Matthew Barber, Thames Valley Police (TVP) Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC), Jason Hogg, TVP Chief Constable and Superintendent Steve Raffield, Reading LPA Commander attended the meeting to give presentations and answer questions from members of the Committee.

The PCC summarised his areas of focus for 2024 which included improving contact channels, recruitment, Project Vigilant for preventing sexual violence in the night-time economy, work to target shoplifting, and a youth element of Operation Deter which was a zero-tolerance approach to tackling knife crime.  The presentation by the Chief Constable covered subjects including the new Local Command Unit Structure, Neighbourhood Policing, Contact Management and Digital 101, Violence Against Women and Girls, and a summary of TVP Force Activity for 1 April – 31 December 2023.  The presentation by the LPA Commander covered crime statistics for the Reading Local Police Area (01/04/2023 – 04/03/2024), local work to tackle neighbourhood crime (robbery, theft from the person, vehicle offences and dwelling burglary), community engagement, retail crime and tackling organised crime.

The Committee asked questions on subjects including keeping young people out of the criminal justice system, Neighbourhood Policing officer numbers, engagement with retailers on shoplifting, vetting of recruits following the murder of Sarah Everard, prioritising violence against women and girls, road safety on King’s Road, theft from commercial vehicles, officer retention, and avoiding a blanket approach to referrals to Children’s Social Care.

Resolved –

          That the Thames Valley Police PCC, Chief Constable and LPA Commander be thanked for their presentations.