Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis heard about the issues that matter to local people at his first ‘Let’s Talk Saturday’ event in Tamworth.
Supported by Tamworth Borough Council, it was the start of many weekend engagement events by the Commissioner in the heart of communities across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
On Saturday (15 June), he met with local people at a surgery at Tamworth Information Centre where he was joined by Tamworth Borough Council Leader, Councillor Danny Cook.
The Commissioner then had one-to-one conversations with around 70 people at the town’s Asda store. Four hundred leaflets publicising Cars Behind Bars – the crackdown instigated by Mr Ellis on motorists driving without insurance which has seen almost 200 uninsured vehicles seized, some to be scrapped, in just five weeks in Staffordshire – were also handed out.
Mr Ellis said: “Saturday was just the start and it was really useful hearing what people in Tamworth had to say.
“At the surgery we talked about police visibility, the poor experience of a victim of crime and the wider criminal justice system. I’ll be taking up these issues and getting back to people personally. Thank you to Tamworth Borough Council and Cllr Danny Cook for their support with the surgery.
“The people I spoke to at Asda were enthusiastic about the zero tolerance approach of Cars Behind Bars, which is making a real difference by catching law-breakers and dealing with them, and were interested in what we’re doing to improve the police and criminal justice system. I really appreciate the help of Asda staff last Saturday morning.”
Details of further Let’s Talk Saturday events will be announced in the near future as part of a wider engagement plan to make Staffordshire safer and criminal justice services fit the people who use them, rather than people having to fit the services.
