Commissioner seeks volunteers to scrutinise aspects of police work

The role of The Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside is to be the public representative to ensure Humberside Police deliver an effective, efficient and legitimate service to its residents. One way in which we hold the force to account on your behalf is by the scrutiny of certain aspects of police work to help the Commissioner check that the force is working well and ethically.

To help us do this we are keen to hear from people in our local communities who want to make a real difference. We want to ensure that our scrutiny reflects local communities and interests, by improving this representation we will be better able to influence local needs and we will all benefit from differences in thinking, points of view and approaches that diversity brings.

We are looking for volunteers to join two new groups, looking at the use of police powers and how the police deal with hate crime.

For the Use of Police Powers Scrutiny Group, we are particularly interested in hearing from those affected by the use of police powers such as Use of Force and Stop & Search. You’ll look at how the police carried out their duties in this regard and whether it was fair and proportionate.

For the Hate Crime Group, we are seeking volunteers with lived experience of hate crime who can help us effectively scrutinise the police response to reports of hate crime, where the perpetrator was motivated to commit a crime because of someone’s race, sex, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity.

If you get involved as a volunteer, you’ll be expected to attend either physical or online meetings 4-6 times each year. We will pay reasonable travel expenses and provide refreshments at meetings.

Your findings will help to inform our Independent Ethics and Scrutiny Board, which in turn will inform the Police and Crime Commissioner's discussions with the Chief Constable and others.  Scrutiny Volunteers are vital because they:

•      Provide real life experiences.
•      Generate new ideas and ways of doing things.
•      Challenge assumptions about existing ways of working.

 You will be expected to check and challenge issues and report findings so that the wider public can have confidence in Humberside Police through helping to influence the decisions that the Police and Crime Commissioner makes.

Commissioner Keith Hunter said: “Scrutiny of police operations by those they impact upon is a vital element in the broader oversight that a Police and Crime Commissioner is responsible for.  You could provide a unique insight or perspective that would otherwise be missed. Please consider helping me to help all our communities.”

You will provide the opportunity for the police to do things differently, to learn and to progress, but don’t just take our word for it, here’s one of our existing volunteers:

“The availability of Body Worn Video footage was a massive enhancement to the scrutiny as watching the footage reinforced or brought to life the written recording where thoughts and circumstances can be subjective” – Ibi Alaiyemola (Panel member)

For more information and to apply to become a volunteer CLICK HERE