Cllr Chris Vobe
POLICE and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer says he is pleased with the outcome of a meeting with councillors at Warrington to discuss changes made to policing in the borough introduced earlier this summer.
However, the councillors say they are “not convinced” by the answers they received from the Commissioner and will continue to keep a close watch on the way the new policing system is working.
Mr Dwyer met with a group of councillors – including councillors Chris Vobe, Russ Bowden and Mary Greenslade, who have all been critical of the changes.
He said: “I’m pleased that councillors took up my invitation to sit down and talk about this in greater detail so they are able to fully understand the purpose of the changes to local policing and the benefits the Chief Constable and I believe it will bringing to our communities – not just in Warrington, but across the county.
“I called this meeting to quash some of the misinformation and inaccuracies that have been put out – often without any evidence to support them.
“In the last year we’ve seen crime rates at the lowest rate for a generation; detection rates rising; fewer victims of crime; and public confidence at nearly 90 per cent. Going forward I’m committing considerable resources in frontline policing, including a recruitment programme which means we’ll have 53 extra officers in force by April with 130 additional officers on the frontline.
“Despite tough national budget settlements over the last five years we’re maintaining our commitment to neighbourhood policing and the 220 PCSOs that underpin this; and we have some of the highest numbers of volunteers we’ve ever had.
“The new policing model introduced in early July was an operational decision by the Chief Constable which I’ve supported and is based on a detailed pilot in Ellesmere Port.”
Eight new Local Policing Units bring together staff involved in responding to calls, neighbourhood problem solving, intelligence officers and investigators. The teams begin their shifts with a coordinated briefing, enabling officers and staff to share their knowledge and maximise opportunities for working across teams, and ensuring the right team are sent to deal with incidents at the earliest opportunity.
Detailed work was carried out to ensure the move to bring staff together at the beginning of the shift in this way adds value to their work and delivers more visible patrol time in communities. Time spent travelling between booking on stations and beats has been looked at, and will be kept under review.
Mr Dwyer Dwyer added: “We have also put in place local community bases for officers to work from and this autumn we will be rolling out mobile technology that will make it easier for officers to do their job and increase their visibility with the public.
“This new model aims to make officers more visible and accessible to their communities in line with the Chief Constable’s ‘We’re Here’ Commitments and the priorities I laid out in my Police and Crime Plan.
“I thought it was a fruitful meeting, I was pleased to hear positive feedback about the work of local officers and I felt it was a great opportunity to discuss and explain a model of policing which will deliver benefits to the whole of Cheshire.”
Cllr Vobe, who represents the Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft areas of Warrington, said it was important to recognise and applaud the work that PCSOs and police officers carried out in the community.
The Commissioner tried to pretend he was divorced from politics, but he was an elected Conservative representative, implementing a Conservative manifesto and holding back from announcing the changes until after the General Election.
Cllr Vobe said: “Concern still exists throughout the East Area that Risley police station is under threat. The Commissioner denies that the station will close, but cannot guarantee its future in the long term – particularly when he acknowledges that there are even deeper cuts to policing to come. In the meantime, residents are left with a great deal of uncertainty.
“We are certainly not persuaded by the Commissioner’s refusal to use digital technology to its maximum potential. Information and intelligence is extremely important in policing, but we are now in the 21st century. Collecting dozens of people together in one room in a central location is surely not the most expedient way of doing this. The Commissioner steadfastly refuses to explore the use of new technology to brief officers in outlying areas by videolink. He insists they must travel into the town centre and then out again. This will not satisfy the people we represent, who are deeply concerned about this aspect of his plans.”
Cllr Vobe added: “We will not let this matter rest. As local councillors, we will continue to hold the Commissioner to account and monitor the effect that these changes have on officer time in our communities”.
