PCC press briefing 12/2013

18th March 2003

This week’s briefing covers stories from 14 police areas in England and Wales across the following BTP regions:

London North (2): Essex, Hertfordshire
London South (2): Surrey, Sussex
North East (4): Cleveland, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Northumbria
North West (2) : Greater Manchester, Merseyside;
Wales & Western (4): Devon & Cornwall, Gloucestershire Warwickshire, Wiltshire

In this issue:

Top stories this week

Lincolnshire‘s PCC, Alan Hardwick, has suspended his force’s chief constable Neil Rhodes to consider “potential conduct matters”.

  • The Conservative MP for Lincoln, Karl McCartney has written to the Home Secretary to express concern at Rhodes’ suspension. The PCC was elected as an independent. [ITV Calendar]
  • The chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Peter Fahy, has been asked by Hardwick to investigate. [BBC News]
  • The IPCC has said it will not be investigating the chief constable itself. [BBC News]
  • The force’s police federation said secrecy around the suspension of the chief constable is damaging morale and could hurt its reputation. [BBC News]

Surrey has become the second force in the country to break ranks and declare it will offering more than Tom Winsor’s proposed starting salary of £19,000 to new recruits. [Police Oracle]

David Cameron has told MPs he will “deal with” cheap alcohol after reports the government has ditched plans for 45p per unit minimum alcohol pricing. [BBC News]

  • Several PCCs announced their support for minimum pricing, including Devon and Cornwall [Plymouth Herald] and a joint statement from DurhamCleveland and Northumbria. [Northern Echo]

Inter-force collaboration

Hertfordshire‘s PCC has promised savings of more than £100,000 a year from his force’s partnership with the county council. [Herts and Essex Observer]

Criminal gangs who cross county borders will still be caught because police forces working together more closely than ever, Essex‘s PCC has warned. [Maldon Standard]

Other national stories

One of the best-known anonymous police bloggers has ceased writing after seven years, at a time when officers who blog or tweet unofficially are coming under increasing pressure to give up their activities. [The Guardian]

Britain needs to return to “common sense policing” and end the obsession with hitting performance targets, the new head of the Superintendents Association has said. [Daily Telegraph]

By BTP area

London North

Hertfordshire‘s PCC has said he and other PCCs would be better placed to oversee youth justice, rather than central government. [Jack FM]

London South

Antisocial behaviour orders do not work, according to Sussex PCC Katy Bourne. [Crawley News]

Wales and Western

Black and minority ethnic people are twice as likely to be stopped and searched by police in Gloucestershire. [This Is Gloucestershire]

Warwickshire‘s PCC believes his force needs to do more to crack down on business crime. [Coventry Telegraph]

Devon and Cornwall‘s PCC Tony Hogg has today vowed to ensure rural areas are not the poor relation to major cities and towns when it comes to tackling crime. [This Is Devon]

Wiltshire‘s recently-elected police and crime commissioner has praised a volunteer scheme set up to help tackle crime in the county. [BBC News]

North West

Merseyside PCC Jane Kennedy pledged support for local communities in the fight against gun crime after a house was fired on. [Liverpool Echo]

North East

Northamptonshire‘s chief constable is expected to hand additional powers to allow PCSOs to deal with issues such as dangerous parking outside school gates. [Northampton Chronicle & Echo]

A suspended police officer is taking Cleveland Police to an employment tribunal to make a sexual discrimination claim. He says he was overlooked for chief constable despite facing allegations of gross misconduct. [Northern Echo]

Appointments

David Peet has been appointed chief executive for the office of Derbyshire’s PCC. [This Is Derbyshire]