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The Chief Constable of Essex, Stephen Kavanagh was in attendance for this item. In introduction Mr Kavanagh paid tribute to all police officers in the county.
Since 2010 £77m of savings have been achieved. With these efficiencies and from the perspective of being the lowest funded force in the country Essex Police are still in a very strong position with real transformation on how it operates as a force. In responding to new crimes and increasing levels of demand, police officers have been deployed to address these challenges and in order to do this, some have been taken away from localities; PCSOs have been reduced from 400 to 100 – The value for money aspect of this is being explored with HMICFRS as monies have been invested back into the front-line at a rate greater than that of any other force in the country. Essex Police remains one of the most efficient forces in the country accordingly to HMICFRS VFM indicators. Essex Police is judged as good in relation to recent PEEL inspection judgements, The Essex Police back office also operates very efficiently. There is a full recruitment of officers until mid-2018. Sustainability conversations are taking place with the Commissioner. Social media has been used to good effect in recruitment, including for the special constabulary. Until the budgetary statement is forthcoming further recruitment beyond the mid-point of 2018 is under review. With regard to the graduate scheme, Mr Kavanagh, explained that 10 young people who recently completed university had six weeks of full police training and have been placed into local districts looking at local problems and problem-solving. It is hoped that a further 10 can be recruited next year as well as retaining the current intake.
Demand places significant challenges on the force. Mr Kavanagh informed the Panel that there are officers who have concerns that they are unable to provide the responses they would like to, in terms of crime prevention, and the force has had to become increasingly responsive. However, in terms of crime prevention good work is still taking place around gang culture from London infiltrating into the county. The force delivers above what could be expected given its level of funding as benchmarked by PA Consulting. Essex Police is an ambitious force but also needs to be an effective leader. The PA Consulting analysis showed that Kent Police has 400 more officers than Essex and the PA analysis showed that Essex Police would need at least an additional 288 officers to reflect demand pressures in relation to public protection issues. Essex is always going to be a lean, yet cost-efficient, police force and to get to the national average would need over an additional 900 officers in local policing.
Mr Kavanagh stated he is making sure that Essex maintains its position on tackling digital crime and that there is a pilot scheme being tested in Essex, at present, which has the potential to be a model for forces across the country. The Essex force was the first to launch Athena and are receiving national awards for digital which are a credit to Gareth Nicholson of Essex Police Communications. The Chief Constable is the national lead on the Crystallise digital project which enables more effective investigation. The project will be at the heart of the future national operating model and is currently being piloted in the north of the county. Cloud based and mobile technologies are being introduced to good effect replacing archaic computers. Mr Kavanagh committed to providing Councillor Schmitt with a briefing on all digital pilot schemes.
With regard to the Mental Health and wellbeing of officers and staff, Mr Kavanagh assured the Panel that officers receive all the support they need and Occupational Health referrals are now dealt with, largely, within the same week rather than the three months they were taking previously. There is also mindfulness training available. With regard to the public, Mental Health triage teams work from 6 a.m. until 2 a.m. with availability of a Mental Health practitioner to provide appropriate care and advice – this has vastly reduced the number of citizens going into custody with mental health issues and improved dignity. Mr Kavanagh committed to providing Councillor McWilliams with a mental health briefing on a pilot scheme based in Tendring
There has been a sustained change in how crime in the county takes place – and, on analysis, there is an increase in crime harm factors. There is a higher demand with fewer officers; and there is concern over 999 response times and the 101 system, although this has now started to show significant improvement. The force is currently looking at the outcomes of changes that have been made and the appropriateness of responses in terms of crime committed. The Active Citizen programme is going very well with over 100 citizens assisting with crime prevention advice, raising awareness, and speedwatch.
Any additional funding for the police in Essex would be invested into community policing, Mr Kavanagh stated.
The Chairman of the Panel thanked Mr Kavanagh for the update and suggested he be invited to attend the Panel more often in the future; and complimented the Essex Police force for its hard work and dedication to the people of the county.