Monday 14 February
Today we are taking the Police and Crime Plan to the Panel for their comments and approval. Meeting the Panel is always a testing time. They have the power to ask me anything they like and I am obliged to answer. So the OPCC staff go into a huddle to make sure that I am armed with all the relevant data.
Then it is off to the City Hall for the meeting. I park up at Mansfield Road police station to meet the Deputy Chief Constable. Mr Nixon is coming along to be on hand in case there are any questions on operational matters. It is just as well that he does, for there are several questions for him. There are also a fair few for me, but but happily, thanks to our preparation earlier, I had the answers ready..
Meeting over, it is back to the office for a celebratory cup of Earl Grey and slice of cake. Also a 28 page report I need to read for a meeting later in the week. Sigh.
Tuesday 15 February
Today is a London Day, so I hop on the train to London. On arrival at St Pancras I find I have plenty of time until my first meeting. I decide to walk. I’m halfway there when it starts to rain. I arrive slightly soggy for a cup of tea with a government SPecial ADvisor [or SPAD] spad – a man with a brain the size of a planet and a contact book just as big. I pick his brains over the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and how it might affect the Leicestershire Police. Detailed stuff. I take pages of notes. As I leave, I take a detour to pay my respects to the RAF Bomber Command Memorial [my dad served in Bomber Command in World War II].
Next up is the Onward think tank, where the notion of “levelling up” originated. Their director explains why there is not much about policing in the current government blueprint, but assures me that police & justice are key to “part two”. What part two, I wonder.
I then hop on the tube to go to see a journalist has invited me to his house to discuss the media take on the Bill I have just talked to the SPAD about. It is over a mile from the tube station to his house and is now raining steadily. I enter his house and drip rainwater on this doormat. He takes one look at me and dashes to the kitchen to heat up some soup – sound chap! He also produces a Melton Mowbray pork pie. We talk about how the Bill may affect the police and the courts. I have just about dried out when it is time to face the rain again to meet a couple of politicos who offer clear views on the review of how PCCs are functioning and pass on talk from within Government.
I want to have a positive influence on the matters that affect policing and our communities so these are the hard yards that I need to take place, behind the scenes to make a difference.
Wednesday 16 February
Back in the office I get the results of the consultation on changing the name of the Force. As expected it is a thumbs down. I’d been anticipating a “no” majority of about 2:1, but it turns out to be over 8:1. The public have spoken, as a democrat I will implement what they have decided. Unlike the vote that went for “Boaty McBoatface” as the new name for a ship, when the consultation was ignored.
I then dive into the OPCC Team Meeting. Everyone seems in fine fettle. However, one of my secrets is out. A friend is getting married and she has invited me on her hen weekend. Everyone finds this hilarious. The ladies offer some advice on what I should expect during the weekend. I hope that they are wrong, but fear they are correct!
Time to squeeze in a quick interview with ITV Central about the emerging issue of men not reporting sexual violence and abuse. It was meant to be face to face but in the event it became zoom to zoom. Not quite the same but hey ho.
I have a meeting with Cllr Nick Rushton, Leader of Leicestershire County Council, and his top team. We meet periodically to discuss how to keep the residents of the county safe. But this time the County Council team are more interested in the levelling up agenda. That makes two of us.
I am about halfway through my next meeting [with the Chamber of Commerce to discuss business fraud] when my stomach gives an embarrassingly loud gurgle. I glance at my watch. It is 3:30pm and I’ve had no lunch. I take a break before my 4pm meeting to have a slice of cake.
Thursday 17 February
This week’s Community Thursday is in the Vale of Belvoir. The sun is shining as I motor through Tilton on the Hill and the entire Vale is laid out before me bathed in beautiful sunshine. But by the time I arrive in Bottesford for the first meeting it is raining.
We start with a trip to the police office tucked away in the local school where we meet PC Dan Daley. PC Daley is a local lad who was educated at the same school where he now has his office. He tells us about local problems with ASB, drink driving and farm thefts. Then we are off on a drive around his vast patch. He takes us to see areas hit by hare coursing, speeding traffic and an RTC blackspot. We also take in Belvoir Castle and a charity shop [which has an excellent range of second hand books].
Back in Bottesford we leave PC Daley to his work and head for a local tea room to meet Cllr Pru Chandler and Cllr Don Pritchett. They talk to me about pretty much the same issues that PC Daley highlighted – though they add a concern about the pressure on local services put by the large number of new houses being built. In particular, youth services.
Then I meet a number of local business owners. They highlight one nasty recent incident when a youth from outside the village got off the train, assaulted a shop worker and tried to steal goods from two shops. They all praised the prompt police action on this, but asked how the case was progressing. I promised to find out.
We then drove out to Easthorpe to meet a farmer about local thefts of trailers and other equipment. Also criminal damage and trespass. He also shows us a field that he is converting to be a natural burial ground. Another landowner from Muston Gap joins us to talk about hare coursing and other issues. Every meeting highlighted the importance of dealing with policing issues in rural areas.
I return to Bottesford to meet with a group of a couple of dozen local residents. They also praise the local police and the work that they do. I’m just leaving when I bump into Police Dog Bear, who is part way trained. I grab a photo before slipping off to pay my respects at the graves of the RAF Bomber Command personnel who are buried in the churchyard.
Friday 18 February
This is going to sound terribly dull, but I spend the entire day catching up with emails, reading reports and watching the howling wind of Storm Eunice lashing the trees outside the window. I’m glad that I am indoors and have renewed respect for our officers who are out and about in this terrible weather. As I write this at 3:30pm I am about half way through the backlog of paperwork. Looks like I won’t finish it off today after all.
You can follow the Commissioner on a daily basis on Twitter - @rupert_matthews
