Jane Kennedy is our first Police and Crime Commissioner. She beat five other candidates to win 56.2% of first preference votes.
As she is now busily drawing up her budget we need to lobby on where we would like to see the most effective police action.
There are two issues which you as voters have continually raised with me. There is the long running saga on antisocial behaviour and there is increasing concern at the level of violence committed against individuals. I’ve already spoken to Jane about both of these issues.
There is no question that antisocial behaviour is the big issue in our constituency. The reports made about antisocial behaviour may no longer be an accurate guide to how strongly we feel about this problem.
I seem to be picking up that residents, only in the most extreme and exasperating circumstances, engage the authorities in countering antisocial behaviour. Increasingly, we’re giving up on the issue, believing that little or anything can be done.
I know Jane takes this issue with the upmost seriousness and one of the early events I hope to persuade her to come to is a summit in Birkenhead on this very issue. As background to this work I’ve invited Louise Casey – who heads the government’s troubled families unit – to come into Birkenhead this week.
Jane and I have already met on youth knife crime and I hope to be reporting back to you on this issue when we meet with the Chief Constable.
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