Community Policing
The Police Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network assigns a community policing team to each of the six principal sites of the Velocity Interoperability Network. The teams, comprising 50 officers and 18 community support officers in total, take up their posts on Monday 7 September 2026. Each team is based at the police station for its site, works to published priorities and holds a weekly public session at which staff, citizens and visitors may raise concerns about crime, safety or antisocial behaviour without an appointment.
Community policing is the Department's means of dealing with the offences that are frequent rather than grave: theft from the person and of cycles, damage to property, antisocial behaviour and fraud against residents. Officers who know a site, its buildings and the people who use it are better placed to prevent these offences than a patrol sent from the control room after the event.
Teams by site. The register below is maintained by the Department and updated as the teams' composition and session times change.
| Team | Site | Officers | Support officers | Weekly public session |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Exchange Team | Central Exchange (principal site) | 12 | 4 | Tuesdays, 17:00–19:00, Central Exchange Police Station |
| Northgate Team | Northgate Relay | 8 | 3 | Wednesdays, 12:00–14:00, Northgate Police Station |
| Southbank Team | Southbank Terminal | 10 | 4 | Mondays, 16:00–18:00, Southbank Police Station |
| Eastfield Team | Eastfield Campus | 8 | 3 | Thursdays, 13:00–15:00, Eastfield Police Station |
| Westbrook Team | Westbrook Distribution Site | 6 | 2 | Fridays, 07:00–09:00, Westbrook Police Station |
| Meridian Team | Meridian Court | 6 | 2 | Tuesdays, 10:00–12:00, Meridian Police Station |
Priorities for September 2026. Each team's first priorities are drawn from the offences recorded during the transition period. They will be reviewed at the end of the quarter in the light of recorded crime and the matters raised at public sessions.
| Team | Priorities | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Central Exchange Team | Theft from the person on the concourse; cycle theft at the racks; antisocial behaviour after 22:00 | 130 of the 298 thefts recorded across all sites in the transition period were at Central Exchange |
| Northgate Team | Theft from and damage to vehicles in the relay yard; trespass on the freight sidings | 81 vehicle crimes recorded, 34 at Northgate |
| Southbank Team | Pickpocketing at the terminal gates; safety of passengers late at night | Second highest rate of theft from the person |
| Eastfield Team | Cycle theft; burglary of residential blocks; safety of students new to the site | 71 thefts recorded, the highest rate of cycle theft per head of population |
| Westbrook Team | Theft of cargo from the distribution sheds; heavy vehicle safety on the internal roads | All 13 vehicle crimes recorded at Westbrook were thefts of cargo or from goods vehicles |
| Meridian Team | Fraud against residents by telephone and email; security of the court precinct | 121 frauds recorded, 47 against Meridian residents |
What the teams do. The work of every team follows the same pattern.
- Foot patrol
- Each team patrols its site on foot for the greater part of every shift, giving priority to the places and times at which offences are most often recorded.
- Public sessions
- A weekly session at the team's station, open to anyone without an appointment, at which concerns may be raised and the team reports on what it has done about the matters raised previously.
- Priorities
- Three priorities for each team, set for a quarter from the offences recorded at its site and the matters raised at public sessions, and published on this page.
- Work with member organisations
- Advice to member organisations on the security of their premises, joint patrols with their facilities staff where wanted, and a named officer for each organisation at the site.
- Smaller sites
- Each team is responsible for the smaller sites nearest to its principal site, which it visits on a published rota and at which it may be asked to hold an additional session.
Raising a matter with a team. Matters that are not urgent, such as a recurring problem at a site or a concern about a place or a practice, may be raised in either of two ways. A crime or incident that has occurred should be reported as described on the Reporting a Crime page.
Step 1: Attend the public session
Sessions are held weekly at the times shown above. No appointment is needed; matters are heard in the order in which people arrive.
Step 2: Or write to the Department
Send your concern to the Department's email address, marked for the attention of the team concerned, with your site and a way of reaching you by email.
Step 3: Receive an acknowledgement
The team acknowledges every matter within three working days and tells you which officer is dealing with it.
Step 4: Hear the outcome
The team reports on the matters raised with it at its next public session and writes to those who raised them when the matter is concluded.
Community support officers are civilian members of the teams with limited powers. They patrol, take reports, staff public sessions and give advice, but do not make arrests; where an arrest is needed they call on the team's officers or the nearest patrol.
Correspondence for a team may be sent to contact@police.gov.vin. For the location and counter hours of the stations at which sessions are held, see Police Stations; for the figures on which the priorities are based, see Statistics; for advice on the offences the teams work to prevent, see Safety Advice.