PFCC targets £300K investment to create safer roads in Essex
The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex is targeting investment in extra road crime hotspot policing in the county, after a similar approach has proved successful in driving down anti-social behaviour.
Following the success achieved in the past year by investment in targeted anti-social behaviour policing, the PFCC has allocated £300,000 of Local Safer Streets Funding which will be spent on extra road traffic patrols, traffic crime monitoring and community speedwatch at identified road crime hotspots.
Over the past year to the end of January anti-social behaviour incidents in Essex have decreased by 38.5% and the new targeted investment from the PFCC is hoping to achieve a similar significant drop in speeding incidents and road traffic accidents.
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said: “We’re going to more of what works. Targeted investment to bring down anti-social behaviour has worked, now we are targeting investment to bring down road crime.
“In public meetings and the PFCC Rural Crime Forum, the public tell me that speeding in rural areas is a major crime concern. This investment will now target that rural crime with extra police patrols and extra police and community speed camera patrols.”
Successful community groups to receive share of £320k PFCC funding
Voluntary services and community groups will be benefiting from up to £20k grants thanks to the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex (PFCC).
The groups all applied to the PFCC Community Safety Development Fund (CSDF) which totalled £260k and the funding has now been approved.
The CSDF has been further boosted by extra funding made available from the Violence and Vulnerability Fund of £58k.
Successful applicants needed to demonstrate how they will make a positive impact on at least one of the Police and Crime Plan or Fire and Rescue Plan priorities.
Southend-on-Sea has been selected by the British Ironworks to host The Knife Angel during July to symbolise the devastating impact of violent crime.
The Knife Angel, The National Monument Against Violence and Aggression is a thought provoking 27-foot-high sculpture crafted from over 100,000 confiscated or surrendered weapons. The weapons include knives, inscribed with messages from impacted families or former offenders, confiscated by Police Forces across the country.
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex and chair of the Violence and Vulnerability Partnership, said: “Essex is a safe county, but one knife crime is one too many.
“The Knife Angel is a great conversation starter. It powerfully reminds us of the tragedies and heartbreak caused by knife crime, but also gives us a reason to talk about the dangers possession of a knife brings, allowing us to educate our young people and communities in order to keep Southend safe.”
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service launches campaign to cut false alarms
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is taking proactive measures to reduce the hundreds of false alarms it attends each year.
According to the latest statistics, firefighters responded to over 1240 false alarms in commercial buildings last year.
Group Manager Dave Bond, Head of Protection at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, emphasised the importance of the campaign, saying:
“Fire alarm systems are designed to provide an early warning of fire so that members of the public have ample time to exit a building and make their way to a place of safety.
“Unfortunately, the vast majority of signals from these systems are not generated by fire but other causes such as a fault in the system or cooking, steam, dust, smoking or vaping.
“This can lead to crews being turned out unnecessarily to what is a false alarm, otherwise known as unwanted fire signal.
