Another £1 million will be spent on localised initiatives to make communities safer after the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Thames Valley secured the maximum amount of funding available from the round 5 of the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund.

Following the arrest of Luke Horner in June for this awful offence, I commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to carry out a targeted inspection into Thames Valley Police’s management of this individual.

Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber, has pledged to implement an intelligence sharing platform to help tackle shoplifting and retail crime in the Thames Valley.

The new 24/7 telephone hotline, which will be run by the College of Policing’s National Police Wellbeing Service, is set to launch in Spring 2024. 

A new hub that will provide medical assistance and welfare support to residents and visitors in Reading has opened in the town centre.

Voluntary and community organisations awarded £199,548 from the Community Fund