After 2 local Soroptimists, Pat Caulton and Christine White, went to meet him a few months ago, Simon Hayes paid a return visit and addressed the club and guests. He outlined the role of a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), established by the Police and Social Responsibilities Act 2011, and his interpretation of that role since his election to the post on 15 November 2012.
On appointment the Commissioner was required by law to produce a Police and Crime Plan, setting out how he is going to deliver on the pledges he made when he was elected, and how he will ensure the counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are going to be safer communities for everyone. Simon’s main priorities are:
1. improve frontline policing to deter criminals and keep communities safe
2. place victims and witnesses at the heart of policing and the wider criminal justice system
3. work together to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in the community
4. reduce re-offending
Further details can be found in the Police and Crime Plan-2013-2017-Summary
The Commissioner is responsible for a £320m budget and his intention is to maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of the police within the financial constraints imposed. He sees his role primarily as trying to bring about social change by working with other public bodies to bring this about. However, these are times of austerity when the police budget was cut by £55m over the past four years and a further £25m over the next two years; so he is having to find ways of doing more with less. As a result the police are sharing back office services with the fire service and Hampshire County Council. Some police premises are being sold and the staff relocated and some other services are being provided in collaboration with other police forces, for example, the dog division and fire arms support. There had been a reduction in police numbers of 535 bringing the number of police officers down to 1990 levels when the type of crime was not as complicated or sophisticated. He said that “the public expect more of our police and I worry about what policing will look like in two or three years time.”
Simon responded to a number of questions from the audience. He was asked, firstly, what is being done in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to prevent the child sexual abuse uncovered in Rotherham. He said that a review was being carried out in conjunction with Social Services from the four council areas to review child sex abuse cases reported between 1997 and 2013. He believed that there had been cases of organised abuse but we need to know what happened in the past to be able to deal with it in the future. He said he did not see it as a race issue; there needed to be a multi-disciplinary approach and an understanding of the lives of those young people which enables them to be groomed.
Next he was asked how he had made a difference in the way in which people with mental illness are treated. He said that often the behaviour of people with mental health issues was seen as aggressive, they don’t respond to reason and, consequently, the situation escalates. A pilot study was being undertaken on the Isle of Wight whereby a mental health practitioner was on patrol with the police to assess individuals and ensure they were dealt with appropriately. This approach had reduced the number of people with mental health issues being taken into custody over a six month period. Funding had been made available for a further six months and pilots would be run across the region.
Of particular interest to Soroptimists is the way in which women offenders were treated. Simon said little progress had been made but he was going to visit a women’s centre in Camden to see how they approach the matter. Although he saw it as an important issue, there was not the money to do anything yet.
It was clear that funding is a huge issue and that the police had to prioritise where they were going to focus their resources. The public would like to have police officers patrolling the streets, rural communities would like to see the police dealing with their problems but the reality is that the use of resources had to be focused in the areas where they would make most impact in reducing serious crime. “It is always a balance”.