Keeping our City Safe is a key priority, and the police do a good job of supporting our communities. But by 2019, police numbers needed increasing.
So I pledged more officers, and since Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Chris Nelson’s election in 2021, I am delighted that he and the Gloucestershire Constabulary have recruited over 400 new full-time Police Officers, Community Support Officers and front-line staff.
This is the largest proportional increase of resources per capita of any force in the country.
The result is anti-social behaviour down by 50%, more crimes being solved (with several successful operations to get drugs off our streets) and waiting times for 999 and 101 reduced.
This is helped by £5m of Government Safer Streets Funding, which has introduced automatic number plate recognition cameras and movable CCTV cameras to target crime hot-spots including in Gloucester Park and Kingsway. In October 2023, the PCC secured extra Safer Streets funding from which Gloucester will get two new Community Protection Officers.
There will always be more to do on community safety – but we’ve come a long way.