Do you have thoughts on your local police service?

Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Sue Mountstevens wants to hear your views about police and crime services in your community.

Across Avon and Somerset, the Office of the PCC (OPCC) lead improvement in policing, victim support and criminal justice services on behalf of local people to ensure all residents and members of our diverse communities feel safe. We know that each community has different needs and priorities, and coronavirus has caused great disruption to the way we all live and work.

As we all begin the journey of recovery from the impact of the global health pandemic, we want to make positive changes to our services to make sure we focus money, police officers and resources in the right places.

Last year, the Government announced Operation Uplift, their plan to recruit 20,000 new police officers across the country. As a result, Avon and Somerset Police will be able to recruit additional officers over the next few years.

We're asking local people to help us understand what matters most to our communities and where they think the extra officers should be by answering our short survey.

PCC Sue Mountstevens said: "There have been plenty of policing issues talked about in the media recently, like the Black Lives Matter protests, people holding unlicensed music events, the disproportionality of coronavirus regulation policing and many other issues.

"I have had thousands of emails, calls and other forms of contact from people living and working in our communities who want to express their concerns and opinions on these matters.

"This has been a difficult year for everyone and we have a unique opportunity to re-evaluate the services we are delivering and ensure that the voices of local people are heard in that process.

"The priorities of my Police and Crime Plan are protecting the most vulnerable people from harm; strengthening local communities; ensuring the police have the right people, right culture and the right capability; and, working in partnership with other police forces and partner agencies to deliver the best services for local people.

"We can't do any of that, or get the police to deliver on those priorities, if we don't understand what that means for local people.

"We need you to let us know what you think about how you and your community is policed, what the police service does well, and what we can tell them to improve.

"The police service is under a great deal of pressure and with huge demand we need to think carefully about how best to resource that.

"By working with the police and partner agencies, the OPCC strive towards our vision of excellent victim services, better policing and fairer criminal justice services for all.

"I would like your thoughts on how to achieve that within these priority areas."

The survey is HERE: the PCC site