THE public must give their backing to police community support officers to help tackle crime, says the leader of Barrow's new neighbourhood policing team.
Inspector Jim Bailey, who has been with Cumbria Constabulary since 2009, stepped into his new community role earlier this month and has vowed to get more officers out of the station and on the streets.
He said: "PCSOs get so much stick and people can be quite disrespectful to them.
"I'm telling them all to wear body cameras so we can start to get convictions of people who ignore them and think they don't have to listen.
"The public can always help PCSOs in standing up to perpetrators of crime and show their support."
Typically, PCSOs are seen as the eyes and ears of the public and deal with minor crime and disturbances but lack the authority to make arrests.
However, 45-year-old Insp Bailey believes they are an asset to the force and must be utilised to help teams engage with the public.
He added: "We really want to push the visibility of PCSOs, they are the visible side of policing and they do a great job.
"I would like to think everyone in the community will go and find out who their local PCSO is."
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Each neighbourhood team across Cumbria must identify a number of priority areas prevalent in their community.
For Barrow and Dalton, combating anti-social behaviour is a must, and a task which will be completed by the PCSOs.
Similarly, tackling the issues surrounding substance misuse and transforming Egerton Court in Barrow have also been listed as key priorities for the team.
Insp Bailey said: "We are trying to support the residents towards beating crime and we can only do that by having boots on the ground.
"Anyone who is a victim of crime is one too many."
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Despite talking tough on community issues, the police veteran was quick to put Barrow's crime figures into context and praise the work of officers across the area.
Insp Bailey said: "Crime here is much lower here than the rest of the country.
"We are really down on what we call low level crime, like people breaking windows etc.
"And the great thing is with Barrow, there is one road in and one road out so we can easily detect most things."
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