Safer Streets Spotlight: Sergeant Sophia on Neighbourhood Policing in Beverley

As part of the national Safer Streets initiative, we’re highlighting the people who work every day to make our neighbourhoods safer, stronger, and more connected. In this piece, Sergeant Sophia Wilson shares her experience of neighbourhood policing in Beverley, East Riding.

“I’ve been with Humberside Police since 2014, 11 years now! I’ve worked in a variety of roles across the force, but I joined the neighbourhood policing pillar in January 2022. After spending most of my time in patrol, I was ready for a new challenge. I loved the idea of working more closely with communities and partners to tackle the issues affecting people’s daily lives. Being able to problem-solve, make positive changes, and build trust within the community has made this my favourite area of policing so far, it’s incredibly rewarding.

Every day is different. Just last week, I was at Crown Court for the sentencing of a case that my team and I have been working on for the past three years. We got a great result the man was sentenced to four and a half years for tormenting his vulnerable neighbour. That was a proud moment for the team. Other days I’m out in the community engaging with the public, attending meetings with partner agencies, or executing warrants based on information the team has gathered. Last week, we executed a warrant and found a large cannabis grow. I also really value the opportunity for early intervention, building rapport in schools and influencing the next generation. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing kids’ faces light up when they see the police car or try on a police hat and ask how they can become a police officer.

Neighbourhood policing is a very specialist role. It involves a lot of communication, multitasking, crime prevention, and problem-solving, often dealing with complex issues that require dedication, understanding, and partnership work. Some days are about the general running of the team: briefings, training, reviewing crime reports to make sure we’re getting the right results for victims, one-to-ones, staff welfare, and a lot of emails!

Beverley is not only a visually beautiful place to work, but it also has a real sense of community. When I started in the role, I set up the Beverley Joint Youth Partnership, which includes outreach workers, volunteers, ASB officers, youth clubs, security staff, youth engagement officers, school partnerships, the Making a Change team, Youth Justice, and more. We all work together, share information, support each other’s events, and tackle issues collectively. We run an annual event called Beverley Fun Fest, where community members volunteer their time to expose young people to local role models and diversionary activities like sports, cadets, youth clubs, and careers advice. Working together has created opportunities for young people and helped significantly reduce ASB. We’re lucky to have some fantastic people in the community who go above and beyond to make Beverley a better place to live.

Communication is key to staying connected with residents. All our team are trained in social media, and we use it to show the public what we’re doing to keep the community safe. It’s also a great way to advertise events like street surgeries and bike marking. But we know not everyone uses social media, so we also hold regular residents’ meetings and make sure they’re advertised through other channels. We use HumberTalking surveys and My Community Alert to keep people informed, and the two-way messaging system allows the public to ask questions and get responses directly from the team.

Within the team, communication is just as important. We share information with other departments of the force like Protecting Vulnerable People (PVP), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), patrol teams, organised crime units, and Locate, when necessary, to make sure we can all support each other effectively. We put together briefing packs that highlight areas where we’re seeing criminal activity, individuals we’re concerned about, and other relevant updates.

We attend multiple partner agency meetings to discuss concerns and how we can reduce demand. We work with housing, local authorities, mental health services, fire, ASB teams, youth justice, and others. Sometimes the police aren’t the right lead agency, so we rely on our external colleagues to help problem-solve and think outside the box. This joined-up approach helps ensure we’re all working together to tackle crime and support those who need it most.

There’s a huge amount of work and dedication that goes into solving complex issues and preventing crime. It’s not always about a quick fix, often it’s about taking a longer-term approach that benefits the community more. A lot of this work happens behind the scenes, and while we can’t always share everything publicly to protect investigations or information gathering, the goal remains the same: to bring justice to victims and make our communities safer.”

To stay up to date with the work Sophia and her team are doing in your area, follow the local policing team on Facebook at Humberside Police – East Riding of Yorkshire South.