A "Five-Point Plan" to tackle crime, proposed by Helen Korfanty
At the Liberal Democrat Suffolk Campaign Conference on Saturday, Helen Korfanty (Liberal Democrat candidate for Police & Crime Commissioner in Suffolk) gave an overview of her campaign plans. She was joined on the platform by Jacky Howe, who is standing as the Lib Dem candidate in Norfolk, and who has gone through the same rigorous selection procedure as Helen.
According to the figures that Helen presented, the new PCC (when elected) will take over the role at a point when total recorded crime in Suffolk increased by 27% in the period to 31st July 2015, with a disproportionately large increase in crimes classed as violence against the person and sexual offences, yet the solved-crime rate fell by 8.8%. This should be set against a backdrop in which, in 2014, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary criticised Suffolk Constabulary for not recording some burglaries, sex offences and other crimes*, which may offset some of the increase in the 2015 figures, as reporting procedures may have been tightened up. However, even allowing for that, the crime rate is increasing under the current regime.
Meanwhile, the Accountability and Performance Panel recently received a report that the Suffolk force had exceeded the baseline in five of its fourteen benchmarks -- glossing over the fact that this means it had failed to reach the baseline in the remaining nine objectives.*
Helen has proposed a five-point plan which she would put into place as PCC in order to tackle crime:
- Prioritise front-line policing, with a visible police presence.
- Better crime prevention.
- More support for victims of crime.
- Real action to prevent re-offending.
- Keep in touch, all year round.
*Facts and figures taken from Helen Korfanty's presentation on 20 February 2016