TAKE a look at how the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex is working with Essex Police and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service to keep everyone who lives, works and travels in Essex safe.

The PFCC has published his annual reports which reflect on the progress being made against the priorities in the Police and Crime Plan and Fire and Rescue Plan.

The reports highlight what has been achieved over the year by both Services and how the PFCC is working in partnership with community safety stakeholders and commissioned services to get crime down, protect the vulnerable and keep  communities safe.

Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “The annual reports for the police and fire and rescue service help shine a spotlight on the successes and areas of challenge across both Services.

“Rightly so, we set ourselves tough targets in our plans, based on what the people of Essex and our partners told us was important.

“We are on track to recruit an extra 900 police officers by March 2023, and we are increasing investment in our neighbourhood and community policing teams, while the Fire and Rescue Service continues to develop and deliver on its prevention, protection and response programmes.

“We have achieved a lot in the last year, and I want to thank all staff across the police and the fire and rescue service for the work they do in making our communities safe places to live, work and thrive.”

Key achievements for 2021/22

Essex Police

• ·       In the 2021/22 financial year, Essex Police officer numbers grew from 3,369 to 3,555 (full time equivalents) and will grow by a further 200 in the coming year, making Essex Police the strongest it has ever been.
• ·       Anti-social Behaviour, Theft and Dwelling Burglary continue to see year on year reductions.
• ·       Public confidence in Essex Police continued to increase from 64% in the 12 months to Dec 2019 to 80.1% in 12 months to Dec 2021.
• ·       The Commissioner helped secure £832,863 funding for Independent Domestic Abuse Advisors (IDVAs) and Independent Sexual Abuse Advisors (ISVAs), expanding services and helping to reach more victims.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service

• ·       Through focused prevention work we have seen dwelling fires reduce from 818 in 2018 to 725 in 2021/22.
• ·       The Service carried out 6,646 safe and well and home safety checks across Essex – an increase from 4,346 in 2020-21.
• ·       In the year 2021/22 the Service delivered a joint education programme to over 100,000 school aged children across Essex.
• ·       The cultural change programme within the Service continues to make significant impact and the work being done to embed and promote the right values and culture was recognised in a report by HMICFRS in 2021.

The annual reports are published in full on the PFCC website: Annual Report – Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner (pfcc.police.uk)