Letter to the Editor of the Chronicle
Dear Sir,
The final week is here for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections and I would like to take this opportunity to expand on some of the key topics that have been developed throughout this campaign.
Before that, It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge last week's editorial and thank the Chronicle for their kind words of support. Reader's will of course make their own minds up, but I would like to reassure everyone worried about political influence that as soon as the polls close at 10pm on May 2nd, politics will be left at the door. The PCC role is too important for political interference.
With that, if I could share some further details and plans if I was to be elected I would pursue, this may help those who are still undecided.
"Let the police, police" - My first commitment will be to stay away from interfering with the police operational performance and let them get on with the job. I will also keep politics away from the role of PCC. Creating negative headlines, such as John Dwyer hiring his campaign manager as the deputy PCC and giving him a 33% pay rise, are to be avoided.
Violence against women and girls. - A vast subject that could take up pages. The solution has to involve women. My proposal will be to hire a Deputy PCC with the sole responsibility to engage with women's charities and support groups to determine what would be the best plan to reduce VAWG. This role would have full autonomy to deliver their plan and would be their only focus.
Prevention and restorative justice - We have to break the cycle of criminality. A drug addict, who steals to fund the habit, gets caught, charged and sent to prison. This ends up not being a punishment but an opportunity to acquire more drugs in prison and more dealers to put in their contacts list. The criminal justice system is broken and we have to try something new. Expansion of restorative programs and mental health support will help intervene to break the cycle of reoffending. 'Lock 'em up' it is not working.
Reduce shoplifting incidents. This is a two tier issue. On the one hand organised crime gangs are targeting mobile phone stores and high value items in stores, terrorising shop keepers, workers and customers. It has to stop and the police need the correct resources to go after the gangs.
The other side is the social factors involved. A mother who steals baby food or nappies because they have no money does not need the full force of the criminal justice system thrown at her. This is a failure of politicians to deal with child poverty. Mother's need support and guidance, primarily from local authorities to prevent the decision to steal from ever entering a mother's head.
More PCSOs. We know in market towns the recruitment and retention of PCSOs is a huge challenge that is to the detriment of towns such as Congleton. Resources are shifted to Crewe or to backill Police officer numbers primarily so that the central government can still claim their 20k police numbers. It is a shocking use of police resources for political means, if I get elected, I will ensure that all market towns, such as Alsager and Sandbach, get a fair allocation of the PCSOs required to reduce crime and make people feel safe.
If anyone has any specific questions still outstanding before May 2nd, please contact me at Paulduffyld@gmail.com
Yours faithfully
Paul Duffy
Liberal Democrats candidate for Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner.