Issue - meetings

To provide an opportunity for members of the Panel to submit questions to the Police and Crime Commissioner.

A summary of the questions asked of the Commissioner and a summary of the responses given are set out below:-

1.A member of the Panel referred to Cheshire Police’s annual monitoring of hate crime and the fact that forces had powers to include their own definitions of hate crime, with several new sub cultures being allowed in certain circumstances. He believed that Nottinghamshire Police had looked at the definition of hate crime and had taken the decision to record the harassment of women as a hate crime in a bid to tackle sexist abuse. The Panel member asked whether, as part of developing proposals for his Police & Crime Plan, the Commissioner considered that Cheshire Police should also consider widening the scope of hate crime definitions.

The Commissioner responded to say that this was a very challenging and forward looking approach by Nottinghamshire Constabulary. He shared the view that hate crime was repulsive in all its forms and should be challenged in every way possible. He had encouraged the recording of hate crime over the last few months, so that it could be dealt with and would continue to do so. He referred to his draft Police and Crime Plan and stated that he had talked to various groups, including the Warrington Hate Crime Partnership, which was a great model to follow and he would encourage local authorities and partners in those areas of Cheshire who did not have a Hate Crime Partnership to work on this. He would be encouraging the reporting of hate crime and the bringing of offenders to justice. He recognised that gender was an important aspect in these offences and he would be talking to the Chief Constable in respect of this issue. He looked forward to his response and he would also take advice from Nottinghamshire Constabulary on best practice. He undertook to provide an update at the next informal meeting of the Panel.

2.A member of the Panel referred to the statistics provided to the Scrutiny Board regarding the public's perception of police performance and noted that it was said that they were gained from an estimated 2500 random phone calls per month.  Given the socioeconomic spread of the Cheshire community, the fact that many people were either ex-directory or had call-barring on their landlines and the randomness of the process, he asked whether the Commissioner was content that the sampling methodology behind the public perception data of police performance presented a true reflection of the way in which the Constabulary was regarded. He felt that most people did not come into contact with the Police and therefore, questioned what the majority of people had based their opinion on. He felt that many did not understand that nearly 80% of the work that the Police carried out did not relate to fighting crime.

The Commissioner responded to say that one of his “awakenings” in his transition from being a member of the public to Commissioner, was his perception of what the Police did on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25