Women in Policing and officer recruitment will be the topics covered when Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Mark Shelford, questions Chief Constable, Sarah Crew, at this month’s Performance and Accountability Board (PAB).

The monthly meeting sees the PCC publicly hold the Chief Constable to account for delivering policing that is efficient, effective, and legitimate.

The live broadcast will take place on Thursday 9th March from 4.15pm for thirty minutes on Teams and Facebook Live.

The broadcast can be access here:

‘Operation Uplift’ is the Government’s aim to recruit of an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by March 2023. With the final target due at the end of this month, the PCC will be asking the Chief Constable what these additional officers will be doing across the force.

The PCCs Police and Crime Plan includes the need for Avon and Somerset Police force to be representative of the communities it serves. This is not about meeting numerical targets or box ticking; this must be delivered in a meaningful and ethical way. This meeting will be an opportunity for the PCC to gain reassurance that this is happening within Avon and Somerset Police force.  

PCC Mark Shelford said “This meeting is an opportunity for you to hear the Chief Constables response to the questions I put to her on Women in Policing and what our extra offices will be doing to support your community.”

If you have any questions, concerns or issue you would like to have the PCC raise, please do contact the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) via the contact page on their website.

Police Recruitment

Avon and Somerset Police have been recruiting; however, recruitment is just the first step. Policing is complex work, and the organisation is large and varied. It is essential the whole workforce is supported and enabled to do their job to the best of their ability. The PCC Police and Crime Plan includes a focus on recruitment, stating that “the organisation needs to be desirable to different communities to work for and the application processes must be fair and supportive of people with different ethnicities.”

In 2020, the Government pledged to provide the Police, nationally, with more than £15 billion to fight crime and recruit more officers. The funding package for 2021 to 2022 included more than £400 million to continue recruitment of 20,000 extra officers.

Women in Policing

Next week is ‘International Women’s Day’ (on the 8th March), a brilliant opportunity to recognise Women within Avon and Somerset Police and their contribution to the force.

Tackling misogyny has been something Avon and Somerset Police have been doing for many years. In 2017, Avon and Somerset were the first Police services to recognise and record gender-based hate crime. Since then, they have adopted the national Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy framework, which challenges sexism and misogyny in Policing.

The Police work with partners such as: