhouses should be reintroduced for them, so they get their work ethic back, and their self respect!
Totally agree with your comments ; is threw dedicated officers really enough !
The cliftonville officer will certainly never be short of things to do and ne’er do wells to nick. That is assuming there is a willingness to do so and the CPS is willing to prosecute.
It’s all well and good having extra officers on the streets but will they also ignore the blatant drug dealing that is exploding all over Thanet, will they also allow drug dens in residential streets to go unpunished?
It doesn’t matter how many police are on the streets if the police hierarchy continue to facilitate the drug epidemic by failing to arrest the dealers operating in plain view of officers.
Drug dealers are scum and need to be locked up. The failure of local Thanet police to arrest these local drug gangs is responsible for yet more young kids becoming addicts.
These young dope smoking kids are responsible for most of the antisocial and nuisance behaviour in Thanet and many eventually will be sucked in to harder drugs as cannabis is a gateway drug.
The sad thing is that the local police are aware of most of the drug dealers in Thanet but do nothing about it because they don’t see it as a priority. Perhaps the local police officers should be made to live in streets where drug dealers live, it would soon change their perspective.
Not the officers on the ground, its the overall policy and approach, there is no will or the resources to deal with the problem. The usual response is that as fast as you arrest and lock up offenders , new dealers take their place, that everyone needs to live somewhere, that its better to know where the problems are than have to keep finding them. Then there’s the big one, “keep the issues in undesirable areas “ as it rocks fewer boats. Nothing will change formthe better.
whats a pedophiles
Men going after young girls for sex that’s what a pedophiles
I asked TDC, at the 1st full council meeting after the May 2019 local elections, to reinstate a Noise Abatement Officer, who’d have the power to seize sound systems & shut down ASB involving noise disturbances, and the response was ‘No!’ A single additional PC for the whole of Cliftonville won’t enable the enforcement of the current PSPO – Public Space Protection Order – on streets included in the 3 year scheme. This is a grossly inadequate increase in police numbers – effectively a paper exercise – Thanet’s well deserved reputation as a *law free zone*, which has seen an increase in vigilantism – the public taking the law into their own hands through illegal activity – needs a human resources increase proportionate to the district’s desperate state of public services neglect.
A single extra PC cannot turn around the atrociously inadequate policing of Athelstan Road, Dalby Square, Ethelbert Road & other ultra high population density areas of Cliftonville West, which receive zero police responses to ASB calls to 101, with positive outcomes, due to police strategic neglect of any 101 fallout request which doesn’t pose an immediate threat to life & limb.
ARTRA – Athelstan Road Tenants & Residents’ Association – are deeply concerned over inadequate policing of Athelstan Road & the societal stress under which the street is forced to continue to endure & suffer.
Matt, thanks for posting this. I thought the number sounded very low. What is the right number of police officers for Thanet? I’d be interested to know how the current numbers compare with, say 15 years ago, or with more with better policed parts of the country.