Police and Crime Plan Review
This review looks at the most recent Police and Crime Plans. It focuses on plans for multiple and complex needs and transition to adulthood and explores how they reflect the breadth of need. It also provides a tool for identifying Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC)’s areas of interest.
Police and Crime Plans are the main documents that show the public what PCCs are prioritising in their areas. Since the election of the first PCCs in 2012, PCCs have emerged as influential leaders at a local and national level. Faced with the challenge of balancing limited resources while meeting constantly changing local needs, they have shown a willingness to innovate and take risks.
PCCs are responsible for holding the police to account, setting police budgets and priorities and hiring and firing chief constables. They are also responsible for the many aspects of the ‘and crime’ part of their title. It is in this area that PCCs have shown an appetite for dealing with difficult local problems by commissioning services and thinking at systems level.
Some PCCS have used the role to bring together stakeholders and fellow local leaders from other sectors to respond to local need. Together they have sought to find creative ways of addressing often deep-seated problems. Many PCCs are also contributing at strategic level to the functioning of other systems – for example, through representation on local authority health and wellbeing boards.
We examined the plans on three different levels:
how the needs of the population in a PCC area were assessed
what needs were identified
what priorities have been established as a result to meet these needs, reduce crime and prevent harm.
