IMPROVING community and neighbourhood policing is the main thrust of the changes afoot for Basingstoke as part of a major policing shake-up coming into effect on Saturday.

Following a review of Hampshire Constabulary - commissioned by Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan in 2004 and called Forward Together - several changes were agreed by the Hampshire Police Authority which aim to strengthen the structure of the force and ensure officers and civilian staff can better meet demands in the future.

The two counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have been policed by 10 basic command units (BCUs) but, from Saturday, this is changing to make six operational command units (OCUs).

The Specialist Operations department, which is responsible for counter terrorism, major crime investigation and serious and organised crime, will now consist of crime OCU, Operations OCU and the Criminal Justice Department. The Roads Policing Unit will also move into the Specialist Operations Portfolio.

Basingstoke will form part of the North and East Hampshire OCU with the former BCUs of Aldershot and part of central Hampshire.

The headquarters will be at Aldershot police station, where former Basingstoke police commander Paul Netherton, who has been promoted to Chief Superintendent, Superintendent Chris Brown and Detective Chief Inspector Jim Antczak will be based.

There will be a chief inspector for each district, with Jill Baldry taking control at Basingstoke police station.

The main changes for Basingstoke is that the town will be split into two sectors - north and south of the railway line - and each ward will have its own dedicated beat officer, reporting to a beat sergeant at a local police station.

The rural sector will continue to operate as it does at present, with Inspector Ben Taylor in charge, following the retirement of Inspector Adrian Gatehouse.

Commenting on the changes, Chief Supt Netherton said: "It is about ensuring that police officers are seen in the community and about having a point of contact so local people can speak to local officers."

Supt Brown confirmed that some specialist teams would be based at Tadley Police Station at different times of the day.

He said: "We are trying to work with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to make sure each beat officer is working within a ward boundary because, at the moment, beat officers can cover up to three wards.

"We will also be working more closely with Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and aiming to create a real neighbourhood policing team."

Chief Supt Netherton also outlined three main priority areas for 2006/07. These are to address:

Anti-social behaviour, fear of crime and the provision of reassurance to the public

Volume crime - violent crime (in particular domestic abuse), burglary, vehicle crime and robbery

Customer satisfaction, in particular dealing with, and the follow up to, crime.

Under the shake-up, emergency 999 calls will be handled in the same way and will go to the control room at Netley and the local desks will remain working within that system.

Chief Supt Netherton said: "We will be recruiting more officers for North and East Hampshire and I am looking for volunteers to be special constables.

"I am also keen to support Neighbourhood Watch schemes which can assist in the prevention of crime."

The new North and East OCU will cover the policing of the Basingstoke district and the Hart, Rushmoor and East Hampshire district - which will remain virtually unchanged.

The main change will be that the police district will match the boundaries of the local district councils.

Hampshire Constabulary Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan believes the new set-up has been crucial in enabling the county constabulary to remain as a stand-alone strategic force in the face of controversial Home Office merger proposals.

He said: "I am quite clear that if we had not initiated the "Forward Together" exercise then we would have been unlikely to have achieved strategic force status.

"The reduction of territorial units is designed to create economies of scale and allow local OCU commanders to effectively tackle local problems."