Commissioner’s Priority: Delivering Justice for Victims

On 1st November 2021 John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, launched his Police and Crime Plan, outlining his six key priorities for policing, crime and community safety in the county for the next three years. One of these priorities is to deliver justice for victims.

Part of the Commissioner’s role is to commission local support services for victims of crime. Each year he commits more than £1.2 million to fund victims’ services, helping those who have been affected by crime in Cheshire.

In his Plan, the Commissioner outlines how he plans to support victims in the county. This includes:

• Appointing a Victims’ Champion to ensure needs of victims are being met and to improve the confidence of victims with regards to reporting incidents.
• Scrutinising Cheshire Constabulary’s performance against the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime and holding the Chief Constable to account to ensure victims have the support they need through the criminal justice system.
• Ensuring crimes are recorded accurately, improving victim confidence.
• Reducing reoffending by funding programmes which work with offenders to tackle the root causes of crimes.

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire said: “Victims are at the heart of everything I do. I want to empower them to speak out and speak to the police, Crimestoppers or a third party reporting centre so action can be taken to help them.

“Victims having confidence in the police is key, and appointing a Victims’ Champion, as well as scrutinising the performance of the Constabulary, is my way of feeding their voices into the process.”

Work has already been undertaken in this area, and the Commissioner has secured over £847,000 from the Home Office’s Perpetrator Fund to run two programmes to help people involved in domestic abuse. This includes working with the survivor, the perpetrator and their families.

Cheshire CARES (Cope and Recovery Enhanced Service), the country’s first in-house victims’ support service which offers support to every single victim of crime in Cheshire, regardless of whether the incident is reported to police, is one of the services provided by the Commissioner. This and other bespoke services provide wrap around care, helping victims through the process and on the road to recovery.

John Dwyer added: “I’m proud to have established Cheshire CARES during my first term in office and I am committed to doing all I can to help victims of crime.

“By providing multiple support channels for victims we can ensure that they always feel they have somewhere to turn to in Cheshire, and that they have confidence in whatever process they choose to follow.”

To read the Police and Crime Plan 2021-24, go to:

www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/what-i-do/making-cheshire-safer/police-and-crime-plan

To request a hard copy of the Plan, please email:

pcc@cheshire.police.uk