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The latest news from the Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner
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Next week will mark the first anniversary of my election to the role of Police and Crime Commissioner - and I can vouch for it having been a very busy 12 months ever since! As someone who arrived in the role having not previously had any background in policing, the past year has been a steep learning curve but an enjoyable one nonetheless.
In my many meetings with officers and police staff of all ranks I have been impressed with their dedication and professionalism and it has been fascinating to see the wide range of activities - many of which go unseen by the public - which take place daily to keep Warwickshire safe.
On taking office, I set out a number of ambitions for how I would seek to shape policing and the wider criminal justice system in the county. These helped form the backbone of my Police and Crime Plan, which was launched in December with the key objectives of:
- Putting victims and survivors first
- Ensuring efficient and effective policing
- Protecting people from harm
- Preventing and reducing crime
Since then my office has been working with Warwickshire Police and other partner agencies to deliver against these priorities. The past year has seen considerable progress: I have confirmed major investments in exciting new mobile technology which will allow police officers to have access to the information they need while on the move, increasing their visibility; similar investment in a new, state-of-the-art Operations Communications Centre at Neville House in Warwick, as well as the roll out this summer of new body worn video technology to the frontline (see more on that below).
Elsewhere, my office has made progress towards establishing a new county-wide protocol to tackle the issues brought about by unauthorised traveller encampments. We hope to have all relevant agencies signed up to the protocol in the coming months, giving residents an improved and more coherent response when incursions occur. Similarly, work on my Victims' and Witnesses' Charter is also progressing well, with partners currently being consulted on its draft form. I will also soon be confirming the recipients of my annual grant funding - watch out for an announcement in the coming days.
All-in-all, we have made good progress in developing, consulting on and beginning to deliver against the Police and Crime Plan - but I'm under no illusions that there is still much to do over the remaining years of my term of office. You have my assurance that I will continue to push forward just as hard to ensure that we all benefit from a safer, more secure Warwickshire.
Continuing the electoral theme, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the local elections results which have been announced today across the county. I welcome all those councillors - both new and old - elected to the County Council and send my commiserations to the unsuccessful candidates. As many of you also know, my decision to stand down as a district councillor meant a by-election was held for my former seat on Stratford-on-Avon District Council. I am pleased to congratulate Penny-Anne O'Donnell on her victory as my successor in the Ettington ward.
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Philip Seccombe TD
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner
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Meeting to discuss criminal justice processes
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 A key part of my role as Commissioner is to listen to the public's views and experiences of the criminal justice system, particularly when there are concerns that things may have gone wrong or that procedures are not adequate. Last week I met with Colin Hehir, the father of murdered Nuneaton man Morgan Hehir (pictured left), to discuss his concerns that a loophole in the processes for monitoring offenders on release from prison could have led to the murder of his son.
The meeting was filmed, at Colin's request, by BBC Midlands Today and was broadcast earlier this week. It certainly cannot have been easy to re-tell those events on camera and I commend Colin for the dignity he has shown ever since Morgan's death in October 2015. Having heard the details of the case, I too am keen to understand whether processes within the criminal justice system provided adequate protection for the public.
Morgan's killer, Declan Gray, had only months before been released from prison, having served a full sentence for manslaughter. While there are national guidelines which police and other agencies follow to monitor violent offenders upon release from prison, the fact that Gray had served his full term meant that, under existing rules, there was little in the way of supervision and monitoring that could be undertaken by the police and other agencies, with tragic results.
This brings into question whether the powers that the police, National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies currently have to monitor individuals convicted of serious violent crimes in these circumstances are adequate. While it's clear that agencies are all working extremely hard to protect the public from dangerous offenders, I think it is right to take stock and examine whether improvements can be made to help those agencies further minimise the risk to the public.
I gave Colin the assurance that I will convene a meeting in the coming weeks with the relevant agencies to discuss the concerns highlighted by Morgan's death. This will help me to further understand what if any shortcomings may exist in the current public protection arrangements and examine how they can be overcome. I'll keep you updated with progress.
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HMIC gave its final overall assessment of Warwickshire Police recently and I'm pleased to be able to report that the force has achieved 'good' ratings in each area of the PEEL inspection programme, which looks at police efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy. This marks a step forward from the previous year's reports, where the force had been rated as 'requiring improvement' for effectiveness and legitimacy. 
Funded regionally by NHS England, the centre aims to help restore a victim’s confidence in the aftermath of sexual violence and assist them to rebuild their lives. The service is open to all - men and women, boys and girls and is a local partnership between the police, health services and voluntary organisations.
In order to help protect businesses in Warwickshire from crime, I fund a Business Crime Advisor, who works with businesses groups to empower them to protect themselves from crime.
As well as face-to-face training, Alex is going to be running online crime prevention training sessions, meaning businesses can learn how to protect themselves without having to leave the workplace. The first of these is due to take place in June and the topic is cyber crime - so if you’d like to get involved please contact Alex on the details below.
Huge congratulations are in order for Chris Lewis, one of my Policy and Research Officers, who successfully completed the London Marathon, raising funding for the charity Refuge in the process.
Here are some of the key events in my diary for the month ahead:
