Commissioner’s Priority: Prevent and Tackle Crime

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 prevent and tackle crime.

One of the Commissioner’s main responsibilities is to ensure that the Cheshire Police has the resources it needs, and to hold the Chief Constable to account for how the Constabulary uses those resources to prevent and tackle crime in the county.

In his Plan, the Commissioner outlines how he plans to prevent and tackle crime in Cheshire. This includes:

• Understanding why people commit crimes.
• Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB).
• Tackling property crime, for example, burglary, theft and vehicle crime.
• Disrupting serious and organised crime.
• Preventing violent crime.
• Protecting rural communities, business, and retail communities.
• Tackling cyber crime and online scams.

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire said: “On the whole Cheshire is a very safe county. Both the Chief Constable and I have agreed that we’ll take our Police Officer numbers to the highest level in modern times, 2,345, to provide reassurance to our communities that the resources are there when they’re needed.”

The Constabulary has just finished its Mischief Week campaign, which sees the police tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) hot spots across Cheshire as people use Halloween and Bonfire Night as an excuse to commit ASB. Their enforcement and deterrents demonstrate the zero tolerance approach to this type of crime in the county.

In his Plan, the Commissioner commits to making Cheshire a hostile environment for county lines and organised criminal gangs, and over recent months, Cheshire Constabulary has been working in partnership with neighbouring forces in a bid to tackle them. These operations have been successful with criminals arrested and victims helped and supported.

John Dwyer added: “Preventing and tackling crime is a top priority for the police, but it’s not a job solely for the police. Everyone can get involved at any level. For example, my Community Action Fund provides communities with a channel to apply for funding to help tackle issues in their areas.

“The extra police officers recruited over the coming years will also support the work the Constabulary is doing to prevent and tackle crime. As part of my annual budget I will also ensure that all of our officers, staff and volunteers are well-equipped to tackle all forms of criminality.”

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