Restoring Trust and Confidence

It’s time for change

In my role as a district Councillor and in my day job in road safety, I listen to people across Norfolk and hear their concerns. About the number of people dying on our roads. About our lack of faith that if something should happen to us, the police will respond quickly. Above all, that we can trust the police on our streets to look after us when we need it.

We all know about the horrific acts of violence against Sarah Everard, and that her killer should never have been a police officer. The hard truth is that he was not simply a “bad apple”. The inquiry into Sarah’s death has found that there is a cultural issue in the police more widely which urgently needs addressing.

This has to change. And the need for change is the main reason I am standing as Labour’s candidate for Norfolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner.

The Tories have failed

Swingeing cuts to policing and the reduction in funding of services means that there has been a collapse in law and order in recent years. In Norfolk there is more violent crime and about 1 in 5 incidents reported are of violence against women or girls.  

As a result, the police do not necessarily have the resources they need, there is low trust in our police, and many people are not confident that if they were to be the victim of crime, justice would be done.

This has to change, both for all of us who rely on the police to keep us safe, and for the people who work in the police force who take pride in doing their job well and who deserve our trust and confidence.

A long term plan

Labour has a mission to reform prevention, policing and the criminal justice system. As Labour’s candidate for PCC, this is a mission I share. It is no good chasing short term solutions for the sake of a headline. Instead, I will focus on:

  • Prevention of crimes in the first place, working with organisations and public services to provide stronger and earlier interventions.

  • Safer streets will include policing rooted in our communities with more community engagement with our neighbourhood police.

  • I will encourage the use of technologies to speed up detection, focusing on best practice, and taking a strategic and creative approach to solving crimes.  

More than ever, we need change. We need better approaches to protect and safeguard our communities. And we need trust and confidence in our police.