Message from Staffordshire’s Conservative Party PCC Election Candidate

The role of Police & Crime Commissioner is about new ideas, fresh thinking and bringing the public’s view to make policing in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent more visible, responsive and accountable to local people.

It’s about freeing police officers from burdensome bureaucracy to do what they were trained for – catching criminals, cutting crime and making Staffordshire safer. In these difficult times it’s about achieving more policing with fewer resources so that crime keeps falling. Is that possible? Yes, it absolutely is!

My background building a business from scratch, strong public service ethos and recent responsibility for a £300 million budget at Staffordshire County Council has given me the experience and insight needed to be an effective PCC. With so many organisations involved in community safety, supporting victims and the wider criminal justice system, my experience building complex coalitions across sensitive public services would be important to developing a more joined up, effective system.

There are those who simply want to use this election to oppose shrinking budgets but I’m focused on Staffordshire’s future and making the most of the money available by tackling issues that matter to you.

My priorities include:

• Using technology to let police officers be police officers, not stuck behind desks – Moving resources from detecting crime to preventing it
• Treating victims of crime as people, not just a crime number – Tougher policing of prolific offenders if they can’t or won’t reform
• Cracking down on irresponsible Licensees, anti-social drinking and behaviour
• Fast and transparent justice with greater use of restorative measures

I will be a PCC for all of Staffordshire with the experience and determination to make sure we have effective and accountable policing across our diverse county. Please remember to encourage family and friends to vote on Thursday 15th November.