Additional reporting Kristin Hawthorne

Named bobbies are returning to town centres across the county in a major shakeup in policing in an effort to tackle anti-social behaviour and crime.

But with perceptions that the police have “abandoned” communities, KentOnline looks at whether the changes will make a difference.

The number of cases solved by Kent Police has increased from 12% to 15% over the last two years, 5% above the national average.

While this is a positive step, there is still a perception that the police have left the streets and town centres.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper underlined this feeling when she said communities feel “abandoned as crime soared and neighbourhood police disappeared.

However, the assistant chief constable Nigel Brookes, who spoke to KentOnline from Kent Police HQ in Maidstone, says he is “very confident” people will see a “real visible difference” thanks to the new measures announced yesterday (April 10) by Sir Keir Starmer.

As part of the plans, there will be named and contactable officers for every neighbourhood and guaranteed police patrols in busy areas at peak times.

The government has also promised to boost the police ranks with 13,000 new officers by 2029.

The Prime Minister said: “For years, crimes such as shoplifting and antisocial behaviour have wreaked havoc on our neighbourhoods.

“Policing has become reactive, picking up the pieces after crimes have occurred. Britain deserves better.”

The scheme will see 65 new officers join neighbourhood policing squads in Kent, thanks to a £4.9 million government investment.

That money comes at a time when the National Police Chiefs' Council said forces faced an estimated gap of £1.3bn in their overall finances over the next two years.

However, Mr Brookes says he is “ambitious” about the impact the named bobbies will have on people’s perceptions of safety.

He said: “We want our new neighbourhood police officers to be absolutely visible to the public.

“We want them to be out there so that they can be seen talking to people, tackling people who might be committing crime and anti-social behaviour.

“We've already made big impacts, and I want to really stress that particularly over the last 12 months in and around our town centres.

“We want to make more dents on crime, we want to bring more offenders to justice, and these additional officers will help us to do that.

“Not least in the areas which are particularly worrying to people around shoplifting, assaults on people who work in shops and street crime that impacts in and around our town centres.”

One of the towns wrestling with crime is Sittingbourne, which has become notorious for anti-social behaviour despite a reduction in reported incidents by 44 year on year.

Such is the frustration that groups of men have been forming “road crews”, whose members will message each other in Whatsapp group chats and all go out together to confront the perpetrators.

One of its members told KentOnline he joined as he “has had enough” of “car mirrors being smashed and people being scared to go out on their own”.

Labour MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey Kevin McKenna told KentOnline he believes named officers will bring “confidence” to residents who tell him they “feel the police aren’t there”.

He said: “I was in a cab earlier today, getting back from Kemsley, and the thing the cabbie wanted to talk to me about was people throwing stones and eggs at cabs in Sittingbourne.

“There is a general feeling that there's a lot of loutishness on the High Street, especially with youths.

“So it's not about government announcements; it's about when people really see the difference.

“I know the police in Sittingbourne have been putting a lot of effort into neighbourhood policing, but it's not surprising people feel a lag.

“So I'm hoping once we get these named neighbourhood policing teams people will think, ‘right, that's who I go to. ’”

Mr McKenna added that while he “understands people's frustration”, he says the ‘road crews’ are a “real risk” not only to the public but also to those involved.

He said: “In this country, we have a trained police officers, trained police service, resourced police officers now, they're the ones who should be handling this.”

On the ‘road crews’, Mr Brookes said: “I would advise anyone who is considering taking part in or setting up a so-called road crew not to do so.

“Apart from anything else, they haven't made themselves aware to us. We don't know where they're operating.

“But I would say I recognise the strength of the feeling that people have when they're affected by antisocial behaviour, and I would ask anyone who is to come forward and tell us what's happening.”

Police have taken action by putting in place dispersal orders during school breaks, which have given the cops greater powers to move on troublemakers.

In the most recent action, seven people were kicked out of Sittingbourne town centre while a man was arrested for stealing food and sweets.

In October, KentOnline spent a Friday night investigating the anti-social behaviour problem in the town centre, where much of the crime seems to be taking place.

Read more: Reporter Joe Crossley’s night investigating Sittingbourne’s notorious anti-social behaviour problem

The investigation was sparked by a string of incidents, including a violent attack on people at Sittingbourne Retail Park.