Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, Matthew Barber, has launched an online survey seeking views on the budget for Thames Valley Police for 2022/23.

The survey can be completed by clicking here. The survey is open until 5pm on Tuesday 18th January 2022.

Read my Police & Crime Bulletin for December 2021. The latest news and views about policing and crime across the Thames Valley including good news on serious violence figures and the Rowe Court fire in Reading.

Police officer numbers have been increasing in Thames Valley as part of the Home Office funded recruitment programme. With around 4,500 officers serving across our communities, supported by more than 3,500 PCSOs, Special Constables and staff, police officers numbers are now higher than they have been decade.

The Government's newly published drugs strategy, entitled From harm to hope, is a welcome combination of enforcement, rehabilitation and prevention. It has often been said that the so-called "war on drugs" has failed, yet the alternative that is presented is often one of permissiveness that lacks public support and does not address much of the harm caused by drugs beyond the clear impact on the user.

The statistics on knife crime in Thames Valley are remarkably positive. The lockdown restrictions that we all endured last year unsurprisingly had the side-effect of reducing many types of crime, but even taking this into account, serious violence, including knife crime is down and across Thames Valley.

The latest figures show that, by population, we currently have the lowest levels of serious violence of any police force in England and Wales.

Matthew Barber, Thames Valley’s Police & Crime Commissioner has welcomed the publication of policing’s plans to improve its response to violence against women and girls.

Responding to the launch of the National Police Chiefs’ Council-College of Policing framework, Matthew Barber said: “The document sets out actions for operational policing to increase confidence and re-build trust across our communities.”