Commissioner supports new Bill

The Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, John Dwyer, has welcomed the new Crime and Policing Bill that was proposed in the Queens Speech yesterday.

Two of John's priorities in his Police & Crime Plan were to tackle anti-social behaviour and ensure that the Constabulary are victim focused.

The Bill covered these two points as well as outlining that the police, councils and other partners would be forced to act if five households made a complaint about anti-social behaviour.

Under the proposals, 19 powers to deal with anti-social behaviour would be replaced by six.

John Dwyer said: "I fully support this Bill, because it demonstrates how seriously anti-social behaviour is taken.

I have made clear my intention to get tough on anti-social behaviour that at times blights all of our lives. Drunkenness, graffiti, littering and allowing dogs to foul footpaths are all unacceptable. These crimes will only increase if we accept them or ignore them.

I will work in partnership with the Constabulary and other agencies and communities to provide diversionary activities and resilience."

Other elements of the Bill include: policies to tackle forced marriage, dangerous dogs and illegal firearms used by gangs and in organised crime, as well as Police & Crime Commissioners being given responsibility for commissioning victim services.

John added: "I've been working closely with other agencies, to see how we can support victims of crime. Being a victim of crime can be a traumatic and life changing experience and too often we hear stories where the offender is given greater priority than those of the victim or witnesses of those crimes.

Over the next twelve months, a stocktake of services for victims within Cheshire will be carried out to ensure that the services commissioned from 2014 onwards are as responsive to the needs to victims and witnesses as possible. There will be a focus on prevention, coping with the experience and helping them to recover from being a victim or witness.

I want to improve victim and witnesses confidence, and when I hold the Chief Constable to account we discuss how we can work to help improve the confidence that communities have in every step of the criminal justice system."