During Volunteers Week, Sarah Arnold, who has been a member and volunteer with the Youth Commission since December 2017, gives an insight into what it means to volunteer as a Youth Commission member. 

The Police and Crime Commissioner was delighted to hold his annual Safer Together event on 18 May; this year it took place at Cascades Shopping Centre in Portsmouth. The event brought together 14 local partners, who deliver commissioned projects that support the vulnerable, work with those at risk of offending and help victims of crime.

As Police and Crime Commissioner, I and Hampshire Constabulary continue to work closely with the National Crime Agency to tackle and prevent serious and organised crime and to support victims of it. And I continue to fight for the right funding to deliver the modern policing response that this complex and rapidly evolving type of crime requires.

Policing, the Criminal Justice System, support and intervention services all have to move and adapt with the changing nature of crime. But how do we know we are making the right decisions when it comes to shaping and investing in services or influencing policies?

This week is National Stalking Awareness Week – an important week that helps shine a light on the blight that stalking and harassment brings to too many lives. This is vulnerability and risk that I and other PCCs have worked to mitigate, putting in place measures that protect and support victims.

Since the Police and Crime Commissioner first commissioned a Restorative Justice (RJ) service across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton in 2016, the number of people contacting or being referred to the service has been rising steadily. But should it really be used for any crime type, including domestic and sexual abuse cases?

Earlier this month, on 5 March, Police and Crime Commissioner Michael Lane and young people from the PCC’s Youth Commission and the Constabulary’s police cadet scheme buried a time capsule at the new Eastern Police Investigation Centre (PIC) in Portsmouth. Youth Commission members Faith, Casey and Marcia have written about what they put into the time capsule and why.

With the current national debate on the rise of knife crime, and with the press full of stories of violence, I understand that people may be concerned about safety here in their local area.

Keeping the Public Informed: Every household in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton will this month receive a leaflet with their council tax bill for 2019/20 that explains how the policing budget is spent.

Today is International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM introduced by the United Nations 16 years ago. The policing response has developed considerably in Hampshire, developing partnership working through awareness training to equip those frontline services dealing with families to prevent Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Having heard the Policing Minister’s announcement in the House of Commons, I wanted immediately to welcome the Police Funding Settlement for next year – 2019/20 – announced by the Government in parliament.

This is an important week for keeping us all SAFER, since we have been promised by Government to receive details of the financial settlement and options for setting the policing element of the council tax.

I recently had someone say to me that they thought of criminal defence work like ‘drain cleaning’ – a horrible job but someone has to do it!  I like to think that I managed to persuade him that actually it was an extremely fulfilling job but he was right about one thing; someone does have […]

My name is Joanne Jakymec, and I am the Chief Crown Prosecutor for Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Wessex, which covers Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Dorset and Wiltshire.  

A couple of weeks ago, a survey of 2,100 people, commissioned by various associations of legal professionals, found that Justice is as important to most people as health and education, but also revealed an alarmingly widespread belief that justice favours the wealthy. As a Chief Constable, whose service is delivered for all ‘without fear or favour’, this made me reflect.

Many people will know that the Police and Crime Commissioner works closely with policing but the role beyond policing is sometimes less well known. This beyond policing role not only refers to the commissioned services he funds to support those affected by crime but also to the work with partners across the local justice system.

Ahead of Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, Police and Crime Commissioner Michael Lane has recorded a video message to honour those that have fallen in the duty of serving our country.

Policing is under significant pressure, with operational demand rising and resources being stretched due to prolonged underfunding. The question of what police should focus on has become topical again following the APCC & NPCC Partnership Summit this week.

Anja Kimberley looks at how the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office consults and gathers views. Consultation is more than just asking questions, it’s listening and taking action, this two-way feedback system is essential, though cannot be done in isolation. Working with our partners is key to reaching as many individuals as we can, with everyone’s overall aim of keeping residents safer.

My core purpose is to add value to keeping all those I serve SAFER. Sustaining, enhancing, changing and transforming our approaches to keeping us safer and in that common purpose enabling operationally effective policing that continues to defeat those who commit crime and wish us harm – this expands that single word ‘SAFER’.