Police station latest: Thoughts of the Commissioner

OUR police are fed up with their current arrangement at Bourne Hill alongside Wiltshire Council.

The limitations of their facilities mean they can’t give the public the service that they would like to, and that the public want.

That’s frustrating and morale-sapping, and has led to some experienced officers quitting.

It’s not me saying that. It was the Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, responding to questions on Friday at an online focus group to which I was invited.

Let me say at this point that I am much more impressed by Mr Wilkinson than I was by his predecessor Angus Macpherson. Actually, that’s not hard! But this former senior military officer and security policy adviser is clearly trying to engage with the whole community as he fine-tunes his Wiltshire & Swindon Police and Crime Plan for the next few years.

He’s been looking for a stand-alone site, preferably within the ring road, since he took office in May, and it’s proving hard to find. He’s been told categorically that he can’t have the old police station on Wilton Road.

He needs 1.5 acres, including parking, if Salisbury is to have a custody suite.

So if he can’t negotiate a better deal spacewise at Bourne Hill, he might have to look for somewhere a bit more fringe, although he hasn’t ruled out going for a new-build if he has to, and he’s got some money set aside just in case.

It was a fascinating and very open conversation. Following previous consultations he’s acknowledged that confidence in the force is not as high as it should be, and that people feel less safe than they used to. Also that 47% of people would not feel confident to contact their local Crime Prevention Team. 

He described this as “disturbing”, and accepted that better vetting and training of recruits is required.

He promised more frontline officers, but pointed out that these might not be visible ‘beat’ officers. They might be investigating cybercrime, or domestic abuse, or modern slavery.

But his top priorities are improving reporting of crimes and response to them, along with reducing violence and serious harm. Exactly as it should be.

The public’s priorities, he reported, are antisocial behaviour, speeding, drugs, rural crimes such as flytipping and hare-coursing, and violence, including knife crime.

So, a lot to tackle there.

To help do that, he’s seeking a rise in the policing element of our council tax of 4.3% - equivalent to £10 a year, or 83p a month, on a Band D property.

And I did like his parting shot: “If I don’t deliver, get rid of me.”

He’s still consulting on his Making Wiltshire Safer plans until the end of this month. If you want to read or comment on them, or ask questions at a Facebook meeting with him, copy and paste this link:

www.wiltshire-pcc.gov.uk/the-pcc-and-you/have-your-say/making-wiltshire-safer/