I know, as the son of two former Northamptonshire police officers, that crime and anti-social behaviour can have a huge impact on our communities. That is why ensuring that residents feel safe and secure in their homes and on our streets is one of my top ‘Listening Campaign’ priorities.
I have been working with our dedicated local police officers and our Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner, Stephen Mold, to make sure we cut crime and tackle anti-social behaviour.
Together, we have had some real success. Not only is the new police base at the Corby Cube now in operation, but Northamptonshire Police are in the process of recruiting 200 extra officers for the county through the local scheme, but that is set to be further boosted by the Prime Minister’s very welcome commitment to fund 20,000 new officers nationally. This will mean that Northamptonshire will soon have more police officers than it has ever had.
My campaigning on this issue has been informed by your feedback and also through my deliberate effort to get out on patrols with our local police officers, to see first-hand the challenges that they face in identifying and dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour, and to see for myself how best we can support them in their important work. It is that experience that led me to successfully help lead the charge to toughen the penalties for those who assault our brave emergency services workers, and to lobby the Government to put in place the new Policing Covenant. We owe it to those who do so much to keep us safe to do right by them and ensure they have the right protection and the appropriate emotional and wellbeing support.
Our shared objective is simple – we want to see more police officers out on the beat, catching criminals and deterring crime. The recent welcome announcements will undoubtedly help to achieve this, but there is still more to do. That is why I want to hear your views on crime and anti-social behaviour locally so that I can share this feedback with the Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner and local policing leaders, to make sure we get this right.
I would be very grateful for your feedback on this important priority issue.
