Our excellent Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, Roger Hirst, needs your views on funding policing priorities for Essex to make sure they reflect the needs of the communities they serve.
Roger says, "Over the last three years we have secured substantially more funding for policing and been able to increase funds locally to increase the number of police officers. By March 2021 there will be 519 more officers in Essex than there were in 2018, 384 of them as a result of the increase in the local Council Tax precept and efficiencies achieved by Essex Police, and 135 from the national police uplift programme. Taking into account recent investments in technology and improved efficiency this will make Essex Police as strong as it has ever been. We’ve seen a reduction in recorded crime over the last year, with over 9,000 fewer offences recorded and, importantly, fewer victims of crime between September 2019 and September 2020, compared to the year before. Even before COVID we were seeing significant reductions in burglary, theft and anti-social behaviour."
Previously the PFCC's office asked residents what their priorities were, and their answers were reflected in the recent Police and Crime Plan Extension which you can read here. Since then there has been heavy investment in local, accessible and visible policing, reducing anti-social behaviour, helping protect vulnerable children and adults from harm and reducing serious harm on our roads working with our partners at the Safer Essex Roads Partnership. As you may have seen on the TV recently, Essex Police is doing great work in tackling gangs and organised crime as well as helping to break the cycle of domestic abuse.
Roger Hirst knows this is a difficult financial time for residents and any plans to increase council tax to help pay for policing must be considered very carefully. You can take part in the survey about the Council Tax Precept here
The survey will be open until Sunday, December 20th at midnight.
Picture: Alex Burghart MP with Chief Constable BJ Harrington on patrol in Brentwood. Photo Credit: Ian Davidson
