I am hugely encouraged by this Police and Crime Plan. Surrey Police will work tirelessly to bring it into effect and thereby earn the public trust and confidence upon which policing depends.
I am committed, through my operational plan for the force, to fight crime and protect the people of Surrey. This plan is entirely consistent with this aim and will help me to achieve it.
Only the police can investigate crime and relentlessly pursue criminals. I therefore welcome a commitment to ‘back to basics’ policing because it complements my determination for Surrey Police to excel at those things that only the police can do for the public.
We are making great progress in this regard and this plan will drive us further to intensify our efforts to improve our service from report to court.
The commitment to protect vulnerable people mirrors that of the force to provide outstanding victim and witness care. Where crime occurs behind closed doors, the victim is often the only witness.
Our success at bringing the offender to justice therefore hinges on the quality of care and support we provide to ensure that victims feel safe enough to give evidence.
Surrey Police and the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner have a strong track record in victim and witness service and these will only improve with this renewed focus.
Surrey Police shares the resolution of the Policing & Crime Commissioner swiftly and drastically to improve our response to violence against women.
In so doing, we will strive to prevent and reduce these extremely serious crimes that devastate individuals, families and communities.
In matters of domestic abuse, rape, sexual offences, stalking and harassment, Surrey is one of the fastest-improving forces in the country. But we have only just begun. In partnership with the Policing & Crime Commissioner, we are determined to get better in every way we can to make women and girls safer in our county.
There is much that Surrey Police and the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner can do with our partners to build safe and resilient communities – especially in respect of our fight against pernicious crimes such as shoplifting.
My meetings with the public have shown that theft, anti-social behaviour and drug abuse trouble people a great deal. I believe that this Plan, allied with that of the Force, will help us redouble our efforts to ensure that Surrey Police applies all its neighbourhood policing experience to combat these issues.
Finally, the commitment in this plan to foster integrity, accountability and wellbeing is reflected in the force plans in respect of standards, resilience, productivity and the health, fitness and safety of our crime-fighting workforce.
We and the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner have confidence in our plans and know the importance of ensuring, in these tough times, that the money entrusted to us is put to the best possible use in keeping people safe.
This plan will help us to realise the enormous potential of the partnerships across Surrey.
Through improved sharing of data, sharper analysis, and operational co-operation across agencies we can solve the problems which allow a relatively small number of people and places to generate most of the crime which threatens community safety.
I am confident that the enhanced offender management, victim care and hotspot policing enabled by this plan will see Surrey become an even safer county where individual people, families, communities and the economy can thrive.
Tim De Meyer,
Chief Constable for Surrey Police