Meeting with the Police and Crime Commissioner of Humberside
Date : Wednesday 3rd October 2018
Location : Driffield Rugby Club
Keith Hunter, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside opened the meeting by stating that he wanted to improve and protect neighbourhood policing, and that it was this mission that he took to national meetings between police commissioners.
He went on to say that it was not his job to represent the police, but that his post was to represent the public, and their interests to the police, by holding the Chief Constable to account for the day to day actions of the police. His role is in victim support, community safety and help to victims of crime, by bringing services together when needed.
Keith went onto say that individual forces are getting less money than stated by the government, even though the government says that it has increased funding to police forces, which it has, but the governments holds back a large amount of that money for ‘just in case’ scenarios.
Humberside gets £175 Million for its police and other agencies, but in 2016 Humberside Police was not living up to expectations, and was one of the lowest performing forces in the country at that time. In an attempt to win back the confidence of communities, Keith Hunter set out to prove the then Chief Constable was not up to the job, and after collecting enough evidence to support that claim was preparing to take it to the Chief Constable when she resigned before he could do so. Along with the Chief Constables departure went all the senior police officers that worked with her. With the introduction of a new Chief Constable and team; Humberside Police have started a recruitment campaign, and are taking on over four hundred new police constables. ‘Neighbourhood policing is back,’ stated Keith Hunter. He also wants to open closed police stations, which in some cases will mean combining their location with those of the ambulance and fires services. The East Yorkshire area is to receive an additional sixty officers.
The commissioner also wants to improve police response priorities and improve response times.
Since his appointment as Police Commissioner, police moral and productivity has rapidly improved, though he did say that the 101 telephone service was beyond his control as it is run nationally, and Humberside Police are not the force that believe the service is failing the public, but it is improving.
The new speed gun role out for public use must be requested by parish councils. Public requests for a speed gun in their area must be submitted via the parish council. It is also possible for parish councils to buy their own speed guns, but until training in their use has been given by the police, to designated users, they cannot be used. There will need to be six people per speed gun team.
Further updates will be disseminated to parish councils via parish clerks, when it is available.
Meeting attended and article contributed by Councillor Steven Southcoat.