Norfolk Police aim to ‘win back trust’ after Met misconduct

James Makepeace, North Norfolk Operational Partnership Team Inspector, said people could still trust their local police officers because of the high standards set by Norfolk's force.  

Insp Makepeace said: “It’s a vast area that we cover. We focus our work towards being as visible and engaging as possible to build community trust.

“My team is about face-to-face contact and engagement, and we cannot forget those hard-to-reach communities.

“We’ve got to make sure we engage with people who live in our policing area and seek their views on our policing activity.

“I have confidence that the population of Norfolk can have 100pc trust in the police officers that are dealing with them on a daily basis because of the standards set at Norfolk Police.”

Insp Makepeace said the reputation of police forces across the UK had been damaged by a series of high-profile cases of misconduct and abuses of power within the Met.

Insp Ben Hardiman, in charge of 'response policing' at four stations in north Norfolk, said the actions of a minority of officers had undermined the police in general, and was “not reflective” of the wider force.

He said: “It’s a privilege to be a police officer – but with privilege and power comes responsibility.

“When you work hard and spend your career working days and nights, to be with someone in their absolute worst moment and to even have a thought about exploiting someone’s vulnerability is sickening. There’s no place for it - especially here.

“It makes you feel that all the effort you’re putting in is being undermined by a minority.

"It affects you, and it’s difficult sometimes to watch the news in those circumstances because it’s not reflective of what we see on a daily basis.

“We rely on communities to tell us what’s going on.

"We require the support of communities and if we don’t maintain that position - where we’re building and sustaining trust - we’re not going to have that, and we need it to survive.

“We’re going to do everything we can to set a standard and make sure we are delivering policing as we expect.”

The inspectors said north Norfolk police have had recent successes in combatting youth knife crime, violence and disorder.

Insp Makepeace said in Sheringham alone, the force has recently taken 41 charges to court, leading to 18 convictions for public place violent crime and making the area “a better place to live”.

But Insp Makepeace warned that fraud targeting elderly residents in coastal towns and villages is on the rise.

“Vulnerable, elderly single-habitants are being targeted on telephone landlines by people pretending to be police officers,” he said.

“The target will be told the officer is investigating counterfeit money offences and that the money in their bank is potentially counterfeit. asking them to take it out and hand it over to someone who will come to collect it.

“The police will never ask you to withdraw money or disclose bank details.

"If you get phone calls like that it’s best to hang up and report it to the police by dialling 101 so you can be confident you’re talking to the police.”

Insp Makepeace also said there had been a rise in thefts of catalytic converters from vehicles.

There were seven thefts in one night around North Norfolk recently, and some people have been double victims of the crime.

Insp Makepeace urged motorists to park their cars off the road to make them as inaccessible as possible, and to report any suspicious activity to the police.