New police team in Bulwell are ready to tackle community issues

Sergeant Keely Shooter took over the Operation Reacher team in November and after focusing on eradicating organised crime groups and engaging with the community during its original incarnation, the new team is turning its attentions to diverting young people away from a criminal lifestyle and tackling local issues.

Sergeant Shooter said: “We are carrying on the ethos of the original Op Reacher, disrupting and dismantling organised crime within the community.

"We rely on the information from local people, so building up trust and confidence with the public is imperative.

"We are engaging with people of all ages and cultures and its rewarding to see the difference we are making in the community, whilst creating a safer environment for them to live.

“It’s a proactive approach, where you can look at community priorities and the people who are causing the most issues in the area.

"We’re working really closely with the rest of the neighbourhood team to build a picture so that we can take action and have a positive impact on our residents.”

The team will be looking at new ways of engaging with the community, including putting some of their out of work hobbies to use.

Sergeant Shooter said: “When coronavirus allows, we want to go into schools and really start building relationships with our local youngsters.

"We want to get some football matches going, it’s about showing them that we’re not just police officers. We’re people too and they can talk to us.

“We’ve got a few football fans in the team. We’ve got Arsenal, Man City, luckily there aren’t too many rivalries and they all get on. But the serious side of it is about meeting those young children and really changing their minds about the police.”

As well as their love of the beautiful game lots of the team are dog lovers, including Sergeant Shooter who owns three British Bulldogs.

She said: “When not at working I’m most likely to be out and about walking my dogs.”

Sergeant Shooter left policing before taking up her new role, but she missed making a difference so much that she came back as part of Operation Uplift, the Government’s drive to recruit more police officers.

She said: “I missed the job and the excitement. I missed the people and making a difference in the community. The proactive side of policing is what I love doing, so Reacher is perfect. I’m really enjoying it and it’s great to be back having a positive impact on people’s lives.”

There is a mix of experience in the team, including a former member of the Royal Air Force. Other officers have a wealth of local knowledge which is helping the team to understand the area and respond to the community’s needs.

The Operation Reacher Team in City North was the first to be set up in April 2018, with the aim of tackling organised crime centred around the Bestwood estate in Nottingham.

It saw organised crime groups that had blighted the estate being comprehensively dismantled, leading to £1.8 million of drugs being recovered and lengthy jail sentences for dozens of criminals in its first year alone.

New teams of officers have now been introduced to all 12 neighbourhood policing areas across the county, designed to react dynamically to community concerns and build trust and confidence that the police will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with residents to make our communities safer.

Sergeant Shooter has a message for her team’s local community.

She said: “We’re here for you, so come and speak to us. If you have any issues, we can look at them. We want you to get to know us and see that we’re taking action to make things better for you.”

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