Medway Council vote against proposed 80 new police officers

*First published at Kent Buzz*

Medway Council voted against a motion intended to build enforcement partnerships to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour.

Cllr Tristan Osborne, Labour representative for Luton and Wayfield, proposed to collaborate with the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to allocate an additional 80 Police officers to Medway from April 2023.

This was proposed in consideration of additional Kent Police Budget capacity with the reduction of PCSO numbers and focus on increased police numbers with the new Neighbourhood Policing model for Kent.

Cllr Tristan Osborne had his motion rejected

Osborne said: ‘We have listened to residents, and we believe our proposals support the police and our community safety professionals to better engage with the community and better communicate with our residents to ensure we all live in a vibrant, safe and diverse area.’

Cllr David Brake, Conservative representative for Walderslade, opposed the motion: ‘It’s not down to us to start telling the police how many officers or PCOs are assigned to an area.’

The proposed motion also intended the creation of enforcement hubs, both online and offline, where members of the public can go to a ‘one-stop shop’ to identify a council ward officer to assist them.

The concept was modelled on the success of Enforcement Hubs introduced by Redbridge Council that acted as a safe place for residents to raise community safety concerns or report crime.

Cllr Gloria Opara, Conservate representative for Princes Park, claimed: ‘It undermines the great work that our community safety team are doing.’

There were 32,541 recorded crimes in Medway between April 2021 – March 2022, according to Kent Police data.

The Victim Based Crime Statistics highlight Medway is the seventh highest Unitary Authority area across England for reported crime per 1,000 people.

Kent Police have proposed Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) numbers to be cut as job losses to save £7m, cutting 70% of PCSO Numbers. The force has proposed to close 208 full-time equivalent PCSO positions, leaving 102 officers in post.

Cllr Clive Johnson, Labour representative for Gillingham South, said: ‘Crime is rising, and residents are losing faith in police response.’

When taken to a vote, the motion was lost, and the council meeting concluded.