Issue - meetings

Oral Report from Jason Ablewhite, the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Andy Coles, the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), introduced himself and his work. He was accompanied by Charles Kitchin, Director of Public Engagement and Communication, and apologised that Jason Ablewhite, the PCC, had been called away at short notice and so was unable to attend the meeting.

The Deputy PCC said that he had been appointed Deputy PCC in July 2016.  He was himself a Peterborough City Councillor, and had been a police officer for 30 years, working in a variety of roles, from core policing to highly specialised areas.  He explained that the Police and Crime Commissioner was required to hold the Chief Constable to account; the PCC was able to take locally-raised issues to the Chief Constable at a more strategic level, and did not get involved in local police matters.  The PCC was responsible for hiring and – if necessary – dismissing the Chief Constable, and for preparing the Police and Crime Plan, which was renewed each year.

In renewing the Police and Crime Plan, the PCC was looking at four fundamental themes:

a.   victims and witnesses: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough was one of the few areas where the Police, rather than volunteers, ran the victims and witnesses service, which meant that it could be provided throughout the process, including court proceedings. The service would take an allegation without directing that it must be reported as an offence

b.   offenders: the offenders’ hub aimed to keep people out of prison and look at restorative justice, so encouraging offenders actively to apologise and try to make good

c.   communities: Charles Kitchin was the communities lead

d.   transformation: like many public services, the Police were trying to reform and become more effective on reduced funding.  The force was collaborating with neighbouring forces on back office and specialised services, aiming to increase resources to deal with serious crime.  The intention was to maintain the number of officers and PCSOs on frontline duty.  The estate was also being looked at; it was not necessary to have huge central premises, but good buildings were required, with equipment, detention cells fit for purpose, and adequate public access.  The Police were also collaborating with other emergency services across the county, for example, sharing accommodation with the Fire Service in Ely.

The Deputy PCC went on to say that the Police and Crime Survey had shown that people were concerned about burglary, road safety and the low level disruption caused by anti-social behaviour (ASB).  Although people liked to see a police officer on the streets, this was not an effective use of resources, as victims and offenders were not to be found there.

Discussing the Deputy PCC’s report, members

a.   commented that magistrates only sent people to prison as a last resort, usually because other options had failed

b.   suggested that people needed to see familiar police faces on the street so that they would feel confident about supplying information on local lawbreaking to officers; reducing the police network would potentially reduce intelligence network.  The Deputy PCC agreed with the need to have officers to gather intelligence, but said that it was more effective to have them in areas where there were problems; work was being done to see how to deploy people  where they would be more visible

c.   stressed the importance of not cutting behind-the-scenes staff who contributed to prevention work

d.   drew attention to the problems of homeless people being disturbed by Police during the night, meaning that they were too tired to access the services that would help them the next day.  It was important that all services worked together to help people break the poverty cycle.  The Deputy PCC reported that Peterborough  had established a Prevention and Enforcement Service, which combined all the local prevention services with the Police; people welcomed them working together visibly in a single service

e.   expressed disappointment on behalf of residents at the lack of enforcement of the 20mph speed limit.  The Deputy PCC said that it was difficult to seek enforcement on a four-lane road that people had driven down for many years at 30 or 40mph; a physical solution was needed, with roads redesigned.  If the Police were to devote more resources to enforcing the 20mph limit, they would have to reduce some other aspect of their work.  Wendy Blythe (Chair of the Federation of Cambridge Residents’ Associations) commented that the residents’ associations had various ideas for deploying Scandinavian-style solutions, without road signs, but Mr Coles said that this would not be appropriate in all areas.

Antony Carpen submitted a question to the Police and Crime Commissioner:

Please investigate and report back:

·        Costs of equipping officers with sound measuring equipment

·        Feasibility of public using social media to report cars with illegally modified engines.

The Director of Public Engagement and Communication undertook to look into the matter.