‘Election win was part of change in UK politics’: Police Commissioner
New Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Evison
New Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Jonathan Evison has praised the work of his predecessor, and said his election victory was due to “a rebalancing of politics in the UK”.
Mr Evison, a Conservative, is beginning a three-year term of office after winning the Humberside PCC election from Labour’s Keith Hunter last month.
He already had a good working knowledge of the role, and a good relationship with Mr Hunter, having chaired the Humberside Police and Crime Panel for six years, the body which oversees the commissioner.
Asked for his assessment of the force as he begins his tenure, Mr Evison told The Hull Story: “The force had been in quite severe difficulties in recent years, but now with a new chief constable [Lee Freeman] and the good works of my predecessor it’s in a much better place.
“I got on very well with Keith, by the way. I spoke to him at the count, after the results, and we parted on good terms. Obviously, he was very disappointed but I think we are both of a mind on how it’s been run and in another environment the result could have been completely different.
“I’ve said this to many people, particularly MPs, good constituency MPs, because the tide wasn’t out for their party and their type of politics they lost their seats.
“That’s one of the significant reasons, I do believe, in the time I had [to campaign] we did a good campaign, but I think generally there’s been a rebalancing of politics in the UK, particularly because prior to recent times UKIP had featured very heavily and a lot of voters for UKIP were naturally Conservative voters, and we are seeing a rebalancing of the national political picture.”
Mr Evison, a Barton Town councillor for 16 years, and a member of North Lincolnshire Council for nine, only entered the race relatively late on following the sudden withdrawal of previous Conservative candidate Craig Ulliott.
New PCC Jonathan Evison
The new PCC said force morale was good. “I’ve been impressed by the passion of everybody I’ve spoken to,” he said.
“Their chins are up, they are having success and they are quite happy about that success. A lot of people a bit longer in the tooth will remember that wasn’t always the case.”
As well as having one of the highest arrest rates in the country, Humberside Police has been shortlisted for a UK Police Service of the Year award, with the winner due to be announced in September.
The force currently has about 2,000 officers and is continuing to recruit, Mr Evison said, taking advantage of what he called “Boris Bobbies” in reference to the Prime Minister’s pledge to boost police numbers.
Mr Evison said he aims to publish his Police and Crime Plan by September, a strategic document setting out his objectives for the next three years. The chief constable must have this in mind when making operational plans over the period.
Although that is a work in progress, the commissioner has already identified areas he wants to focus on, which include measures to tackle rural crime, on which he said issues such as diesel theft had almost become an “occupational hazard” to victims.
He also said he wanted to do more to support local authorities on tackling fly-tipping in the countryside. Mr Evison also said it could easily be overlooked that rural communities experienced many of the same problems as urban neighbourhoods, such as antisocial behaviour.
County lines drugs gangs will remain a priority, and the PCC will continue to work with partner agencies in efforts to tackle child exploitation and modern day slavery.
INITIATIVE: Jonathan Evison with author Christina Gabbitas at the recent launch of a County Lines music animation
He said education was vital to helping adults and teachers recognise if a child is at risk of exploitation by drugs gangs, for example. “We’ve got to get ahead of problems before the event, because a reactive model is very expensive and a preventive model is a lot cheaper,” he said.
An area he highlighted for improvement was the reporting of crime, which Mr Evison said was a legacy of historic problems with the non-emergency 101 number.
Part of the solution was communicating improvements that have been made, he said.
Mr Evison said: “Four or five years ago the system was very clanky. It was a national system. People were ringing and it was dropping them off and it was very difficult.
“It was upgraded about two years ago but the confidence levels have not improved. Humberside has now got one of the best contact rates and response times in the country. The control room in Hessle is one of the best in the country, but people still remember those days.”
Mr Evison said he also hoped to make use of the combined power of all four local local authorities in the force area when it came to seeking funding from Government.
He said: “One local authority might have 165,000 residents but the combined region of 900,000 is a bigger voice. We are going to try and work together to have more bang for our buck.”
Mr Evison said he wanted to be a very visible and accessible commissioner, and said he hoped “criminals will be sick of seeing me”.
He said: “I’m a very gregarious, very outgoing person, and I will be out there talking to stakeholders, talking to local authorities, and being an advocate for the public. I will be asking people what they want from their police service.”