Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPT) are a concept developed by the United Kingdom police. It involves small teams of police officers (usually 10-15 strong) who are dedicated to policing a certain community or area. There are 3,600 NPTs throughout the United Kingdom. This type of policing is designed to make the police more visible, reduce fear and aid interaction between the public and the police, and it aids in local knowledge, gaining intelligence and tip-offs from the public.

NPTs are led by a police officer, usually of sergeant/Inspector

Inspector

Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...

 rank, and may include police community support officer

Police community support officer

A police community support officer , or community support officer is a uniformed non-warranted officer employed by a territorial police force or the British Transport Police in England and Wales. Police community support officers were introduced in September 2002 by the Police Reform Act 2002...

s, special constable

Special constable

A Special Constable is a law enforcement officer who is not a regular member of a police force. Some like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police carry the same law enforcement powers as regular members, but are employed in specific roles, such as explosive disposal technicians, court security, campus...

s, local council staff and members of voluntary organisations, such as a neighbourhood watch.

Usually NPTs are responsible for patrolling an area of around 4 square miles (10 km²) of urban area or around 10 square miles (25.9 km²) of rural area.

External links

• National Police Improvement Agency - Neighbourhood Policing