Polls open in Kent and Medway this Thursday, with candidates from Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties wanting your vote.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 The three individuals asking for your vote this Thursday, they're all standing to be
00:04 the next Police and Crime Commissioner. But what do they stand for?
00:09 It's getting more boots on the ground, delivering the new neighbourhood policing model which
00:12 will see named officers in your local community, additional hotspot patrols in your wards and
00:18 also on our roads to make people safer.
00:21 I believe that we do need more bobbies on the beat, more police support officers to
00:28 be seen to be the ears and eyes of the people.
00:30 I want to increase visible policing, I want to deal with anti-social behaviour and the
00:35 soaring shoplifting figures across Kent and Medway. And the way that I'll do that is by
00:40 investing in preventative programmes.
00:43 But what exactly is a Police and Crime Commissioner?
00:47 The role is political and a commissioner is separate from Kent Police itself. They have
00:51 the responsibility of holding the Chief Constable to account, setting policing priorities and
00:57 the budget and how much you and I pay in council tax towards Kent Police.
01:02 But also seen as the bridge between the force and the public and with current levels of
01:07 trust in policing low, how do these candidates plan to change that?
01:11 We've increased resources into vetting to make sure those who are joining and those
01:14 who are doing specialist roles are being checked properly. I've helped set up a national whistleblowing
01:20 hotline to make sure that people can anonymously report concerns about police officer behaviour.
01:26 But in addition to that, the trust is also built on the street.
01:30 Yeah, trust is a big issue but it really shouldn't be because most police officers are fine,
01:36 they are great people. We trust them, we rely on them and there's only a few bad ones that
01:41 have let people down. And you've got to rebuild that trust and I think it can be done.
01:48 So the first thing is holding the Chief Constable to account on things like ensuring that the
01:54 appeal report is delivered on. The appeal report identified that investigations into
01:59 crimes weren't taking place and required improvement in Kent. I think people expect that if they
02:04 report crime that it's investigated. The second thing comes down to transparency.
02:09 Voting opens at 7am on Thursday and closes at 10pm. And you must have a valid voter ID
02:16 and you'll be putting one X in the box next to the candidate of your choice.