Statement in response to national media coverage about crime-fighting groups in Basildon
23 January 2018
Roger Hirst, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “Recently I proposed increasing the police element of the Council Tax by an average of £12 a year which will raise an additional £7.524 million for Essex Police. This was approved yesterday by the members of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel. Three-quarters of the this money will be invested in local policing and will mean Essex Police being able to recruit 150 more frontline officers, primarily for local policing teams. The Chief Constable makes the operational decisions about where officers are deployed but this extra resource will help us to respond to the changing nature of crime and provide more local, visible and accessible policing which is what the public wants.
“It is great that the people involved in the Wick Patrol Group are passionate about keeping their areas safe but I would urge that they work with their local policing officers to report crime and issues in the correct way. Police Officers are trained professionals and I would not want people who have had no training to potentially put themselves in harm’s way. I would recommend that anybody who wants to get involved in protecting their communities to either join Essex Police as a Special Constable or become an Active Citizen.”
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