LAST week marked 100 days since I took office as your police and crime commissioner, and what a busy period it has been, a whirlwind of an experience.
Every week I meet more of our dedicated police officers and staff on both banks of the Humber, and I am very proud of the job they do.
We need to work hard on our plans in the coming years to make sure they have what they need, so they can do what they joined the police for in the first place, catch criminals, deter crime and keep our communities safe.
I have just published the budget for Humberside Police for the coming year. I am delighted to confirm that you will pay exactly the same for your police as you did last year. At a time when people are finding the recession a tough challenge, the last thing I wanted to do was turn to you, the taxpayer for more money. Instead, I am looking to find more efficient ways of working, and exploring ways of working with other public organisations so we can work smarter, including how we can share buildings, fuel and other resources to give better value for money so we can protect our frontline police.
By far the biggest piece of work has been to produce our Police and Crime Plan, I say "our" plan because it brings together ideas from the public and those we work with in community safety. It sets out my priorities for the police, and my vision for reducing crime over the next few years.
I hope you'll find it ambitious and challenging. I want to secure and continue the great work which has already gone into our police force over the last few years, such as the further development of neighbourhood policing teams, and look for new ways to involve the community to cut crime.
I want to see three main outcomes: reducing crime; protecting the public and improving safety; and improving the quality of service for victims.
Over the next five years, we must make our communities safer. It's not just about the police catching criminals, it's about getting to the causes of crime and stopping people turning to criminal activity in the first place, showing our young people the right path to take. It's about protecting our communities from the most dangerous and prolific offenders, and for the most part we know who and where they are. Above all, it's about reducing the number of victims of crime. That will be the true measure of our success, but we can only do it if we all work together, and I look forward to seeing more examples of how this is happening as I visit our communities every week.
Visit www.humberside- pcc.gov.uk to read more about the police and crime plan. You can email me at pcc@humberside.pnn. police.uk or write to: The police and crime commissioner, Pacific Exchange, 40 High Street, Hull HU1 1PS
