‘Vast majority not affected by crime’
SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS PAINT BAD PICTURE, SAYS PCC
THE “vast majority” of residents don’t experience crime, Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner has claimed.
Steve Turner also criticised posts on social media which he said were often lacking facts and made the borough out to be some kind of criminal “despotic” state.
Conservative Mr Turner made the comments at a meeting of the Cleveland Police and Crime Panel, which scrutinises his work.
The PCC said Cleveland Police and his own office weren’t highlighting enough the positive work being done in communities and this was a frustration.
He said: “The vast majority of the public don’t see crime and the vast majority are not taking part in it.”
Mr Turner added: “Where crimes are recorded and reported I aim to make sure they [the police] do their absolute utmost regarding providing exceptional service to the residents of Cleveland. When they do, I don’t think we shout enough about it.”
The PCC himself came under fire over his own use of social media from Redcar and Cleveland councillor Karen King, who suggested he was “reinforcing negative stereotypes” by calling people “Karen” and “Barry” – Karen being a reference to middleclass white women who often complain.
Cllr King said: “In your position is it really appropriate? And this isn’t just because I am a Karen.”
Mr Turner said: “The Office of Police and Crime Commissioner communications, whether on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, whatever, is entirely run by my team and I have no admin rights over it.
“It is never used in that way. My own
personal social media is open to debate by members of the public if they so wish.”
Mr Turner frequently posts on his personal Facebook page about police activity, drawing comment from other users, while his office has approximately 9,156 followers across all social media platforms.
In May in an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service to mark his first year in the job, he said: “Our officers on the ground are as good as any in the country and do great work every single day.
“However, all the public sees, predominantly on social media these days, is the negative things. It’s my mission to shout about the good stuff we do.
“Nine times out of 10 if I put something on social media, it’s because we’ve funded something or done something well. Every time there is a Cleveland Police officer that messes up, that becomes headline news because of the history the force has. If people know about that it’s because we found it and are dealing with it.
“We have earned this reputation, but we have a far better internal reputation I believe than the public gives us credit for and we have just got to get better at getting it out there.”