A new independent panel that sees local people examine and shape the work of policing in Stafford and Stone met for the first time on Wednesday, 9 December.
The Safer Neighbourhood Panels were 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 examine, challenge and influence the work of police at a local level and hold Local Policing Team Commanders to account as well as looking at wider criminal justice and community safety issues in their area.
The Stafford panel had its first meeting on Wednesday at the Civic Offices in Stafford town centre.
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: “Safer Neighbourhood Panels which are being established in more and more areas are carrying out vital work. They provide challenge where challenge is needed looking at local policing is operating and impacts the communities where panel members live.
“The new spotlight on local policing performance that Safer Neighbourhood Panels 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 visible, neighbourhood policing is increasing over coming months and we’re establishing these new panels.”
Councillor Jeremy Pert, Cabinet Member for Communities at Stafford Borough Council, said: “This is a great opportunity for people in our local communities to be invol ved in improving the safety and quality of life in their areas, on issues that matter for their local communities. It is the members of the community who are well placed to highlight and offer advice about local concerns and I encourage anyone interested to find our more and get involved. It can be really rewarding.
“The panel has the chance to work with the Local Police Commander and hold them to account where necessary ensuring we have effective policing that is focussed on what matters most to our communities.”
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. Panels began meeting in South Staffordshire, Staffordshire Moorlands and Cannock earlier this year with others launching recently in Lichfield, Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.
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 co-ordinating the work.”
For more information on Safer Neighbourhood Panels and ETAP click here
