Police push to improve island’s confidence in them

Monday 13 April 2020

Hiring more officers, boosting their visibility and diversity, and clamping down on hate crime and antisocial abuse are some of the things the Police will be doing over the next four years to increase islanders’ trust in them.

Public confidence in the force was listed as one of the main policing priorities in the police’s strategic plan for 2020 to 2023.

It comes as the number of complaints made against the force continue to decrease every year. 

Pictured: The number of complaints against the police has decreased over the last few years.

A total of 11 complaints were referred to the Jersey Policing Authority in 2019, compared to 25 in 2016, comprising of nine public complaints and two cases referred by the police relating to death or serious injury following police contact. 

Five of the complaints related to harassment, threatening behaviour or abuse of authority, only one of those was found to be substantiated while the others were either frivolous, partly substantiated or unsubstantiated.

“One of the main strategic outcomes of this new Plan, is that people have confidence in their Police Force,” said Jason Lane, who chairs the Jersey Police Authority. 

Mr Lane said increasing the number of warranted officers - the Government promised in its plan to fund the recruitment of new officers to grow the force from 190 to 215 - will ensure the police have a presence in the community.  

The JPA chair added: “These extra officers will make an enormous difference, not just to the service that the public of Jersey rightly expect, but also to officers themselves, relieving stress and allowing for greater flexibility in deployment, training and leave.”

Pictured: Improving public's confidence is one of the police's priorities.

This recruitment will also help bring back the Community Policing function, which, Mr Lane said, will focus “on early intervention, greater partnership working and the prevention of crime and anti-social behaviour”.  

“We will be even more visible, often patrolling on foot at key locations and at a time when we can most effectively provide reassurance, prevent crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour,” Robin Smith, the force’s Chief Officer, explained. 

“With the use of social media, we will be more accessible too, ensuring you know who your local officer is and how best to contact and engage with them."

While increasing the number of officers in its ranks, Jersey Police said they will also look to have a more diverse workforce to “better reflect the community”.

Last year, they launched a major new recruitment campaign, when officer numbers reached their lowest since records began.