A NEW police team has been formed by West Mercia Police to cover Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Dubbed the South West Mercia Police’s Local Policing Priority Team (LPPT) it was introduced on Tuesday.
The team has been set up to focus on local policing priorities across the area, including: Child Sexual Exploitation, Serious Organised Crime, Domestic Violence, burglary and safer roads.
The aim is that they will provide a visible policing response to increase public reassurance and tackle the issues that matter to local communities.
The 22 officers within the team, across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, will be uniformed with the intention of providing highly visible patrols, both on foot and in police vehicles in areas where recent crime has taken place or areas that may be vulnerable to travelling criminality.
They will be tasked with gathering intelligence and to target, disrupt and prevent crime.
Chief Superintendent Mark Travis said: “It is anticipated the new LPPT across South West Mercia will enable us to manage demand more effectively, allowing us to proactively tackle high harm issues such as serious and organised crime including county lines drug dealing, violent crime, child sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
“The new team will be a visible, uniformed presence on the streets of our communities throughout Herefordshire, North and South Worcestershire and will focus on our local policing priorities.
“The officers will be tasked with disrupting and preventing individuals’ involvement criminal activity, protecting the vulnerable and reducing the impact of serious organised crime on the community as part of our new Protect campaign.”
The LPPT’s role and the work they will be carrying out can be followed on twitter @LPPTSWestMercia
