Have your say on policing priorities

Earlier this month I launched my Use Your Voice survey to hear what really matters to the public and inform my upcoming Making Wiltshire Safer: Police and Crime Plan 2024-29. 

What has become apparent to me is the widening gap between what is important to the public and the police priorities- so ensuring that gap is closed is very much my responsibility. We have started on this journey back in 2021 when I was first elected and now those priorities need refreshing and the policing blueprint for the next five years set. 

Listening to the views and opinions of Wiltshire’s residents will mean my next Police and Crime Plan is, again, informed by you. It is crucially important that all communities get a say and a chance to use their voice for good – if it matters to you, it matters to me. 

Since I set the last Police and Crime Plan we have seen some great improvements, including being taken out of ‘special measures’ following the most recent HMICFRS inspection. 

This represented a substantial moment in our onward journey towards our aspiration to be an outstanding police force, and Chief Constable Catherine Roper’s vision and leadership has meant changes are being delivered at pace. 

However, I know there is lots more to be done to continue on our improvement journey, and I specifically want to ensure more work is done around tackling rural crime and combatting organised crime groups, alongside an emphasis on combatting retail and business crime.  

Through working collaboratively across the south-west through Operation Ragwort, I want to ensure our rural communities know that our approach is intelligence led and they can be confident that their concerns are being dealt with robustly. 

My Use Your Voice survey is open until Friday 2 August. All feedback will then be analysed and used to inform my draft plan. 

You’ll then be able to download the draft plan from my website and provide feedback. The plan will finally be in place after it’s presented and voted on at the Police and Crime Panel meeting in November. 

I’d encourage everyone to ensure their voice is heard. 

This survey is now closed.