Police commissioner’s vision for his third year in office

WARRINGTON-based David Keane, police and crime commissioner for Cheshire, has set out his vision for his third year in office.
The plans include a strong focus on neighbourhood policing and a realignment of his support team; including recruitment of a new chief finance officer following retirement, and the end of the 12 month tenure for the deputy police and crime commissioner Sareda Dirir.
The commissioner will put neighbourhood policing at the forefront of his priorities and will ask the public how PCSOs should spend their working week to ensure they are providing the correct support to protect local communities.
This is part of the commissioner’s budget setting for 2018/19, where he committed to redeploying PCSOs so there is one placed in every community across Cheshire.
Mr Keane said: “PCSOs are an important part of local policing teams across Cheshire and should have more visibility in our communities.
“They should be the ‘eyes and ears’ of local communities, gathering intelligence to deal with complex police issues, whilst providing support to vulnerable residents, and focusing on making our roads safer.”
The restructure of the team will reduce the overall cost of the office, bringing it to its lowest ever level, and the savings will be invested directly into frontline policing.
“Reducing the cost of my office to just 0.4 per cent of the whole Cheshire policing budget will allow me re-invest savings into neighbourhood policing and ensure the right resources are in place to protect the people of Cheshire.”
DPCC Dirir – whose original appointment was criticized because her parents were friends of Mr Keane – will leave the office later this month following the completion of a 12-month contract.
Mr Keane added: “Sareda is an experienced and dedicated public servant and she has been an asset to the team over the last year, helping to support our shared goals.
“She has assisted real and positive changes for this office, including helping secure ‘white ribbon’ and ‘living wage’ employer status.
“Critically, she has also helped drive forward the equality and diversity agenda, and has worked to put Cheshire at the centre of British Policing through hosting the 2017 National Black Police Association Conference.
“I would like to thank Sareda for her dedication in serving the people of Cheshire over the last year, and wish her every success for the future.”
Deputy police and crime commissioner Dirir, said: “I am extremely proud of what we’ve achieved as an office over the last 12 months.
“Together as a team – working with our partners and Cheshire Constabulary – we have developed a number of innovative and collaborative initiatives that are helping make our communities across Cheshire safer.”
There will also be more changes to personnel in the Cheshire OPCC, with the commissioner looking to appoint a new chief finance officer when the current post-holder retires at the end of March.
Mr Keane said: “I have some incredible people working alongside me, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our out-going CFO Liz Lunn for her many years of work delivering for our local communities.
“We are a small and efficient team, and we’ve set out to achieve some incredibly bold ambitions for my third year in office.
“Together, we will drive forward the main priorities of my police and crime plan and that means continuing to build closer relationships with our partners and the wider communities of Cheshire, and ensuring we’re holding the constabulary to account on the key issues that matter.”