It’s virtual reality for Rochdale South police

Rochdale South Inspector Michelle Hughes

Residents in Rochdale South can access their local police at the click of a button now that the officers have launched online police and communities together (PACT) meetings.

The PACT meetings are a chance for people to chat to their neighbourhood teams about their concerns, while the police update their communities on all the work they‘re doing to keep them safe.

The standard PACT meetings will continue, but the online PACTs are another way that people can communicate with their local officers and Rochdale South will be holding theirs on 16 August at 7.30pm.

Online PACTs are a web chat. All people need to do to take part is simply visit the relevant section of the GMP website. Once there, they will be able to follow the conversation by watching the screen and reading the comments and questions which appear on it. People can simply follow the conversation or they can join in by submitting their own questions.

Michelle Hughes, Neighbourhood Inspector for Rochdale South, said: “We know that people are really busy and don’t necessarily have time to leave their home to attend an evening meeting.

“Online PACTs mean that they can still have their say and communicate with their local police from the comfort of their own living room. We’d encourage as many people as possible to get involved, as we promise to act on what our communities tell us.”

Councillor Sultan Ali, Cabinet Member for Strengthening Communities at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We know that Rochdale is a safe borough and our crime figures are improving all the time, but we don’t want to rest on our laurels. By making it even easier for people to talk to their local police, we know that we can make it even safer.”

Rochdale South covers the areas of Balderstone and Kirkholt, Castleton, Kingsway and Milkstone and Deeplish.

How to get involved: 
Go to www.gmp.police.uk
Along the top of the page, you will see a tab saying ‘your neighbourhood’. Click on this and select Rochdale on the drop down menu.
On the new page, just to the right hand of the coloured map, you will see the different neighbourhoods listed. Click on Rochdale South and your local neighbourhood page will appear.
At the bottom of the Rochdale South page is a section called ‘Rochdale South PACT meeting’.
All you need to do to follow the meeting is watch this screen. People’s questions and comments will appear, alongside the officers’ responses.
To join in the discussion, simply type your question or comment into the white box which appears on the screen and press enter.
Questions won’t get published straight away, but will go into a queue and be answered during the course of the meeting.
The chat room is already on the page but won’t open until an hour before the meeting. However, you can visit the page before then and enter your email address into the white box to get an email reminder.