‘Bring policing back to the people’

In putting my name forward for this election I was not driven by party political ideology but genuine distress and concern about the way that local policing was going.

In the past four years under the current Commissioner we have had four Chief Constables.  That instability – all brought about by her decisions – has caused morale in the Avon and Somerset Police Force to fall to its lowest ever level.

Violent crime has risen by 32% in the past year alone. Sexual crime has gone up by a further 21% and domestic abuse by 20%.

The Inspector of Constabulary has graded the local force as “Requires Improvement” – the second lowest grading that could have been stated. In particular the quality of investigations of crimes affecting such vulnerable people was not good enough.

Avon and Somerset used to have a fine reputation for dealing with these most difficult areas of criminal abuse. But the specialist teams of detectives and officers dealing with those crimes have all been scrapped under the current Commissioner.

Police stations have been closed right across the area not just in county towns but also in the cities.

People in rural areas believe that the police have no interest in crime in their communities.  People living on the estates in the larger towns and cities tell me that they never see police officers on the beat.

In dealing with the crimes that come to me to prosecute I see the consequences of under funding with good officers with workloads that are just too heavy to manage, being asked to deal with matters without the necessary expertise and without much needed technical resources.

Much of the technology available to our police officers is simply not fit for purpose. They need user-friendly equipment and programs which will assist them in their work.

That all leads me to ask, “What has our Police and Crime Commissioner been doing for the past four years?”

If elected my pledges to the people of Avon and Somerset (and to our police officers) are:

• More officers on the beat – in rural communities, towns, on estates and in the inner cities

• Officers who know their community and where people know them

• Better technology – to allow police officers to work where they are (instead of having to return to the ever dwindling number of police stations)

• Body cameras for all police officers

• The reinstatement of specialist teams – to deal with child abuse, sex offences and domestic violence

Kerry Barker is an experienced criminal barrister who prosecutes cases involving child abuse, sexual offences, ill treatment of vulnerable adults, the elderly and those suffering from dementia. He is currently running for the office of Police and Crime Commissioner in affiliation with the Labour Party.

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