More local, visible and accessible policing
Essex Police has announced that 150 new police officer posts will be created to fight and prevent crime in communities across the county over the next year.
Jane Gardner, the Deputy Police Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, is delighted to see that the majority of the additional front line police officers will be highly visible and working in the community as part of the local and community policing teams. The areas they are being deployed to also directly support four of the priorities in the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan:
- More local, visible and accessible policing
- Cracking down on anti-social behaviour
- Breaking the cycle of domestic abuse
- Reversing the trend in serious violence
You can find out more about where the officers will be based in your community here:
https://www.essex.police.uk/your-area/
Jane said: “On behalf of the people of Essex we have been working really hard to secure funding for policing both in Essex and nationally. Late last year we successfully secured £450 million for policing nationally and a further commitment for more new funding in 2019-2020.
“As part of this settlement, locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners were able to increase the policing element of local Council Tax by up to £12, or £1 per month for a (Band D) property. We carried out a survey at the end of last year and the overwhelming response from the residents of Essex was that they were prepared to pay more for policing. Following this feedback, which also echoed the view of the hundreds of people who attend our public meetings, we increased the policing element of the Council Tax by an average of £1 per month to respond to the changing nature of crime and provide more local, visible and accessible policing.”
Three-quarters of all the additional money raised through the police element of local Council Tax will be invested in local policing.
Jane added: “I am delighted that the Chief Constable is using this money in the way that the public have said they wanted it used. The people of Essex want more officers on their streets and they want them to see them. Our partners in our local authorities also want to know where the officers will be deployed. We have scrutinized the Chief Constable’s plans for use of the new resource and are confident they are fairly allocated taking into account the levels of need and demand across the different communities of Essex.
I’m also really pleased to see that Chief Executives have been fully briefed on the plans for their local areas.
“Safe and secure communities are the bedrock on which we build well being and prosperity for all. That means communities which are well policed but also where we all play our role in making sure criminals have no scope to thrive, watching out for the vulnerable and helping the police where we can.”
Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh said: “I’ve heard communities across Essex tell me they are hugely grateful for what my officers and staff do but people want to see more of us more often in their communities. I agree with them and my promise has always been that when funding allows we will invest in those local teams to help communities but also give my teams support.”
“Now we can put more cops in communities and give hard working officers dealing with traumatic incidents more support and resilience. Over the last five years I’ve taken officers from local policing teams so they can work on harmful, complex crimes. That was never an easy decision but it was a right one and necessary to protect the people who need us most.”
“I know 150 officers in Essex cannot be the end of the story, though. We still face big challenges and we still have victims of crime who want more of our time than we are able to give. We’ll still have to prioritise our time and make really difficult decisions about the incidents we deal with. But today’s announcement is a start and it makes the thin blue line a good deal less thin in Essex.”
