Issue - meetings

Presentation from Lincolnshire Police for bi-annual report on crime, disorder and safety in West Lindsey. 

The Chairman introduced Detective Inspector Jenny Waddington who explained her background in CID and that her area covered Lincoln and Gainsborough. DI Waddington had received questions from the Committee in advance of the meeting and explained she had prepared answers as far as possible but was happy to discuss other areas as the Committee wished.

Q1. At the last visit, we heard that there were funding changes in the pipeline – have these changes come into effect and have there been any tangible improvements across the district / county?

DI Waddington explained that unfortunately, circumstances had not changed. There had been no changes to the funding available and although there were new recruits coming into the area, these merely kept the number of officers at status quo, rather than there being an increase. The Government had put caveats on the money available for new recruits, meaning the funds had to be spent on Officer numbers rather than PCSOs, in fact, the number of PCSOs across the county was due to reduce as further savings had to be made.

Q2. There were concerns that Officer numbers would be reduced if funding arrangements weren’t improved – have these concerns now been alleviated? Are there any plans for more recruitment?

DI Waddington expanded on her previous answer to explain that there was ongoing recruitment and Lincolnshire Police had continued with their recruitment drive ahead of receiving any of the Government funding. She also explained that the recruits were being brought in under the previous schemes meaning there was no requirement for them to be university graduates. The new scheme of recruits having to be graduates was currently being appealed against and so Lincolnshire Police were continuing under the terms of the previous recruitment criteria.

Q3. What are the responsibilities and powers of PCSOs across the district?

The Committee were offered a written summary of the roles and responsibilities of PCSOs across the district and this was distributed to all Members.

Q4. What are the priorities for the Force across the district / county?

The Committee heard that the West Division was running an initiative against knife crime and offensive weapons. This was in partnership with other agencies and local schools with the aim of educating young people about the dangers. DI Waddington added that protecting people from fraud and scams, protecting the vulnerable in the community and dealing with drug related issues were also Force priorities. Given the nature of the area covered by the Force, rural crime was also a focus, with crime prevention teams working with communities to highlight prevention methods and to disrupt any criminal behaviours. Committee Members discussed the benefits, or drawbacks, of communities using social media as a way of reporting or discussing crimes and DI Waddington emphasised the need for all crime to be reported as it was not possible for the Police to monitor social media for incidents of unreported crime. She highlighted that often, rural crimes were more likely to be solved if there was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21