Newly re-elected Thames Valley PCC sets his priorities for a second mandate
He will be building on successful policies and working on improving other areas of policing
Last updated 10th May 2024
A week on from the votes which saw the re-election of Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber, Greatest Hits Radio has caught up with the winner on his priorities for a second mandate.
The Conservative candidate achieved 144,092 of votes cast in the election held on Thursday 2 May, while the Labour candidate Tim Starkey came close second with 141,749 votes.
Following his win, Matthew Barber said: “Over the past three years, I have worked with the brilliant officers and staff at Thames Valley Police to deliver tangible outcomes our communities can be proud of – a record number of police officers with the number in neighbourhood roles doubled, burglary rates below pre-pandemic levels, knife crime down 13% thanks, in part, to Operation Deter and a zero-tolerance approach to knife possession, the creation of a dedicated Rural Crime Taskforce and the launch of strategy to combat retail crime.
“But I know there is more to do. I campaigned on a platform of continuing to expand neighbourhood policing, protecting communities, people and property. I look forward to taking this plan forward and making Thames Valley a safer place for us all.”
Greatest Hits Radio has, since, caught up with the winner:
What lessons have been learned?
Mr Barber said: "I think as with as with any large organisation, it can be frustrating with the pace of change for delivering some of the things that people want, but actually it's about having that really clear strategy."
"For example, over the last 12 months, we doubled the number of officers in neighbourhood policing teams, but of course that was only possible because in the first two years we've increased the number of police officers in absolute terms and it just takes time to get people through training, get them onto the ground to be able to then change that direction."
"And there is still work to be done, ultimately, policing should be about preventing crime, not just catching criminals, so I want Thames Valley to become more proactive."
What are the main priorities in the Thames Valley?
Catching criminals
"There still remains a really important job of the police to catch criminals and and get them presented to to court, and I expect the Chief constable to continue to seek to increase the charge rate, increase the the amount of crime that has been solved over the coming year or so."
Working with schools
"But fundamental is preventing it from happening in the first place, so we're just embarking on a a really important piece of work with schools across Thames Valley looking at all those interventions that the police already do in and around schools and and supporting young people."
"We're making sure that we reach out to every child and importantly their parents, to make sure that we're preventing crime at an early stage because many of those things that people will be really concerned about around violent crime, knife crime, particularly anti social behaviour, drugs, often those are things that either affect young people or people can get drawn into relatively early in life."
Neighbourhood policing
"I set out a really clear plan about how I want the police to be able to protect communities, protect people and protect property, we'll continue to have that drive to boost neighbourhood policing."
Will you be extending some of the successful policies launched in your previous mandate?
CCTV partnership
"When we started taking this on, the previous Council in Slough was simply turning the CCTV off because they couldn't afford it, and in Milton Keynes the vast majority of the cameras simply weren't working."
"We've got a much greater number of operators than we've had for a very long time in those areas, those well trained individuals are managing to identify things happening on the ground, they're spotting crimes as they're happening, they're directing police officers to them."
"This isn't just about recording some footage to present court, this is about having human eyes, making sure we keep communities safe, and I certainly hope we will continue to expand that."
Sniffer dogs trained to identify So-called 'date rape' drugs
"That certainly seems to be proving very successful, it is still relatively early days in that use of the tactic, but it is all part of a wider project making sure that all of us but women in particular are safe in our night time economy.
"It's one of those areas where Thames Valley seem to lead across the country and many other police forces across across England and Wales are trying to learn from what Thames Valley Police have been doing because it's it's a really successful operation which focuses on the perpetrators."