Holborn Police Division or Operational Command Unit (OCU) is one of the smallest, yet proportionally busiest divisions in the Metropolitan Police district (MPD). We cover the borough of Camden, south of the Euston Road and serve a diverse community with equally diverse needs and expectations. Accordingly, we have a flexible response available to meet those needs and expectations. In addition to our 24-hour response teams and Criminal Investigation Department, the needs of our community are further served by a dedicated Community Action Team (CAT). The team is formed from the Permanent Beat Officers, Crime Prevention Officers, domestic violence unit, vulnerable persons unit and licensing department. The purpose of the CAT is to identify local community needs and to direct a planned and effective response to those needs. To do so CAT Officers (formerly Permanent Beat Officers or PBOs) have individual responsibility for the ten sectors into which Holborn OCU is divided. Each Officer is expected to make and maintain contact with the local community within their sector. The Officer retains responsibility for their sector throughout their tenure of post with the team and thereby provides continuity. This is a stable base on which to build partnerships with the community. I have recently been appointed the Holborn OCU Covent Garden sector Officer and am contracted to remain in post for 3 years. Since taking up this post, I have strengthened cross-border links with the Charing Cross Community Police team in order to improve the service provided to the Covent Garden community. With the help and guidance of Mike Marlow and the Covent Garden Business Group the successful Business Watch scheme, which operates on the Westminster side of Covent Garden, has been expanded into the Camden side. This Police/Community co-operation is an indication of Holborn OCU's commitment to community partnership. This will continue, as the crime and disorder bill, that is currently before Parliament, will place statutory requirements on Police local councils and the community (private and business) to consult and co-operate on local crime and disorder management. As with Business Watch, this will be the responsibility of the CAT, which will work with all the relevant bodies and agencies to help provide the best available service to you, the community. Not all the news is good, however. Holborn OCU has once again been forced by economic necessity to reduce its Officer strength and it is very likely we will have to do so again in the near future. This, combined with an unprecedented increase in calls on our time (Holborn OCU has more 'immediate response' calls per Officer than any other station in the MPD) means hard decisions must be made and priorities identified. It is for this reason that you will see fewer Officers patrolling, as they are tasked to answer specific needs, thus maximising the efficiency of their use. Holborn OCU is dedicated to quality. We issue an annual Policing Plan, laying down our standards and objectives for the current year. We are dedicated to openness and accountability and welcome the interest and support of the community. We can offer no promises but we will listen to and, where possible, act on the needs and requirements of the community we serve. We wish the Covent Garden Community Association well for 1998 and look forward to further co-operation with them, for the greater good of the whole community.

 

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