Home Secretary welcomed to College by Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner

Posted Tuesday 21st May 2024

Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, welcomed the Home Secretary, the Right Honourable James Cleverly MP, to the Essex Police College in Chelmsford yesterday.

The visit was to mark the one-year anniversary of the national Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce.

Home Secretary James Cleverly visits Essex Police HQ and College.

The Home Secretary was in Essex as force figures showed the Essex Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) made more than 600 arrests or suspect interviews for sexual offences and online child abuse and secured 424 charges – the most of any force anywhere in the UK.

Roger Hirst said: “Once again the excellent work of Essex Police and all our partners in tackling these dreadful crimes is recognised at the highest levels of Government. The very latest year-on-year figures to the end of March show sexual offences in Essex are down by 11.3%.

“But this is just a start. My priorities are to work with the court service for more Protection Orders to be put in place and also to work with the prison and probation service to manage offenders and prevent harm to children.

“I will continue to work with all community safety partners and Essex Police to reduce all crime from the yearly figure of March 2024 by a further 40% over the next few years.”