My top 5!
I was recently asked on Facebook to set out my top three achievements from my last three years as Police & Crime Commissioner. I’ve replied but social media doesn’t really work for the slightly longer explanations that are helpful with such a list.
So here’s the long version and I’ve been greedy and expanded it to five things!
Cutting knife crime - Operation Deter
Knife crime has fallen in Thames Valley by 13% in the last year. That hasn’t happened by accident. There have been many factors but one significant element that I am particularly proud of is Operation Deter. I have driven this zero-tolerance approach, focusing on knife possession, not waiting for other offences such as threats, robberies or assaults to occur. This change of approach has meant that rather than delays of weeks or months between the police be the CPS - which saw dangerous criminals back out on the streets, often committing further crime, now if your found with a knife you’re more likely than not to be remanded overnight and in court the following day.
For under-18s who would normally be referred to the Youth Offending Team, I’ve funded a pilot - soon to be expanded across Thames Valley - that sees that referral responded to within 90 minutes. Rather than a knock on the door weeks later, the Youth Offending Team can get to that child while they’re literally a captive audience in police custody. And it’s making a difference.
The credit for implementing the detail of this policy as always goes to some fantastic police officers and staff, but whatever else happens at this election I am proud to have driven this ppl from the start. Serious violence is very low in Thames Valley. These issues do not impact the majority of people. But I’ve worked with the police officers who deal with it and I’ve met too many families who’ve lost children. This matters and I’m proud we’re making a difference.
Record numbers of police officers and more in neighbourhood teams
It’s not enough! Where are they all? Well I’m not done yet.
I want Thames Valley Police to continue to grow. We need more staff as well as police officers. Not just to soak up more public resources but to be more effective and keep crime low.
Nevertheless I am proud of what has been achieved, not just in absolute numbers but in doubling the number of neighbourhood police officers.
Yes there has been a national recruitment programme, but in Thames Valley we have gone beyond that, and gone further beyond it than any other Force. I’ve backed that increase by increasing local budgets and giving the strategic direction to the Force to focus on recruitment.
We’re not at the end yet, with further increases planned this year. Undeniably some of this would have happened anyway, but I can demonstrate that the decisions I’ve made over the last three years have led to the increase in officers being 42% higher than the original Home Office target.
A year ago I published my Crimefighters strategy, which contains many elements that I can demonstrate will help improve policing in Thames Valley but key to that is the doubling of neighbourhood police officers. Again, that hadn’t happened by accident. It has been implemented by some excellent officers in Thames Valley but without the strategy and the funding this was not the direction of travel. We could only effectively achieve this because of this earlier decisions to increase officer numbers further than the original Home Office plan.
The increase in neighbourhood officers is set to continue.
Combating Retail Crime
Normal people don’t use the term retail crime - we say shoplifting. The reason I use it here is that often that shoplifting (serious though it is) actually goes further. Sadly it sometimes involves threats or assaults on shop staff. It is wider than just shoplifting itself!
There’s too much of it, but perversely I hope police recorded crime will continue to rise. For too long these offences have been under reported, “the police won’t do anything”. I understand the reasons for the lack of confidence but if things aren’t reported the police have no chance of doing anything and the decline continues. So a short term increase can demonstrate greater confidence and this month the police will be launching a new app to make it easier to report shoplifting and I hope to see a further rise.
I’ve spent months talking to retailers large and small, from John Lewis and Tesco to corner shops to come up with a plan. I published that at the start of the year and in recent months the number of charges for shoplifting offences has more than doubled.
There is a huge amount of work to do to tackle criminals and build confidence, it won’t happen overnight. But a good start has been made, my plan has been recognised nationally as an example of good practice and this is a change of police that would not have happened if it had not been driven by a Police & Crime Commissioner acting as the voice of the public.
That’s the top three, but in amongst a lot of other things I could point to there are two more of particular note:
CCTV partnership
In at number four is improving CCTV across Thames Valley. This is something that had been stalled for years and many people told me couldn’t be done.
Neither the police nor councils actually have a statutory responsibility to provide CCTV but it is an important tool to deter and detect crime and make people safer. The vision for the CCTV partnership is a single system, owned and operated, monitored and mainly the police but with financial contributions from local councils and the police. The first stage went live in January in Milton Keynes and Slough. A year earlier when run by the councils only around 15% of cameras in MK worked and Slough were set to turn all of theirs off completely.
Now we have new kit, better cameras, more operators and they are already detecting more crime - often stopping things from happening as well as providing vital evidence. Later this year we’re set to extend this model to Oxfordshire and then hopefully to the rest of Thames Valley.
Rural crime taskforce
Thames Valley covers three counties, a huge 2,200 square miles, and most of that is rural. We’ve created a dedicated rural crime taskforce who have demonstrated the value of proactive policing. This team has been recognised nationally for their work, reducing rural crime by 20% in the last year and recovering millions of pounds worth of equipment stolen across the country. I’ve agreed an increase in their funding to almost double the strength of the team and they’ve got additional equipment such as drones, ANPR and access to off-road bikes to take the fight to the criminals.
Choosing a top five is hard. I’m not one to claim that everything is perfect, far from it. There is much more we need to do. That’s why I’ve set out a very clear plan for my priorities if re-elected. I’m the only candidate to publish a positive plan with a vision for the future. You can read the full document here.
In amongst the many other achievements I could mention however are:
Better, more imaginative, use of the Community Fund, taking cash from criminals and supporting community groups that help prevent crime
Increasing funding for local councils for crime prevention initiatives
Important work with the police and charities to support the victims of domestic abuse
Project Vigilant and the increased use of police dogs to keep people safe on a night out
The support I have put in place for Community Speedwatch
I am proud of the work done in partnership with the police over the last three years and I’m asking you to lend me your support to back my plan for the future.
