New Year's Eve will be 'very different' for police on patrol in Mansfield

Officers from crime fighting ‘Reacher’ teams introduced across Nottinghamshire in 2020, will be out and about helping to keep the area safe as we head into the New Year, 2021.

PC Gez Hornsby has been with Nottinghamshire Police for the past 19 years and is now part of the newly formed Mansfield Operation Reacher team. He will be out patrolling the streets on New Year's Eve.

PC Hornsby said: "I'll be out around the Mansfield area on New Year's Eve, mostly making sure everyone is celebrating safely and also responding to incidents that come in where our help is needed."

"New Year's Eve particularly will be very different this year so it’s quite difficult to predict or know what to expect.

“We're usually in the heart of Mansfield Town Centre with the bars and pubs as it's usually busy, but of course with Covid-19 the usual celebrations are unable to take place, so we're very much prepared to take this New Year as it comes.

"I think it's really important to be there and available this time of year as, although it’s normally a time for families to get together, the reality is that some people are at their most vulnerable and may need our help.

"We hope everyone gets to enjoy bringing in the New Year, where we expect many will have private celebrations and stick to their households and support bubbles where one has been formed.

"We'll be out and about in various parts of Mansfield on the night so I'm sure we'll see a few members of the community and say hello from a distance. Although we hope everyone enjoys the evening and don't find themselves in a situation where they need us, we are here to help if so.”

Operation Reacher began in the Bestwood area in 2018 to target serious and organised crime, and after a pilot scheme came to the Gedling borough in January 2020, Reacher teams were rolled out across the county on October 5, 2020.

All 12 neighbourhood policing areas have a Reacher team working on local communities issues.