The chief constable of Merseyside Police has spoken about “issues of trust and confidence” in the police in the light of recent national scandals.
Referring to the case of rapist PC David Carrick, who is awaiting sentence on multiple charges, Merseyside Police’s chief constable spoke at a meeting of Knowsley Council’s full council last night, January 25.
Chief Constable Kennedy said: “Only last week with the events and information coming to light with PC Carrick in the Met, we recognise there is an issue with trust and confidence in policing”.
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She added that “building trust and confidence” is a “priority” within Merseyside communities in light of national scandals and local policing issues – although later added that “the majority still have confidence in Merseyside Police.”
As well as discussing issues around serious organised crime and anti-social behaviour in the borough and beyond, Chief Constable Kennedy said one of the priorities for Merseyside Police was improving policing for black communities, building on the national race action plan – as well as a focus on violence against women and girls.
She said that in Knowsley, which makes up 10% of all crime on Merseyside, there has been a 6% increase in reports of crime in the past 12 months – something which is also reflected across the wider region.
One of the biggest increases in the past 10 years, nationally as well as locally has been in terms of domestic violence. Chief Constable Kennedy said that whereas in 2010 the force was dealing with up to 350 incidents a week, that figure has now risen dramatically to more like 3,000.
Some of that increase is a “recording issue” due to the introduction of specific offences around coercive and controlling behaviour, but a wider increase in reporting of offences has also driven up the statistics which, according to the chief constable is a “real positive in terms of confidence of victims and survivors to come forward.”
With an increase in hate crime figures over recent years, the chief constable said this could also reflect changes in people reporting such incidences.
In response to a question by Cllr Denise Allen about how hate crime among young people was dealt with, Chief Constable Kennedy spoke of the wider rise in reporting, saying: “When it goes up – is that a bad thing I’m never sure. I don’t want people to tolerate hate crime.
“When I speak to people from communities specifically around minority ethnic backgrounds, who quite often have a threshold, a tolerance where they tolerate certain abuse – when that goes up it could be their tolerance is lower and not willing to accept that any more.”
She said it was important that when people report hate crime they receive a good service to ensure trust and confidence, with hate crimes being referred through the Anthony Walker foundation to ensure people get the support they need.
Other issues raised during the meeting included questions about the use of handcuffs by police community support officers (PCSOs). Opposition leader Cllr Kai Taylor asked what was behind the increase in officers carrying handcuffs and whether this would be “counter-productive” in building trust within communities.
Chief Constable Kennedy said that this was part of a pilot that was being trialled in response to requests from PCSOs around personal safety, which would be monitored to look at the impact, including whether it had any effect on confidence and trust issues with local communities.
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