BARNSLEY neighbourhoods will lose their locally based PCSO officers next spring under changes which will see numbers slashed and remaining officers merged into two centrally-based teams.
The changes have been forced by police budget cuts with senior officers accepting they will have to “redefine” how the force works.
The new arrangement is expected to result in PCSOs’ roles changing as they will no longer be so well placed to integrate into their existing ‘beat’ areas.
By April, PCSO numbers across South Yorkshire will be cut by 65 and it is understood around 15 of those will be lost from the Barnsley area.
Read more in the Barnsley Chronicle, dated November 20.
