Hi everybody. Well, what a busy six weeks! I thought I’d update you on a few things that have happened. Some expected, some not.
The Budget
The Chancellors Autumn statement changed Dorset Police’s predicted financial picture dramatically….an extension of the recession to 2018 and the veiled suggestion of cuts of 2-3 % in two years time was a wake up call, and that’s before we receive the next Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) coming soon. Added to that is the whole issue of service profile in the Force. What I mean by that is the span across the organisation of length of service. The Force hasn’t recruited since 2010. If we assume that we cannot afford to recruit when the organisation is shrinking under austerity cuts, the end result will be an imbalance of officers young in service. For example, if we didn’t recruit until 2018, there would be no officer in the team with less than 8 years service. And that’s not good for the service or the public. A difficult quandary.
Let me know your thoughts?
The new Chief Constable
The Chief Constable recruitment process rolls on. We have four candidates and I look forward to hiring a new Chief shortly. A crucial role for Dorset.
A PCC Advocate?
I am currently exploring the creation of a PCC advocate role. Don’t confuse this with a Deputy PCC or Assistant PCC. I am one of four PCC’s nationally who has said no to that concept. I am exploring a voluntary role where an advocate represents myself and the public on community issues in a given area. There are many community issues which affect the county we live in. I call binge drinking a “Community Issue”, just as I call the regeneration of Boscombe as a “Community Issue” too…and Boscombe isn’t the only area. Littlemoor and other areas are also a challenge.
I cannot be everywhere all the time and I have found very quickly that “Community Issues” are complex multi agency challenges that need a lot of work. Hence my idea of creating an advocate. This role would be officially advertised and a range of candidates interviewed.
The chosen person would be well versed on community issues and be able to drive things forward. They would facilitate negotiation on my behalf and for the people of Dorset.
Let me know your thoughts?
Mental Health Issues
I was aware of the many challenges to the role of the PCC, before taking office. The one that surprised me however, was the mental health issue. The Dorset Force spend thousands of hours a year dealing with people who need help.
People who are in crisis need to be kept in a “place of safety” and assessed, to see what help they need. Currently, the usual “place of safety” in Dorset is a police custody centre and assessment of these people can take many hours. Is a police cell the best place for someone in crisis? I don’t think so, and neither does anyone else I speak to. Surely this is the responsibility of the health professionals?
Other areas of the country see the health authorities take the lead, with properly designated “places of safety” where professionals meet the needs of people in crisis without involving the police. Clearly the police do get involved sometimes, especially if the person is in crisis in a public place or attempting suicide, but their involvement would stop once they arrived at a Health Place of Safety?
Apart from properly meeting the complex needs of people in crisis, this debate is also about allowing our police team to concentrate on the many other issues they face on your behalf across Dorset.
Let me know your thoughts?
The Probation Service Review
Some of you may have seen my tweets on this, or heard me on BBC Radio Solent speaking about this. The Government have announced two keys changes to the way the Probation Service work.
The first is extending their work to include people sentenced to 12 months imprisonment or less, and promoting “mentoring” of offenders in the community. I welcome both of these initiatives. My manifesto identified mentoring in Dorset as the way forward.
It’s the second proposal that really concerns me. The Government want to break up the Probation Service and outsource the supervision of low and medium risk offenders to private companies who will be paid by results (PBR). I consider this worrying for the following reasons:
1. There are currently pilots underway examining this approach. They haven’t finished and haven’t been evaluated. Why the rush?
2. The assessment of an offender is dynamic. A low risk offender today could be high risk tomorrow. How will that work? Suddenly moving an offender between agencies because of a change in risk attracts blockage, communication could fail, information sharing may not work. The public could be put at risk. Let’s not forget that Roy Whiting, who murdered Sarah Payne, was classified as a medium risk offender when he killed. Medium risk can still be a significant risk to the public.
3. How will Dorset Police fit into this? The Force currently work in synergy and partnership with one agency, Probation, to keep you safe. How will this affect the amount of police resources needed. How will a private company share information with other agencies including police?
Now I support a multi agency approach to offender management. Mentoring does exactly that. But my way forward always had the Probation Service at the helm where one agency oversees risk and harm.
I am very concerned by this privatisation approach and I worry it is being rushed. You cannot rush supervision of one of the most volatile group of people who can place the public at risk.
Let me know your views?
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Kind regards
Martyn
