My Week - 29 October to 4 November
Monday began with a meeting with Inspector Graham Wells, commander at Spinney Hills Police Station in Leicester. We had a lengthy chat about the situation in the area of East Leicester that he looks after. It was good to hear about the time being spent on community liaison. That is important for the police anywhere, but especially so in an area with such diverse communities as East Leicester.
I then had a meeting with my Chief Financial Officer. This was largely taken up with a review of how the finances of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner [OPCC] are measuring up compared to the Budget we set ourselves for this financial year. Pretty good was the answer. Income and expenditure is more or less where we expected it to be. We then had a discussion about the current situation of the Budget for the Police Force.
The rest of Monday was taken up with dealing with emails.
Tuesday opened with a trip into Leicester to meet with representatives from the Leicester Council of Faiths. We had a wide ranging discussion about the relationships between the different faiths in our area – and looked at some of the upcoming events that the Council or its members were planning to hold. The different faiths of the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are part of the rich cultural heritage of our city – though it is impossible to deny that there are sometimes tensions as well as co-operation.
I then went back to the office for the East Midlands Regional Board. This is where the Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables of Northamptonshire, Leicestershire & Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire all get together to discuss matters of mutual interest. Top of the agenda this time was “EMSOU”, a joint venture which pools resources to deal with serious and organized crimes. The venture is broadly successful so it was good to talk about ways in which it can be improved even further.
Wednesday kicked off with my routine weekly meeting with the Chief Constable where we go over what has been happening police-wise across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland [LLR]. That was followed by a cup of tea with Kieran from the Leicestershire Cares charity, a meeting with the Chief Executive of the OPCC, another with the Head of Communications and finally with the member of staff who arranges my visits. Finally, it was time to deal with more emails.
Thursday was my Community Day for week. This is when I get out of the office to meet people in a particular part of our Force Area. This time it was Rutland. After a chat with some business people in Uppingham I found I had time to spare so I went and knocked on a few doors to see who was in. It was good to chat with members of the public – especially as they had not expected me. I was pleased how many knew that the police office was now open to the public and even more so that they appreciated the visibility of the police in the town. Then it was off to a combined meeting of Barrowden and Tixover parish councils to discuss road safety issues on the A47. That was followed by a walkabout of Oakham town centre with the head of the Rutland Community Safety Partnership after which I met with the Edith Weston parish council.
After a fairly hectic Thursday, it spent nearly all of Friday reading reports and dealing with emails.
Saturday saw me at the Antoin Akpom Achievements Foundation award ceremony where a wide range of people were recognized for their work in the community – especially those working to reduce violence and knife crime. To find out more about the work of the Foundation to their website - https://www.aaa4success.co.uk
