Commissioner's Blog and Office Update - 11th May

Another week, another blog. Certainly currently there are enough new things happening to ensure these weekly blogs contain enough information that may be of either interest or value to make them worthwhile. I promise I will stop writing and distributing them when that isn’t the case and of course I look forward to that time. I do so, not because I won’t have to take the time to write them but because it will mean things have settled down somewhat and, hopefully, we will be in a position where far fewer people are catching and suffering badly, or dying, from Covid 19. At the moment this remains an ongoing tragedy, with families and friends every day in this region mourning the loss of loved ones because of this new and dangerous health threat.

As I start to write this (last week, now) people are wondering what will be announced in a government statement due on Sunday, in terms of timing and detail relating to a possible relaxation of some aspects of the lockdown. Prior to that we will have seen how the public are continuing to respond to the rules of the lockdown over another bank holiday weekend, this time marking the 75^th anniversary of VE Day. I hope people will celebrate the anniversary of this landmark occasion, when the country emerged victorious from an even greater threat, through stoicism, bravery, huge sacrifice and a massive, coordinated and unprecedented international effort. I also hope people will understand that it is now our turn to show these same virtues and come together with our international partners to defeat the new menace threatening our way of life. In doing so we should all realise that the front line of this battle isn’t on the battlefields, oceans and airspace where our parents and grandparents fought and died for our way of life, it’s now in our hospitals, care homes, public transport, shops and in our communities where many other services, including policing, are attempting to maintain some semblance of normality while also saving lives and protecting us, so we can return again to the way of life we value so much. So, we all need to ‘step up to the plate’ and do our bit for our country as others have done in the past. Let’s have a sense of proportion though; most of us are being asked to stay home to win this battle. Whilst that does, of course, create all sorts of issues, compared to the sacrifice of those celebrated on VE day I would argue it is not too stretching. We should be able to maintain the discipline and good sense shown by the vast majority, so far, for a bit longer to give us the best chance of success. Let’s all stay safe and maintain the rules, in spirit and practice, as they are announced by the government so we emerge from this challenge battered, but as a community that has worked together to overcome.

Adhering to the rules of lockdown remains the single most vital thing that most members of the public can do to contribute to us all being able to benefit from a broader relaxation of the lockdown rules. It is true that a growing number people are questioning the effectiveness of some aspects of the government approach throughout this crisis, whether that be the timing of certain constraints on activities, or their relaxation, or the supply of protective equipment. Regardless of how the response of the government is judged after the event, a consistent approach is absolutely vital now. I implore you stick to the rules.

Humberside Police continue to deliver day-to-day policing services and attempt to engage with the public to encourage them to maintain the social distancing requirements. As stated previously, the police cannot in reality enforce a lockdown that the public don’t want to comply with, so the key feature of the approach of the force remains to engage, explain and encourage people to comply. Individuals who continue to challenge the police continue to be issued with fixed penalty notices. This force remains at the lower end of tickets issued and I support the force‘s approach in that regard.

In the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) we have continued our work attempting to shape services for the vulnerable and victims to meet the changed circumstances. We are launching today (Monday 11^th May), a package of measures to help prevent the targeting of young people for exploitation through their increased use of electronic devices during the lockdown period. We are doing this through Not in Our Community, a brand commissioned through the OPCC that has been doing this type of work directly with young people for a few years now. Given the changed circumstances we wanted to expand its offer to support parents and schools also to get involved in protecting children from this enhanced threat. For full details about the Not in Our Community home schooling kits click here.

Finally, Thursday 7^th May should have been Election Day for Police and Crime Commissioners but the election was postponed for a year due to the Covid 19 pandemic. In preparation for the end of my term in office the OPCC Chief Executive and her team pulled together an informative booklet and video to both inform the public about the work of the OPCC and outline progress against the aims of the Police and Crime Plan that I wrote and which was published in 2017. In effect the leaflet was an end-of -term report. This is what I set out to do and this is what has been achieved against those aims. When this crisis started we took a decision to hold off on publication. We think publishing them now could be useful to assist people to place into context some of the things we are doing as an office now during this crisis and which some may not have been aware the OPCC were actually involved in. So, if you have time please take a look at these and see what we have done, on your behalf, often in the background, when times have been less disrupted. I am proud of the achievements of the OPCC and very proud of the fantastic staff we have that have done the work that sits behind the achievements listed.

Keith Hunter 
Police and Crime Commissioner

Our Journey So far

Thursday 7^th May should have been Election Day for Police and Crime Commissioners but the election was postponed for a year due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Office of the PCC Chief Executive Rachel Cook has pulled together an informative booklet and video to highlight the work of the OPCC over the last four years and its progress against the aims of the Police and Crime Plan.

 View comment, booklet and watch a short video click here.

Remedi

Remedi Restorative Services are delivering a new Together Families project introduced by the PCC for Humberside. The aim to assist families where conflict has occurred due to the current COVID-19 lock down situation and where in ‘normal’ circumstances the police would not have been contacted.

The program is delivered by trained Remedi practitioners who will work with the families to put strategies in place and also support them through this difficult time. Officers will refer suitable cases into the project.

My Community Alert

You may be receiving this blog because you are one of over 30,000 people now signed up to the My Community Alert service which enables users to receive regular local updates by email, text or telephone from the police and fire services in addition to the Police and Crime Commissioner. It's a really useful service, even more so in the current climate, so if you're not signed up yet go to  www.mycommunityalert.co.uk to get started.

Coronavirus Information where you live

For links to local council advice sites and other information CLICK HERE

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