Police and Crime Commissioner Nicolle Ndiweni has launched a major survey giving residents an unprecedented role in the design of plans to build a safer and more inclusive Derbyshire.
Joined by the recently elected first East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward, the PCC said her work would be ‘driven by the people for the people’ and would empower residents to drive future change in the way they wanted.
The PCC went to Bakewell Agricultural Market and Chesterfield town centre to launch her first public consultation since being elected. She said that it was important to ask residents about the crime and anti-social behaviour issues of most concern to them to identify areas where additional focus is required to keep people safe and feeling safe.
These priorities will form the foundations of her forthcoming Police and Crime Plan, determining where and how she will invest public funding to improve their safety in the future.
Nicolle, who had a resounding victory in May’s election, is determined to secure the most responses ever to a PCC survey conducted in Derbyshire
She has announced plans to travel the length and the breadth of the county to meet the people she has been elected to represent and understand the issues that require improvement to help them feel safer.
Nicolle said: “We are entering a period of great change with a real opportunity to do things differently. I want local people to be at the centre of that change – to be in the driving seat – and together, we will reclaim our streets, build public trust and work more effectively to protect our communities and victims of crime.
“This survey will give residents of Derbyshire the platform and the power to outline exactly what is needed to make them feel safer. It will spell out clearly where our time, funding and focus should lie to build a justice system where criminals are not allowed to act with impunity nor where anti-social behaviour is allowed to flourish unchallenged. If we can prevent crime, so many other pressures and problems are reduced.
“I am grateful for Claire’s support for my consultation. I vowed in my manifesto to take a strong partnership approach to tackling crime, and I believe working together is fundamental for building a protected and prosperous county.
“Whatever your age, background, religious beliefs or cultural heritage, I want you to grasp this opportunity to make a difference with open hands and set us on the path for a brighter, stronger and safer future. We deserve safety and the right to live peacefully – for ourselves and for our families. No one should be left behind and I will ensure that every resident in our county is valued and encouraged to use their voice. Please play an active part in this so that we can make Derbyshire flourish now and for future generations.”
Mayor Claire Ward said: “Only by working together will we keep the people of Derbyshire safe. That’s why it was a privilege to be alongside Nicolle as she launched her public consultation. It’s really important that local people take the survey, so both Nicolle and I can better understand the issues being faced in towns and villages across the county. I will be closely monitoring these responses to ensure families continue to receive the best possible policing from Derbyshire Constabulary.”
The survey invites residents to consider the importance to them of neighbourhood policing; serious violence and violence against women and girls; anti-social behaviour; drug related crime; online safety; road safety; rural crime; and bringing offenders to justice. It also asks respondents for any additional areas of crime or policing they believe should be prioritised.
Police and Crime Commissioners are required by legislation to make arrangements for obtaining, before a police and crime plan is issued, to obtain the views of the people in their police area, and the views of victims of crime in the area, on the plan and its priorities.
The survey and the results will help the PCC to identify priority areas and propose action to address them in her Police and Crime Plan. To complete the survey visit: https://forms.office.com/e/PgBW7DeE5B
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