The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire says the force is “successfully delivering” for the people of the county.
In his annual report, Alan Hardwick praised all of the force’s staff and volunteers and said others could learn from the Lincolnshire model.
He also heaped praise on chief constable Neil Rhodes, whom he suspended in 2013 over an employment dispute while Mr Rhodes was temporarily in the role. In his report just published, Mr Hardwick says it is a pleasure to work with Mr Rhodes.
And he insisted that the force will “continue to go from strength to strength”.
“When I took office I gave myself and the force three clear priorities: reducing crime, a fair deal for the people of Lincolnshire and police and services that are there when you need them,” said Mt Hardwick.
“These were not just my priorities, they were what the public wanted to see. Thanks to the efforts of the chief constable, his officers, staff and volunteers, we are successfully delivering for the people of Lincolnshire. It’s been another great year.”
Crime in the county has fallen at a faster rate than the national average and continues to fall.
The police and crime commissioner said said: “Overall recorded crime is down by over 2.1 per cent in the last year and by 23 per cent over the last five years. Not only that, HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary) have graded Lincolnshire Police as good at reducing crime and preventing offending, and good at tackling anti-social behaviour.”
One of Mr Hardwick’s key commitments has been to address the sustainability of Lincolnshire Police’s funding.
He said: “Working towards a fair deal for the people of Lincolnshire has been a real focus for me and the Chief Constable in the last 12 months. HMIC graded us as outstanding in terms of delivering affordable policing.
“We were even commended by the Prime Minister. Ministers are seeing that the Lincolnshire model – affordable, efficient and effective policing – is one that the rest of the police service could learn a thing or two from.”
Turning to Mr Rhodes’ efforts, he said: “We are both engaging with Government in a constructive way to inform the future model for police funding. For me that means not placing any more burden on the Lincolnshire taxpayers who already contribute above the national average in council tax to the costs of policing the county.
“The chief constable has been particularly challenging of those forces that have a long way to go to be as efficient as we are. It’s a pleasure to work with a chief officer who has a passion for not only the future of Lincolnshire Police but also a real vision for how the rest of the service should operate.”
Mr Hardwick was also at pains to highlight the efforts being made to ensure the police’s presence across the county in the face of reduced funding.
“A key commitment from me was to ensure the chief constable had sufficient resources to maintain officer levels at 1,100 and PCSOs at 149, despite our grant from Government being reduced by £3.2million in the last year,” he said.
“Without our people, we simply cannot deliver for our communities. We have continued to see good performance in the force control room in terms of answering and response times and the new thrive model is already proving its worth.
“We are investing in more technology and I know the mobile data project and body worn video will be welcomed. We also continue to play a leading role in the East Midlands region where developments in partnership with other forces are all testament to our commitment to improving how we do things for the good of the county.”
“When I look forward to the coming year, there’s still much to do. We are implementing new services for victims and the chief constable and I are working with colleagues in the other emergency services to look at how we can work ever more closely.
“I know that thanks to the dedication of the entire Lincolnshire Police family, we will continue to go from strength to strength.”
