Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster has welcomed the county's first dedicated Rural Crime Police and Community Support Officer (PCSO) into post.
The Commissioner met Spencer Nixon during a recent meeting with Derbyshire Constabulary's Rural Crime Team.
As part of the Commissioner's focus on rural crime, the Rural Crime PCSO will help to co-ordinate vital crime prevention work across the county and increase engagement with rural communities, as well as supporting officers and partners to identify local issues and problem-solve.
The post has been funded by the Commissioner's 2022-23 budget and delivers on her Police and Crime Plan promise to robustly tackle rural crime and provide more support to our rural communities.
Commissioner Angelique Foster said: "It was good to meet with PCSO Nixon following his recruitment. This is a very positive addition to the RCT team and will help provide a much more coordinated service to our rural residents. PCSO Nixon understands the issues impacting our rural communities here in Derbyshire and is clearly committed to make a difference. I am pleased to have funded this new role and I look forward to get regular feedback on the work undertaken by the team.
"Providing strong local policing across the whole of the county is one of my key priority. Investment has also been put in place to provide additional training and new technology/resources within our RCT. This will help deliver the improvements and high standards our rural communities deserve to help keep them safe."
PCSO Nixon's appointment comes as the Commissioner announced plans to recruit an additional 50 PCSOs across Derbyshire over the next 12 months.