I am pleased that we have a Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner dedicated to keeping our communities safe from crime, and our emergency services fully equipped. We now have more officers patrolling our streets than ever before, and have invested in additional firefighters, with the largest recruitment for 10 years.
The Police, Fire and Crime Plan for 2021 lays out the PFCC priorities for creating a safer county, and how Northants Police and Northants Fire and Rescue will work together to achieve this.
The five priorities include:
Prevention to keep the county safe
- Doubling the size of the Automatic Number Plate Recognition network around the county, extending into more rural areas
- Additional CCTV in parts of Northampton where crime was highest
- Invest in target hardening schemes in areas of the highest risk to reduce crime
- Increase fire prevention activities
Effective and efficient response
- Continue recruitment to ensure a force of 1,500 officers by 2023
- Focus on crimes such as burglary, vehicle crime and anti-social behaviour
- Increase time that Police Officers and PCSOs spend in the local community
- Focus on violence against women and girls
- Invest in a community road safety fund to support communities in addressing local road safety concerns
Protect and support those who are vulnerable
- Deliver robust enforcement and awareness campaigns to reduce the number of knives on our streets
- Reduce harm from domestic abuse, pursuing perpetrators, supporting victims and using rehabilitation and prevention programmes to improve positive outcome for victims
- Continue to invest in support for families to reduce exclusions from school, involvement in crime and to mitigate the impact of domestic incidents
- Continue to invest in provision for young people, to prevent them from becoming involved in, or victims of, crime with a specific focus on the impact of knife related crime
- Work with housing providers, developers, and business to minimise risk and keep people safe
Modern services that are fit for the future
- Develop a culture of learning that delivers continuous improvement in services
- Make sure that both organisations have access to technology giving them the best data to inform service delivery
- Respond positively to the new risks arising from climate change, including flooding and wildfire, through training and in our equipment
- Ensure greater, and more effective, collaboration between both services to maximise effectiveness and efficiency
Effective justice
- Increasing positive outcome rates for victims of crime
- Ensure that enforcement activity in relation to fire safety legislation prioritises public safety
- Develop a range of evidence-based initiatives to intervene early to prevent offending, and to deter reoffending
- Invest in activities to reduce the risks posed by serial or repeat offenders
To read the plan in full, click here:
You are all invited to take part in the consultation, to give your view on the plan and if you think it will deliver what is important to you and your community. I encourage all of you to have you say: Police, Fire and Crime Plan Consultation Survey (surveymonkey.co.uk)
The survey will close on Sunday 7th November 2021.