People want to see more officers in their neighbourhoods, protecting the public and cutting crime –that is why there will be 20,000 extra police keeping us safe over the next three years. A commitment that along with our new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, I will be working to deliver.
Last summer I ran a crime survey for people across Halesowen & Rowley Regis and it was very clear that local residents wanted to see an increase in the number of officers protecting our communities.
The unprecedented drive to deliver 20,000 more frontline police officers will start in September with the launch of a national campaign.
A new national policing board has already met and will bring together key police leaders and hold the police to account for meeting this target and drive the national response to the most pressing issues that affect communities right across the country.
Here in the West Midlands we also have our next Police and Crime Commissioner elections taking place in May. This is an important opportunity for you to have your say. The current Labour PCC is hellbent on closing Halesowen Police Station, having announced its closure several times. I’m glad to say that the Conservatives have selected Jay Singh-Sohal, a local Captain in the Army Reserves, to be our candidate. Jay is committed to freezing and reviewing the closure of Halesowen Police Station with a view to save this important resource.
What will also be important to tackling the recent rise in knife crime is a review of stop and search to give our police the powers they need. As part of ongoing work to tackle serious violence - the Government is urgently reviewing the pilot which makes it simpler for officers to use stop and search powers, with a view to rolling this out across all forces.
Our new Prime Minister has had a flying start, and as a member of his new Government team I’ll be doing all I can to support his commitment to keeping our streets safe.
