Police will ‘maximise their visibility’, vows Matthews

KNIFE CRIME, DRUGS AND SAFETY OF WOMEN ARE TOP PRIORITY

KNIFE crime, drugs and violence against women have been highlighted as top priorities for Leicestershire Police in a new crime-fighting plan.

The Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC) priorities for the coming years are set out under the slogan of “more policing is good, better policing is better”.

In Leicester, there will be a focus on reducing crime and violence related to the night-time economy; working with partner organisations to make people feel safer on public transport; reducing “the scourge of drug misuse and the trafficking of drugs into our city” and lobbying for tougher knife crime sentencing.

In rural areas, the Police and Crime Plan contains a commitment to tackle hare-coursing, farm robberies and fly-tipping, as well as crimes against businesses, such as theft and cyber-attacks.

The plan – now approved by the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Panel – sets out commissioner Rupert Matthews’ priorities and ambitions up to 2025.

He has pledged to “put more police into our communities” and “ensure the police adopt tactics to maximise their visibility”. To achieve this, the force will recruit more officers of diverse backgrounds from local communities, who will be dedicated to those communities.

It will also ensure there are more officers and staff “routinely working in and around schools, universities, youth clubs, festivals and places where groups of people gather”.

Mr Matthews has also pledged to reopen a police station accessible to the public in Rutland. He said: “For far too long the debate over policing has been dominated by talk of inputs, not of outputs.

“I will expect tangible outcomes to the investment in policing and the wider criminal justice system.

“We could double or even treble the number of police officers, but if they do not have the infrastructure to deliver high-quality policing such as cars, radios and computers to promote agile working they would not be very effective in fighting the modern criminal.

“Leicestershire Police is already a highly regarded police force. But that does not mean that it cannot get better and strive to be one of the top performing forces in the country.”