February news from your Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards

Newsletter from the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire

To Resident

This week, the Government has published the Crime and Policing Bill, creating new criminal offences and increases in police powers. I welcome the intention to create a new offence of criminally exploiting a child. Cuckooing, which is when the home of a vulnerable person is taken over and controlled for criminal purposes, will also be an offence. These are sensible measures which will give the police increased powers to keep some of the most vulnerable in our county safe.

A disappointment has been the notification that Ministers are cancelling the Safer Streets Fund. Over five funding rounds, Hertfordshire has benefited significantly from projects to improve community safety at a local level. This has recently included projects in Stevenage, Hatfield and Hertford to tackle drugs, ASB, vehicle crime and improve safety in the night time economy. Through my work on the Police & Crime Plan, I will be looking at what can be done to ensure this focus on local community safety and crime prevention initiatives is not lost.

Part of ensuring that local safety initiatives are supported is my Community Safety Fund which remains open to small grant applications until 3rd March. Priorities for the fund are crime prevention, young people’s safety and tackling violence against women and girls. Read more here

I held my first Accountability & Performance Meeting with the new Chief Constable last week to discuss his initial priorities for the Constabulary. Following correspondence from the public, I raised ongoing concerns about the timeliness of decision making in firearms licensing and welcome the plan being put in place by the new Chief to clear the backlogs. We also discussed a recent multi-agency review of how children are protected from domestic abuse in Hertfordshire. A link to the recording can be found later in this newsletter.

Finally, this month I wanted to highlight the great work done by Hertfordshire’s police officers and staff to: charge a man with a series of burglaries in west Herts; proactively tackle vehicle crime in the east of the county; target those using the road network to commit crime; and closing a property connected to drugs and anti-social behaviour. 

This is of course just a very small sample of the work being done every day to reduce crime, catch criminals and keep Hertfordshire safe.

This newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with my work on your behalf and I hope you find it informative. Should you ever wish to contact me please email commissioner@herts-pcc.gov.uk

Best wishes

Jonathan

PCC welcomes Recruitment opening for new PCSOs

Jonathan Ash-Edwards, has welcomed the latest recruitment drive for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), reinforcing his commitment to neighbourhood policing. While some areas are cutting back on PCSOs, Hertfordshire is actively recruiting, ensuring continued investment in community safety and visible policing.

The recruitment drive is part of the PCC’s recent budget, which prioritises strengthening frontline resources and tackling local crime and anti-social behaviour.

He said: “PCSOs play a vital role in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, and I am delighted that recruitment is open to strengthen our local policing teams.

“Hertfordshire residents want to see police in their communities, working with them to prevent crime and keep people safe. PCSOs provide that a strong link and are highly valued by the public for their problem-solving and engagement.”

Read the full story here

PCC budget approved to protect local policing and increase police officer numbers to a new record high

Plans to increase funding for policing in the county put forward by Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards have been unanimously approved.

The PCC’s proposed budget for 2025/26 increases funding for Hertfordshire Constabulary, with a focus on protecting frontline policing and increasing police officer numbers.

Presenting his budget to Hertfordshire’s Police and Crime Panel Mr Ash-Edwards reported how the average £14 a year precept increase had been backed by the majority in a public consultation.

He outlined how the extra funding will ensure a new record high number of police officers is achieved with Hertfordshire to have 2,405 police officers, 12 more than the previous target.

In addition, despite challenges from government funding, Mr Ash Edwards’s budget will also ensure no reduction of neighbourhood PCSOs and lay the foundations for increases in neighbourhood policing.

Read full story here

Hertsmere ‘Mini Police’ educate fellow pupils on policing and crime

Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards visited a primary school in Radlett as part of a scheme to help police engage with young people.

Pupils at Newberries Primary School took part in Hertfordshire Constabulary’s ‘Mini-Police’ programme, which aims to educate young people about anti-social behaviour and the negative effect it has on society. 

Participants in the course are given a series of educational presentations on subjects including graffiti, online safety and bullying by a local Police Community Support Officer. They are then encouraged to create and present their own talks to fellow pupils in a special assembly. 

The children are also designated within the school as ‘Mini-Police Officers’, issued with hi-vis jackets and mocked up police warrant cards, and given the task of encouraging younger pupils they to ensure they are considerate of others. 

Mr Ash-Edwards attended the final presentation by Newberries’ Year 5 class, to learn of the children’s new perspective and understanding of what it means to be a good citizen. 

More info here

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This month the Commissioner held his first Accountability and Performance Meeting with the new Chief Constable Andy Prophet. They discussed his initial areas of focus; the delays in firearms licencing; additional measures to safeguard children 

A recording of the meeting is available to watch back here and you can register to watch the next meeting on April 1st using this link.

Thank you for reading

Jonathan Ash-Edwards