Dear All,
Since being elected, I have met with 99 Town and Parish Councils online, attended four Parish Council meetings, and a Full Council meeting at each of our three local authorities. In addition to my weekly visit to commissioned partners and organisations, I have held six Community Engagement meetings across the county so far, and been on patrol duties with our officers.
At a recent Annual Parish Council meeting organised by my office which was attended by Senior Leadership Team from Bedfordshire Police, I shared the following with councillors:
Community Policing Plan
As part of my Police and Crime Plan, priority number one is ‘investment in community-based and community-led policing for rural and urban areas’.
Together, the Chief Constable Garry Forsyth and I are committed to focussing on ‘proactive policing’. Residents have told me they want to see more of a visible, proactive, problem-solving police presence in our communities.
It is therefore my responsibility to hold the Chief Constable accountable for delivering on the people’s policing priorities.
In response to this, we have increased the level of visibility in areas of Bedfordshire to:
• 67 Community Police Officers
• 51 PCSOs
• 14 Sergeants
I recognise there is still more to do in tackling speeding, drug dealing and anti-social behaviour. However, I need to ask your help in continuing to provide us with data and activity about crimes. This helps with the deployment of officers. To report a crime, you can do so by calling 101 or anonymously by contacting Crimestoppers.
Early intervention and prevention
A big focus of mine is early intervention. One of my campaign pledges was to roll out ‘Out of Court Disposal Orders’ which allow officers to refer low risk, persistent offenders to local support services.
What this means is, we keep persistent offenders outside of the criminal justice system while referring them to support services to deal with issues such as drug and alcohol addiction as a condition of the order. Since launching this, I am pleased to say 100% of those referred so far have not re-offended since the scheme started.
This frees up police time, saves tax-payers money and reduces repeat victimisation of our residents.
I’ve also been spending lots of time at schools across the county and have weekly visits in my diary. I believe it is important for young people to have a positive understanding about policing and know that they have power to make positive choices.
We will be holding our inaugural Bedfordshire-wide schools debating competition in November 2021 for 15-18 year olds. This will create opportunities for developing confidence, critical thinking and life skills.
Plans are also well under way for the Summer of Fun 2022 initiative which is part of investing in early intervention programmes to safeguard our young people, encourage healthy choices and improve self-esteem.
I am also investing money to tackle domestic abuse and sexual violence by focussing on perpetrators, while changing the narrative from advising victims on personal safety.
Force Control room
I am working with the Force to invest in the effectiveness of the Force Control Room.
They are the first point of contact along with the Community Policing team. We’ve recruited nine new members recently with almost 20 police officers providing expert support. By April 2022 we will be above our establishment level for the first time in several years.
I will be reviewing this towards the end of the financial year to see what more can be done to improve retention and quality of service to the public.
Speed Watch volunteers
Our speed watch team is currently looking for more volunteers. Speed Watch is a fantastic, educational scheme aimed at raising awareness of speed restrictions and road safety. Those captured speeding receive a warning letter from Bedfordshire Police and persistent offenders’ details are passed to our local policing team for further action. If you’re interested you can email WatchSchemes@bedfordshire.pnn.police.uk
I remain optimistic about the future of Bedfordshire Police and our plans to cut crime, prevent harm and protect victims. Our concerted effort on tackling crime as well as its root causes will pay off.
As ever, if you’d like to get in touch, you can contact my office by calling 01234 842064 or by emailing pcc@bedfordshire.pnn.police.uk
Festus Akinbusoye
Police and Crime Commissioner – Bedfordshire
