Chief Constable fortnightly update to the Police and Crime Commissioner

19 July 2024

Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Over recent days there has been much media commentary concerning the capacity in male prisons across England and Wales, a summary position of which was published by Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood earlier this week.

I know that this recent coverage may be concerning to our communities. I would like to use this letter to reassure you, and them, of my commitment to business-as-usual policing as we respond to the emergency measures that have been announced by the Government.

Keeping the public safe and protecting and safeguarding the most vulnerable in our communities remains the core priority for Wiltshire Police. We will continue to work as normal, including arresting and charging offenders as we always do.

This issue is a multi-agency concern. As such, we will be working closely with our national police colleagues and our local partners across the criminal justice system, local authorities and health. This approach will ensure we manage any risks caused by the prison capacity challenges and ensure that victims, witnesses and our wider communities are safeguarded as a result of the changes to the release of prisoners.

Let me be very clear – it is business as usual for Wiltshire Police and our focus remains on Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

This week we saw the King’s Speech take place which marks the State Opening of Parliament, and brings together the Monarchy, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. This is an interesting time for policing, as the speech sets out the Government’s policies and proposed legislation. I am sure, like me, you have looked at this in detail to understand future expectations and priorities for the police service moving forwards.

I am pleased to say that the King’s Speech, alongside the recent engagement with Chief Constables by the new Home Secretary Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, has confirmed that many of the priorities for the new Government align with areas that we, as a Force, are already focusing on within our Plans on a Page. These include:

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) – Safer Public Spaces is a key priority area for us and, as alluded to in my letter dated 7 June, our two organisations are working together as we bolster our response to ASB and serious violence through the Government’s hotspot response fund.

This funding will enable us to considerably increase our community patrolling in areas of concern – contributing to the delivery of your Police and Crime Plan. We are already seeing some successes. For example, in Trowbridge where we have been working alongside partners such as Trowbridge Town Council, Neighbourhood Services and the Chamber of Commerce, to reduce ASB in the Wicker Hill area further to an increase of reports.

This work has included the use of preventative orders and practical solutions to problem solve issues, such as the removal of benches from a hotspot area. In addition, there is targeted and proactive policing of those responsible for this harmful behaviour. Our Mobile Police Stations have also been out in the area so that the public can go and speak to my officers about the issues they are facing in their communities. I know that we are in agreement that everyone should feel safe within their local neighbourhood.

Violence – The complex and high harm issue of Violence is a further key priority for Wiltshire Police. This includes:

As part of our ongoing transformation and improvement programme, we will shortly be introducing a Vulnerability Command which will collectively oversee these high harm areas to ensure we have the appropriate resources, skills and partnership working in place to tackle these significant issues of public protection.

There is no place for violence in people’s homes or on our streets, and we will be relentless in our pursuit of those responsible for crimes of this nature. We achieve this through our focus on high harm offenders, alongside partners, by our Youth Violence Reduction Unit, which includes an Integrated Gangs Team.

This week we have seen a number of successful convictions relating to violent crime, including:

I urge anyone who has been a victim of violent crime to report it to us, we will take action.

Community Policing – We heard within the King’s Speech that legislation will be brought forward to strengthen community policing. In the last six months in Wiltshire, we have introduced a new model for Neighbourhood Policing which sought to improve the consistency, visibility and resilience of our local policing services.

Neighbourhood Policing is the bedrock of British Policing and can be traced back to the very start of the Police Service. How we police our local communities, how we engage, how we gather intelligence and how we problem solve are all key priorities for us through our local Neighbourhood Policing model.

In January this year, we launched our Community Commitments, which set out the expected standards of engagement of our local Neighbourhood Policing Teams with local communities. This includes areas such as how we publish information, how we will consult and how we will be more visible and accessible, both in person and online. The public can find out about their local Neigbourhood Policing Team on the Wiltshire Police website.

The above hopefully gives reassurance to you, and to our local communities, that Wiltshire Police are well placed to deliver across all of these key areas. I look forward to informing you further on the progress we are making.

Finally, in closing, I would like to update you on a significant incident of disorder at the Steam Railway Pub in Swindon on the 10 July following the England versus Netherlands Euros match. Four men were arrested and charged with affray, and a further four men arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and assault. We continue to seek information about this incident, and I would like to use this letter to appeal to anyone who may have seen what happened to contact us on 101 quoting reference 54240081066.

This unacceptable incident will have caused significant concern to our communities. I would however like to thank the majority of the public for the peaceful and considerate way in which they enjoyed the Euros tournament.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police