SPEEDING drivers, community engagement and police presence were all on the agenda at Reigate and Banstead's first online local policing summit.
Reigate and Banstead's Neighbourhood Inspector Dan Gutierrez spent more than an hour holding a live Q&A session with members of the public on Facebook on Wednesday last week.
The initiative gave residents the chance to raise their concerns and get answers and advice from the borough's top cop.
While many asked about issues within their community, such as speeding cars in Banstead or ex-offenders selling door-to-door, a number of residents said they did not know or have any contact with their local police team.
Paul Waller, the Tadworth and Walton Residents' Association police liaison, said the crime update informing residents of issues in the area had dropped off, while Councillor Graeme Crome of Merstham claimed he did not know any of his local policing team.
Insp Gutierrez admitted that in many areas staff changes and new PCSOs could have affected community links, but said that would be rectified.
He told Cllr Crome: "We recently lost some local PCSOs who joined as police officers. We have now filled the gaps in your area and I expect the local team to engage with our community."
Residents and interested parties were given free reign to post any questions publicly on the Reigate Beat Facebook page, which is run by the Reigate and Banstead Safer Neighbourhood Team.
Insp Gutierrez, who masterminded the event, answered all the questions publicly and over the hour engaged directly with 15 residents who posted questions and more than 6,000 who read the posts.
Speaking after the event, he said: "It was really good. From my point of view it was a bit of an eye-opener to start engaging with a different group of people.
"Facebook is a normal way of people chatting to each other and getting and sharing information, so we need to have a strong presence there."
Addressing specific concerns about the apparent lack of police presence in Kingswood, Insp Gutierrez told the summit: "We recently gained a new PCSO to work with PC Steve Pearman in Kingswood.
"In addition to their daily patrols [Kingswood is] also covered by various teams, sometimes in unmarked vehicles. When there is a specific need, we can task specialist teams to assist with extra patrols. Fortunately we have had little crime reported in Kingswood lately."
Dan Weston quizzed the Inspector on which crimes the Reigate and Banstead team has had the greatest success fighting in recent months.
Insp Gutierrez replied: "We've had the best reductions in serious acquisitive crime, ie vehicle crime and general theft.
"Our main priority as we go through this year will be reducing and detecting house burglaries and violent crime."
