Letter from Kent Police PCC

9 June 2023

Rural crime has always been a priority for me. Crime is important no matter where it takes place and this has always been a guiding principle of my Police and Crime Plan. I therefore wanted to update you on rural matters that have been raised with me in recent months that Kent Police and I have acted upon.

First, I’m pleased to report that the Chief Constable has added Rural Crime to the Control Strategy. The control strategy is the document that sets out the operational priorities for crime prevention, intelligence and enforcement. It provides the force with a framework to ensure officers and staff focus on the crime types and offenders causing most harm within our communities and presenting most risk to law-abiding residents. This was a key ask of the NFU and I’m pleased this has been listened to.

Secondly, the Neighbourhood Policing Model has started its transition this week. This means that every ward will have a named Officer, and as the Chief Constable has said at my Performance and Delivery Board this week, this will effectively mean having rural beat Officers. These changes are already being seen across the county as the phased roll out of beat Officers begins. On top of this seven PCSOs will be added to the specialist Rural Crime Taskforce.

I have worked with MPs to lobby for greater penalties for flytipping. The Government has listened and will be bringing forward plans on this issue to put these in place. Additionally, the Government is consulting on legislation relating to equipment theft and prevention, so it would be great to see submissions from Kent. You can access the consultation athttps://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/equipment-theft-prevention-bill- call-for-evidence/equipment-theft-prevention-bill-call-for-evidence-accessible- version.

On crime reporting, 101 call waiting times have improved. Call attrition (the numbers who disconnect/hang up without answering) is regularly below 10% now, down from a peak of 55% in October. Average waiting times across the

24 hour period were down to less than three minutes. A long term plan is being put in place that will see resources focussed on the Force Control Room so that the improvements that we have seen so far continue in the months ahead. Please remember you can call 999 when life is in danger or when there is a crime in progress, regardless of how serious it is. You can find out more about all the options to report crime at www.linktr.ee/victimvoice.

Finally, response policing was an issue. The Chief Constable has added 300 Officers to Local Policing Teams to deal with emergency calls in the last year which will help with the initial response to crime and antisocial behaviour.

I hope that this update is helpful to you. Yours faithfully

Matthew Scott

Kent Police and Crime Commissioner