Police in Ashfield have a launched a new initiative to improve their understanding of the communities they serve.

The Hidden Communities Campaign aims to improve cooperation with residents who often have had little recent contact with the police. It has been launched to reach out to people from Eastern European communities, people with military backgrounds, and people in the LGBTQ+ community.

Neighbourhood Inspector Mark Dickson (pictured), who served for seven years in the British Army before becoming a police officer, believes that members of these groups are underrepresented in terms of both crime reporting and community engagement.

He said: “Community policing is about working in partnership to make our homes, streets and open spaces as safe and enjoyable as possible. But in order to do this effectively we need to understand the needs and concerns of everybody we serve.

“We already set local policing objectives according to feedback from residents and this system is very effective, but I am concerned that some of our residents are under-represented in their contact with my officers. That means they either experience disproportionately less crime than other communities, or – more likely – that there are other barriers to engagement that we need to address.

“In response we’re already taking steps to reach out directly to people in these communities – by reaching out to community leaders, communicating with target audiences on social media, and stepping face to face contact in places like specialist food shops. As Covid-19 restriction are slowly relaxed we’ll also be looking to hold public meetings in the future.

“Fundamentally my message is clear: the police service is here to serve everyone who lives and works in our district. I am, then, determined that we form positive, trusting relationships with as many of those people as possible. If that means doing things a little differently and devoting more time simply to meeting with and building better relationships with people then that’s exactly what we will do.”

PC Malgorzata Kacprzycka, who moved to the UK from Poland ten years ago, has recorded a Polish language video to introduce the campaign. She added: “In many eastern European countries such as Poland people’s attitudes to the police are very different. Police officers are often seen as people to be feared rather than to be trusted to help you in a crisis. There are various historical reasons for that but these attitudes can be very hard for people to shake-off, even when people move to a different country.

“Policing in the UK is very much based on trust between citizens and police officers and this is something we are working hard to build up in local communities. There are also more basic obstacles to engagement such as the language barrier. Helping to break down these barriers is so important because we know that people on these communities are as particular risk of certain types of offences such as people trafficking.”

PCSO Steve Timperly, who also served in the British Army for 22 years, added: “In many ways the armed forces and the police share things in common – from uniform, discipline and structure to the sense of camaraderie and shared endeavour that goes with the job. That’s why so many people with forces backgrounds make the jump between the two.

“But we also know that some people who join and thrive in the military may have had some more negative experiences of the police. We know also that making the transition to civilian life can be very challenging. It can lead to significant mental health challenges and even involvement with the police as victims or perpetrators of crime.”

Sergeant Colin Morley, who will be leading the Hidden Communities Initiative, added: “We know that people in our LGBTQ+ communities are at increased risk of being subjected to certain offences – particularly hate crimes. But we also know that we currently have very little reactive or proactive contact with them locally. There could be any number of reasons of that and I am keen to learn more.

“If you identify with any one of these groups than there is every chance that you may be hearing from us soon – either in person or via social media. But we’d also love to hear from you and meet for a chat – either in person of over the phone.”