Hampshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Hayes, is seeking questions from members of the public on their confidence in the police for the next Commissioner’s Performance, Accountability, Scrutiny and Strategy (COMPASS) meeting with Hampshire Constabulary’s Chief Constable Andy Marsh.
Mr Hayes is responsible for challenging police culture, attitudes and behaviours and ultimately holding Hampshire Constabulary to account on behalf of Hampshire and Isle of Wight residents.
Public confidence in police has been severely shaken in recent times following high profile criticism of the conduct of officers, both past and present, in the handling of the Stephen Lawrence murder, the alleged police cover up following the Hillsborough disaster, dishonest officers in the Plebgate affair and police response to domestic abuse.
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Tom Winsor stated “the police service has been damaged, but it is certainly not broken” in last month’s HMIC annual assessment statement.
Commissioner Simon Hayes said:
“I will seek assurances from Chief Constable Andy Marsh that the public can trust Hampshire Constabulary in the way it conducts itself in relation to areas such as leadership, governance and standards, complaints processes, and data and statistics. So, I invite members of the public to submit their own questions on this particular topic.”
In order to be considered by the Commissioner, questions must:
- be related to confidence in policing
- not discuss specific or individual cases or investigations
- not be related to the work of the Police and Crime Commissioner, as the COMPASS meetings are about the performance of Hampshire Constabulary.
The submission deadline is Thursday, April 24, 2014. Questions can be submitted via telephoning 01962 871595, emailing [email protected] or via Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #COMPASS.
To keep up to date with the developments around the COMPASS meetings, members of the public are encouraged to sign up to the Commissioner’s monthly bulletin via the My Settings tab on the Commissioner’s website www.hampshire-pcc.gov.uk, follow the Commissioner on Twitter @HantsPCC, or find the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire on Facebook.
