A new independent panel that will see local people examine and shape the work of policing in Newcastle-under-Lyme met for the first time yesterday, Thursday 1 October.
The Newcastle Safer Neighbourhood Panel was launched under plans by Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Ellis, to shine the spotlight on local policing and make Staffordshire’s Police Service the most open, transparent and ethical in the UK.
The new panels will examine, challenge and shape the work of police at the most local level. They will hold Local Policing Team Commanders to account as well as looking at wider criminal justice and community safety issues in their area.
Panels began meeting in South Staffordshire, Staffordshire Moorlands and Cannock earlier this year with others launching this month in Newcastle, Lichfield and Stafford.
Local residents and councillors sit on the panels with magistrates bringing additional expertise. Panels influence local policing and community safety, scrutinise the work done by police in their area, give feedback to communities and examine the impact of community resolutions and restorative justice.
Mr Ellis said: “The new spotlight on local policing performance that Safer Neighbourhood Panels will bring is invaluable in adding to the rigour my office brings to overseeing policing.
“But it’s more than that. I make no apology for believing that truly local policing, and the public playing a part in influencing that policing, is vital. That’s why Neighbourhood Policing is increasing over coming months and we’re establishing these new panels.”
Councillor Tony Kearon, Newcastle Borough Council Cabinet member for safer communities, added: “I’m delighted with the response to setting up the panel. It is our priority that residents are actively involved in our partnership work to make sure that Newcastle-under-Lyme remains a safe place in which to live, work, study and visit.
“We welcome the opportunity to work with the Police and Crime Commissioner to develop a Safer Neighbourhood Panel for the borough as this complements the work we have already done and will help to ensure that the views and needs of residents remain at the heart of what we do in Newcastle.”
The panels follow the success of the county-wide Ethics, Transparency and Audit Panel (ETAP) which was established by the PCC in 2013. The ETAP is made up of trained members of the public and monitors different aspects of performance and standards in policing across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. ETAP has received national recognition for its work on the police use of Taser, stop and search and crime recording in Staffordshire.
District, boroughs and Stoke-on-Trent City councils are being offered funding by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) to administer the new Safer Neighbourhood Panels on behalf of the PCC.
Mr Ellis added: “There’s a trilogy here which I set out back in 2013. Firstly, effective ‘very local’ oversight by the public of policing.
“Secondly, substantial increases in funding to local councils to help keep their areas safer as well as £2 million extra for community groups to bid through the People Power Fund and Proceeds of Crime Fund supporting simple ideas making areas and people safer.
“Thirdly, helping Staffordshire’s communities to help police in keeping us all safer by promoting and funding services like Crimestoppers and the reinvigorated Neighbourhood Watch with more user friendly real time info, brand new investment and more support from the Staffordshire Police in coordinating the work.”
For more information visit http://www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/safer-neighbourhood-panels/
