EXCLUSIVE: Consultation to begin into major changes to Rutland Policing
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire and Rutland has been outlining plans to us
Greatest Hits Radio has been told about plans which could be on the way to significantly overhaul the way policing works in Rutland.
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire and Rutland has outlined proposals which he is hoping to put to the public in a consultation in the next few weeks.
It comes after a visit to Rutland, where people in the UK's smallest county told him they would like officers to have more of a local identity.
Rupert Matthews says he's going to have talks with the chief constable of Leicestershire Police, to see what changes would be logistically possible.
He outlined different possibilities to Greatest Hits Radio, including Rutland becoming a neighbourhood policing area in its own right, which would mean a commander being stationed in Oakham, making decisions for the county.
Another proposal could be placing more police officers in Rutland, either using existing officers in Leicestershire, or with the national uplift of officer numbers from central Government.
The final idea is changing the name of the police force, to Leicestershire and Rutland Police. Mr. Matthews says this would need approval from the Home Secretary, so would take a number of months.
Changes, Mr. Matthews adds, are not going to be quick, but he is hoping to see change on the ground by next Christmas.
He told Greatest Hits Radio: "Rutland has got its own identity. The sorts of crimes that occur in Rutland are very different to the sorts of crimes that occur in Leicester City Centre.
"There seems to be a real desire for Rutland Police to have their own identity, to have their own decision making processes and so on. As a result of that, we're going to be going out to consultation more formally. It's all very well chatting to councillors, chatting to the MP, but if we're going to make some sort of organisational change, it's really got to be supported by the population as a whole.
"As an elected representative of the people, I'm a servant of the people, so we'll find out what the residents and businesses of Rutland want, and I'll do my best to implement it."
In the meantime, Rupert Matthews has urged people to report all crimes, regardless of how minor they seem. Among other reasons, this helps allocate more police funding and officers to the county.