It is vital our communities are not only safe, but feel safe too. I want to make that principle a reality for more people across West Mercia.
I want to ensure our communities can have trust in me as their Commissioner and the police force I hold to account on their behalf. Policing of our communities is by consent and it is important that people trust in our police to do so. People need to be able to engage with both myself and their police to be confident that, respectively, we are visible, accessible, transparent, understanding of local priorities and capable of tackling them effectively.
I will create more opportunities for communities to not only raise local issues, but also play a leading role in resolving them. I want to enable more active citizenship and will ensure people get the tools, training or expertise they need in order to help themselves and their communities. This will include updated and improved use of technology, delivering services and engagement more conveniently via new internet and social media platforms.
I will hold the Chief Constable to account for:
- Ensuring the Police Code of Ethics is embedded within the force’s culture, and is adhered to
- Delivering new online platforms for communicating and engaging with the public and partners, alongside traditional and existing methods
- Proactively publishing information to demonstrate the force is working ethically, and enable good governance
- Ensuring the force is visible and accessible both in communities and online
- Making sure people get an individual response based on their specific needs, and they understand the service they can expect to receive
- Making sure all communities, individuals and staff are treated equally, fairly and respectfully by the force
- Ensuring West Mercia Police complies with the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme
- Working with partners to improve prevention and understanding of cyber crime, ensuring the strategy is fully implemented and emerging threats are tackled
- Making sure voices and priorities are heard and acted on from within our rural communities, via the Rural Matters plan to ensure their specific needs are addressed
- Working with businesses and partners through the Business Matters plan to ensure business crime is addressed effectively.
As your Commissioner I will:
- Make sure police follow custody rules and treat detainees safely and fairly, via an Independent Custody Visitor Scheme
- Develop strategies based on evidence to support the delivery of my key aims and objectives, and ensure the commitments I set out in these strategies are followed through with activity
- I will continue to review, refine and invest in my Communications and Engagement strategy, to ensure I am acting on the views of our community including those of hard to reach and minority communities
- Use my Commissioner’s Ambassador scheme to deliver more engagements, relationships and local links across our communities
- Ensure that the police and partner organisations are active and effective in tackling the issues that are important to our communities
- Involve, engage and empower communities in the delivery of my plan through more opportunities for active citizenship and volunteering
- Be open and transparent in all the decisions and appointments I make and in the way I hold the Chief Constable to account
- Work with the police to publish information arising from recommendations in HMICFRS or other strategic reports.
Together the Chief Constable and I will:
- Work with local people and partners to give visible reassurance on frontline neighbourhood policing.
What I will deliver for West Mercia:
- Increased confidence in local policing and PCC activity
- Communities feel valued, informed and involved
- The force achieves and maintains a minimum rating of ‘good’ in HMICFRS’s PEEL inspections
- Published communication and engagement which makes both myself as your Commissioner and the force more accessible to all communities.
