Community Safety

A Safe county

Crucial to the recovery from Covid19 will be the day-time and night-time economy (NTE).  Businesses operating in our villages, towns and city will need all the support they can get to rise from the clutches of Covid-19 and individuals and our communities must feel safe and secure when out working, shopping and socialising. Policing the NTE in our main urban areas must be based on the needs of those communities and, again, will benefit from close working with partners in the leisure and entertainment sector and other key stakeholders including Street Pastors, Guardians, Night Safe, taxi wardens, Pub Watch and Business Crime Reduction Partnerships.

Since 2012, the OPCC has developed a very strong working relationship with the voluntary and community sectors and I will continue to commit 1% of the policing budget through the Commissioner’s Fund to continue this good work. Local communities have a key role to play in supporting policing in our county. I want the police to embed that thinking into its future planning by further developing community based schemes like Neighbourhood Watch, Community Speedwatch, Paws on Patrol, Business Crime Reduction partnerships and other like-minded initiatives.

Under ‘Safer days and nights’, I also want to see an equal focus on anti-social behaviour (ASB), which far too often I hear referred to as ‘low level’. This diminishes the impact the drip effect of ASB can have on individuals and communities. There are powers to deal with ASB from environmental to neighbourhood disputes. These powers sit with local councils and housing providers, we will support them in their efforts to tackle ASB which falls within their remit, whilst the police will focus their attention on the ASB that they can influence particularly those behaviours that lead to criminality.

It’s right to acknowledge that the police, councils and housing providers have done much to address ASB across the county and I want to support this with a coordinated approach through Safer Gloucestershire. This will help us identify not only best practice but also areas for improvement and ensure that those experiencing or dealing with ASB receive the best support. We’ve already commissioned a dedicated ASB worker as part of our wider victims’ service commissioning contract to support this work.

Above all, over the course of this Police and Crime Plan, I want the police to maintain a strong visible presence in our communities and continue to build on it in the future.

At a glance: Safer Days and Nights

  • Safer days and nights is about community safety it its widest sense, working with partners and local communities, to keep Gloucestershire safe
  • Statutory, voluntary and community groups will be encouraged to work together to protect and support local communities as they have done during the pandemic
  • The Constabulary will develop a properly costed five-year plan for growing its capacity and capability to meet current and future demands
  • The Constabulary will continue to develop strong partnership relationships with voluntary, community, public and private sectors and with local communities
  • The Constabulary and the OPCC remain committed to harnessing the power of volunteers in policing, and we fully support the moves within the Constabulary to develop the Citizens in Policing agenda with dedicated resources, training and opportunities
  • The OPCC and Constabulary will continue to commit 1% of the policing budget in Gloucestershire through the Commissioner’s Fund to continue the good work the voluntary and community sectors
  • Policing of the night-time economy (NTE) will be based on the needs of local communities and in conjunction with stakeholders in the leisure and entertainment sector and other key partners including Street Pastors, Guardians, Night Safe, taxi wardens, Pub Watch and Business Crime Reduction Partnerships
  • The Constabulary will work with partners to identify the best means of tackling anti-social behaviour at a county level whist ensuring prioritisation is given by the police in tackling those behaviours that lead to criminality
  • Because prevention is better than cure, I want the Constabulary to develop a more innovative approach to crime prevention working with partners to build on the good work already being done across the county, including community based schemes like Neighbourhood Watch, Community Speedwatch, Paws on Patrol and Business Crime Reduction partnerships
  • The Constabulary will maintain a strong, visible police presence in our communities and continue to build on it in the future.