A national ‘adopt a Post Office’ scheme has seen police forces team up with the Post Office. Ten areas across rural Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight have trialled the scheme since 2016. Around the south of the Isle of Wight Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Steve Oatley has Post Office counters in local shops and cafés at: Godshill, Niton, Chale Green and Whitwell in his beat surgery calendar. The PCSOs have found it to be a way to reach a cross-section of society, and in particular vulnerable groups, with crime prevention messages.
As well as having a dedicated space to display crime prevention information, the post offices host regular beat surgeries and community events. Customers and staff have regular contact with their local officers, which has been found to provide re-assurance and to prevent scams or fraud by speaking to specific groups who may be withdrawing money at the counter.
PCSO Jacqui May will formally adopt Shanklin’s Post Office on Regent Street on behalf of the Neighbourhood Policing Team. The team will hold beat surgeries there on a Monday every fortnight starting from Monday, June 18 between 10am and 11.30am.
PCSO Jacqui May said: “This is a great way for members of the public to speak to their Neighbourhood Policing Team Officers about any concerns they may have while they’re out shopping. The Post Office remains at the heart of communities, and this is an important opportunity for us to provide additional information and reassurance to residents. The aim is to speak to people who we might otherwise struggle to engage with. We’ll be passing on important information like warning against distraction burglary, bogus callers, scams, and courier fraud. The launch couldn’t have come at a better time, as June is ‘Scam Awareness Month’.”
The Post Master for Shanklin’s Post Office, Lynn Lambourne said: ”At the Post Office we see this as an opportunity to enhance relationships with the Police and the community.”
