People in Staffordshire are being urged to step forward to join new independent panels to influence policing at the most local level in their communities.
The Safer Neighbour Panels will be launched in February by Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis to help hold local police commanders to account.
The local panels follow the success of the Ethics, Transparency and Audit Panel (ETAP). The ETAP was established as an overarching panel for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent as part of the Commissioner’s ambition to make policing in Staffordshire the most open, transparent and ethical in the country.
Local residents will be central to the panels which will launch in February in three pilot areas – South Staffordshire, Staffordshire Moorlands and Cannock – after those councils successfully bid to become early adopters. Other panels are planned in the rest of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent over the coming months.
People who are interested should email junaid.gharda@staffordshire.pcc.pnn.gov.uk or sign up at http://www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/safer-neighbourhood-panels/
The panels will be made up of residents, local councillors and magistrates and will meet regularly with their area’s local policing commander. They will influence local policing and community safety, scrutinise the work done by police in the area, give feedback to their community and examine the impact of community resolutions and restorative justice where they live.
Mr Ellis said: “Police in Staffordshire already undergo the toughest scrutiny ever through the independent ETAP which has shone the spotlight on key areas like crime recording and complements the rigorous performance management from my office.
“This approach will be extended through the first Safer Neighbourhood Panels which will see local people putting policing under the microscope in their communities.
“It is a real opportunity for local people to play a part in holding all responsible for policing their area to account and I’d urge residents to get involved.
“The panels will act as a sounding board for how policing works and make communities better connected than at any time before.”
Panels will be co-ordinated by the local council in each area but have the freedom to decide how they operate according to local needs.
Chief Constable Jane Sawyers, from Staffordshire Police, said: “We welcome the scrutiny of Staffordshire Police’s neighbourhood policing through the implementation of Safer Neighbourhood Panels.
“Through the Commissioner’s new panels we will be more open and accountable to local people than ever before and communities are encouraged to get involved to find out how we’re policing their local area.
“We’re always looking for new ways to be accessible in the communities we serve and these panels will allow local people to help shape how policing is delivered in their area.”
