Happy Hogs Rescue

“Yesterday the IPCC released a statement regarding an incident that occurred in Humberside Police in 2014. The officers involved in that incident were dealt with by a misconduct hearing in February of this year. It is not my role to second-guess, from a distance, the findings or sanctions handed out during that process. “Although I had been unaware of this incident, the statement released by Humberside Police raised a number of questions and concerns for me. I spoke to the Chief Constable about this matter and was reassured that the most important of these issues, relating to the victim, had been dealt with. The statement issued by the Force yesterday did not reflect the action taken by Humberside Police and could be interpreted as being defensive, when the Force had actually fully accepted its fault and apologised to the victim and his family. “Although this incident occurred two years before I took over as Commissioner it still has the ability to shock. Nothing can excuse the manner in which the victim of this terrible incident was dealt with. It is my role to hold the Chief Constable to account for the actions of Humberside Police, not apologise for them, but I am sorry any person should have endured what this victim did when they should have been in the care of Humberside Police. “I will follow up any managerial and leadership issues identified within the full IPCC report with the Chief Constable when it is published and ensure the public are informed of issues of concern and how they are addressed.” Keith Hunter Police and Crime Commissioner Posted on Friday 27th May 2016

So-called ‘Legal Highs’ are now illegal Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter has given his support to new legislation on so-called ‘Legal Highs’ which comes into effect today, Thursday 26th May 2016. The Psychoactive Substances Act will introduce a blanket ban on the production, supply and importation of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), commonly referred to as ‘Legal Highs’ and prosecution may lead to a prison sentence of up to seven years. Keith Hunter said: “I’m well aware of the problems associated with so-called ‘Legal Highs’ and I think the name is part of the issue because people would see these substances as having achieved some legitimacy because of the word ‘legal’. I think we should start calling them what they are, which is dangerous substances, the contents of which we have no idea of in the vast majority of cases. “The new legislation will take some steps to ensure people don’t use them, but part of the issue here is education to illustrate to people, particularly young people, the very serious effects some of these substances can have, which can be more serious than some of the more traditional drugs. What I would say is, don’t put anything into your body unless you know exactly what it is. We need a strong educational process in place with local authorities to reach out to people using so-called ‘Legal Highs’ and show them that there are different ways they can be happy in their lives rather than pumping chemicals with unknown side-effects into their bodies. For further details on the new legislation see: www.gov.uk/government Posted on Thursday 26th May 2016

Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter has marked his first week in office by launching two major funding streams for 2016/17. As part of his wider role, Mr Hunter has responsibility for commissioning services to improve community safety and supporting victims of crime. Over half a million pounds is being made available from today for organisations to apply for funding. The money will be split between two streams. The Community Safety Fund is open until 30th September for the Commissioners’ criminal justice and community safety partners, including organisations such as Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs), Youth Offending Teams (YOTs), Humberside Criminal Justice Board (HCJB), Health and Wellbeing partners and Local Safeguarding Boards. It may also include some larger national charities who may have particular innovative ideas about how to deliver safer communities across the Humber region.  The Victims’ Fund is open until 28th October and aims to provide financial assistance to specialist support services to enable them to meet the needs of victims of crime and help them to cope and recover from their experience. In addition, the Commissioner’s Crime Reduction Fund launched in 2014 will continue under Mr Hunter. Community groups, particularly smaller organisations such as Neighbourhood Watch and residents’ associations can apply for funding for projects to reduce crime and improve safety. All three funds will be reviewed by the Commissioner later in the year as he develops his future plans. Keith said: “As Police and Crime Commissioner I will seek to make a real difference to reducing crime but the responsibility for that does not lay solely with the police. It’s better to build safer communities than deal with the aftermath of crime and that needs true partnership. These funds will give other organisations in community safety and justice the opportunity to work with me to build some sustainable plans to make us all feel safer. Victims of crime deserve the right response and support to help them move on with their lives, I look forward to reading the applications for both of these funds and interested parties can find out more on my website HERE ” Posted on Friday 20th May 2016

Keith Hunter begins his work as Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter, the newly elected Police and Crime Commissioner for the Humberside Police force area, began his term of office today with a pledge to give communities a stronger voice in how their areas are policed.  Mr Hunter previously had a 30-year career as a police officer in the Humberside force rising to the rank of Chief Superintendent, and since leaving he has worked as a consultant to police and criminal justice agencies overseas.  Looking ahead to the challenges his new role will bring, Mr Hunter said: “I had a successful career serving the public of Northern Lincolnshire, East Yorkshire and Hull as a police officer and it is an honour to serve them again as their Police and Crime Commissioner. I am under no illusions as to the scale of the task I have before me, crime is up, public satisfaction with the police is down and morale within the service is at an all time low. “My job now though is to represent the public and hold the police to account and I will use my experience to ensure I do that effectively. Neighbourhood policing is at the top of my priorities and I will work to rebuild it so it becomes central to service delivery again. I will challenge Government cuts which are undermining the model of policing that the public say they want and will look to work with all our partner organisations locally to make a real difference and pass more power to communities. “The current state of policing service delivery is not down to the dedicated officers and staff who work day and night protecting our residents and dealing with complex and sometimes very unpleasant incidents; they deserve our respect, but lately, for a variety of reasons, they have become demoralised. This does affect the quality of service to the public and my aim is to raise their heads once again and restore and build upon that essential connection with the public. “I have no doubt the next four years will be tough, but I put myself forward for this role to make a difference for all our communities, whether they be urban or rural and I am ready for the challenge. Humberside Police has been through a tough period and I am determined to get it firmly on the road to recovery delivering for all the people of the area.” Posted on Thursday 12th May 2016

Keith Hunter is the new Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner KEITH HUNTER has been elected as the new Police and Crime Commissioner for the Humberside Police force area. Following the first round count of ballot papers today at Bridlington Spa, no candidate had achieved the required overall majority of votes cast and Mr Hunter was elected after a second count of supplementary votes with a majority of 24,353 (full result below). Following the announcement of the final result by the Returning Officer, Mr Hunter was sworn in as the new Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside. He will officially commence the role on Thursday 12th May. First Round Count Result                                Second Round Count Result                           Total Keith Hunter (Lab) – 62,010                                Keith Hunter (Lab) – 14,118                             76,128 Matthew Grove (Con) – 40,925                          Matthew Grove (Con) – 10,850                        51,775      ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————Mike Whitehead (UKIP) – 27,434 Denis Healy (LibDem) – 21,441 Posted on Friday 6th May 2016

Posted: Wednesday 8th July 2015 Blog: 2015 This week marks the tenth anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings in 2005 and in the last few days we have witnessed the atrocities carried out in Tunisia, with the loss of many lives including Claire Windass and Bruce Wilkinson from our own area. My thoughts are with their families. These acts on foreign soil have both shocked and angered us, and we must never think extreme acts of terrorism cannot happen here. Both 7/7 and the brutal killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby in London proved it can. In the last decade the police and security services have worked tirelessly, both locally and nationally, to identify potential threats to our safety and understand what motivates such individuals to carry out these barbaric acts. The most important thing to remember is that this is not just an issue for the police and their partners to manage, it involves all of us. The police need and rely on communities to work with them to spot the signs of extreme behaviour and report suspicions. When I travel to London I always have my wits about me and observe people around me on the tube and trains, yet when I come home I feel more relaxed and less nervous, why is that? Like many people I have probably been guilty of thinking terrorists acts only happen in places like London, but the truth is the capital is heavily protected and terrorists know this, so it would be no surprise if they looked for ‘softer’ targets. Let’s not forget that three of the 7/7 bombers were from Yorkshire. Every police force including Humberside has a team of special branch counter-terrorism officers and staff who are doing vital work to protect us. The very nature of their work means they are out of the public eye, but rest assured they are there. They not only monitor known potential threats but also work with those who are in danger of becoming radicalised, operating a programme of support and intervention to get upstream of the problem and turn people away from radical behaviour.They are part of a national network sharing information as suspects can often move around. Very often radicalisation takes place online, and those targeted are often vulnerable and feel marginalised. Our news bulletins and papers are full of stories of Islamic extremism, but extreme behaviour also comes from far right groups and anarchist elements who infiltrate genuine groups such as those protesting about environmental issues. There is no single threat to public safety, there are many. So what are the signs we can look for? Someone whose behaviour starts to change over a period of time, they may start using extremist language, change their appearance and become isolated or secretive. If you are in any doubt and have suspicions report it. There is nothing wrong with picking up the phone and saying ‘It may be nothing, but…’ You can report suspicions to the police on 101 or the national anti-terrorist hotline – 0800 789 321. Together we can reduce the risk and protect ourselves and others. Matthew

Posted: Monday 15th June 2015 Blog: 2015 It’s almost impossible to listen to a news bulletin or read a newspaper these days without hearing a story of a young or vulnerable person who has been abused. Often these are historical cases, some of them going back decades. As a parent myself, I am angry and appalled and like you, asking how this could have happened without us knowing? What could we have done to stop it? Why didn’t we spot the signs? I’ve often heard people say that looking back, something didn’t seem right, that person we were supposed to trust was abusing young people under our noses and we did nothing. After the crimes of Jimmy Savile were revealed, offences that involved so many young and vulnerable people, the phrase I heard repeated was that he had been ‘hiding in plain sight’. There is no doubt that Savile used his celebrity status and charitable work as a cover which allowed him to carry out abuse with little suspicion. When concerns were raised, victims were on the whole, not believed. This must never be allowed to happen again, and we all have to play our part in preventing abuse. We must be aware and know how to recognise the signs a child is at risk of being exploited. I have recently funded a campaign called ‘Not In Our Community’ with an accompanying video, ‘Jane’s Story’ showing you how this exploitation of our children can happen. You can watch it at www.notinourcommunity.org. I have also funded a mobile app called www.caremonkeys.co.uk aimed at giving information to young people. Please help spread the word.  Humberside Police have a dedicated team of officers working to Protect Vulnerable People (PVP). They act on intelligence to build pictures of what is happening. Little snippets of information reported by police officers, PCSO’s, partner organisations such as social services and support groups, and most importantly from members of the public are fed into a database which highlights names, places and patterns of behaviour. Everybody needs to be aware so we can use those little snippets of information to build up a big picture. If you see something that does not seem right, for example a young teenage girl who hangs around with older boys or gets into cars with them, report it to the police on 101. Imagine if it was your daughter or son at risk you would hope someone would do the same for you. Remember it happens in plain sight in public places like parks or shopping centres. Look for significant age differences, the perpetrators aren’t your stereotypical ‘dirty old man’, nor are they from one particular ethnic group, most are males in their early 20’s and most victims are in their mid-teens. Older males get involved further down the line after the victims have come to trust their new ‘friends’.    By providing the police with this detail, they are getting to know the perpetrators, who they associate with, establishing patterns of behaviour and the locations they visit. Police officers traditionally investigate crimes after they have been committed, our PVP team investigate suspicions so these devastating crimes can be stopped before they happen. Please watch the video, know the signs, and if you suspect something, report it and help protect our children. Matthew

Posted: Friday 6th March 2015 Blog: 2015 Last week I announced a strengthening of the partnership with one of our neighbouring police forces, South Yorkshire, in a bid to meet the financial challenges faced by both organisations. I recently met with my South Yorkshire counterpart Dr Alan Billings together with our Chief Constables, to assess our options and ensure that all our residents can continue to be properly protected and receive the quality police service they are paying for. The necessary reductions in Central Government funding look set to continue, and it is clear that the police will not be protected from this. We expect to have to save another £35m by 2019 so we cannot sit back and do nothing, if we do, policing in this area could collapse. You constantly tell me you want a visible policing presence in our communities and I am determined to ensure this is delivered. The restructure of Humberside Police has identified the bulk of the savings we need to make, but there is still £12m to find. I call this a ‘grey hole’ because we have a good idea of how it can be filled and we believe that collaboration with our neighbours can make a significant contribution. For many years we have worked in partnership with South Yorkshire Police on support services like IT and Human resources, so this is building on what we already have, it’s the start of a new era where we will explore all opportunities to reduce costs to protect front line policing and prevent crime. It’s too early to talk specifically about how things will look in the future, but we already have good examples to demonstrate. For example Humberside Police provide underwater search and marine investigation capability to the whole of the Yorkshire and Humber region, based at Melton. These highly skilled officers have driven up standards and provided a quality service to the other forces, whilst reducing costs by replacing four separate diving units that previously existed. If we can repeat that with other equally specialist services we can make the savings required and still protect the public. In each police force there are a number of highly specialised but expensive services, often working unseen by the public. If some of those services can be shared, it will massively reduce cost while maintaining or even improving the quality of service. Let’s be clear, this is not a merger, both forces will retain their own identity and continue to provide local policing in their own areas, but if we continue to operate as we are and our budgets continue to shrink, I have previously said Humberside Police would reach the tipping point and collapse, putting the public at risk and I am not prepared to allow that to happen. Both the South Yorkshire Commissioner, and I, together with our Chief Constables are committed to protecting the public and reducing crime. This strategic partnership will greatly assist us in meeting the challenges ahead and maintaining an effective police service to you, our residents. Matthew

Posted: Friday 6th February 2015 Blog: 2015 The terrible events in Paris recently and the reports of mass atrocities in Africa show beyond all doubt that the civilised world continues to be under threat from a growing brand of extremism. Our nation has come through wars and conflict in the past, but the enemy we are now up against operates in a totally different way. Today’s terrorists are already here, and the police and security services are taking all the steps they can to review our security strategies to protect the public. Those who commit these terrorist acts here and abroad do not represent Islam and nobody should be fooled into thinking they do. Their distorted views of this peaceful religion are just as abhorrent to the vast majority of Muslims as they are to the rest of us. The events of 9/11 in the USA, the 7/7 London bombings and the Paris shootings have emphasised the need for intelligence, and demonstrated that policing is not just about boots on the ground. If a terrorist cell wants to commit atrocities the likelihood is they will. The only way we can stop them before it’s too late is by gathering information, looking for the signs of suspicious activities, being aware of anything unusual and most importantly, reporting it. Security and safety is everyone’s business, and the public have their part to play, together we are an army of eyes and ears. You may think this level of security is only carried out by the likes of MI5 and GCHQ, but in every police force up and down the country intelligence units are at work every day monitoring suspicious behaviour, trawling online sites and forums, including the so-called ‘dark web’. These police officers and staff are not walking the beat, you may never see them, but they are there, playing a vital role to gather intelligence on who may be planning to commit this type of crime. A nationwide strategy called Prevent aims to counter terrorism and identify those individuals who are at risk of being drawn into extremism, but it would not work without information from the public. The police fully understand that people may be reluctant to tell them about suspicious activity or behaviour because they think it‘s not important, but small things that seem out of place can be useful as part of a bigger investigation, just one piece of information could be crucial in disrupting terrorist activity. Any information can be reported to the police by calling 101 and you are not wasting anyone’s time by saying ‘It’s probably nothing but I think you should know…’. It’s important to remember such incidents are rare and like our predecessors in the war, we should keep calm and carry on, but always be vigilant.      Matthew

Posted: Friday 3rd October 2014 Blog: 2014 The Chief Constable has recently announced her plans to restructure Humberside Police to manage the challenges we face in the years to come due to the reducing funding from central Government. The challenge is a huge one; we have to make savings of over £30m in the next five years, and over 80% of our budget is spent on people. Justine Curran and I were both absolutely clear on two things when this review began; One – We could not carry on doing business as usual, we needed to strip out layers of bureaucracy that had been there for years and create a leaner, more efficient service, and Two – We are a public service and any changes made must put the public first in everything we do, prioritising those who are vulnerable and at risk. This is the biggest transformation to policing in decades, and with the reductions in officer and staff numbers that inevitably follow, it has taken over a year of planning to reach the point where we are confident the new model will continue to provide an effective police service to protect local residents with fewer officers. The review uncovered significant areas where improvements could be made, for example we had the same numbers of officers on duty at 7am as we had at 7pm, yet we were four times busier in the evening. The busiest month of the year was August, yet that was the month when we had the fewest staff available. The structure of geographical divisions created artificial boundaries which will now be eliminated to create one large, flexible team of officers who can be deployed anywhere in the Humberside Policing area, including rural areas if the need is there. It doesn’t matter where they start their shift, they can be sent anywhere, armed with mobile technology that reduces their need to return to a police station to access a computer and there will be around 100 more officers on shift over any given 24-hour period than we have now. That is an improved service, not a reduced one. Your community will not lose its local policing team, you will have named officers and PCSO’s for your area, and wherever possible we will seek to share buildings in the same location with local partners such as councils. It’s vital that services funded by you, the local taxpayer are working together to reduce costs, not operating in isolation.   Your police are there to protect you by preventing crime and catching criminals, yet for years they have dealt with non-policing issues which prevent them from doing that. We need to burst the bubble of sending officers out hundreds of times a year because someone has said something nasty about someone else on Facebook, or to attend non-police matters like noisy neighbours and stray dogs where we should be directing people to the correct agencies to deal with them.  Your police officers and staff do a difficult job in challenging circumstances, moving forward these changes will no doubt have an impact on them so they need our support, but we are a public service and we must put the public first. If we do it well, you as residents will notice no reduction in service and in some cases an improvement, but the fight against crime cannot be won by the police alone, we must all play our part.  Matthew