My plan for the safety of our communities

To make that happen I will:

Prioritise the voices of our communities – and particularly the victims of crime – through South Yorkshire’s first Community Confidence Board.

Despite the damage done by this government, the independent police inspectorate now say South Yorkshire Police are an outstanding Police Force. But not everyone has confidence in the police. All too often, the legacy issues that have faced South Yorkshire Police, and the lived experience of some people across our communities, eclipses the brilliant, brave work done by police officers across South Yorkshire today. That hurts both the police and our communities. An independently led Community Confidence Board will ensure that the experiences of women and girls, minority background communities and victims of crime, are all at the forefront of decisions about how we police South Yorkshire.  

Use the money we confiscate from criminals, and community payback schemes, to clean up our streets and keep public spaces safe.

Across South Yorkshire, our high streets and shared public spaces are amongst our most cherished assets, and our town and city centres are being brought back to life. But if they are not protected, or if they don’t feel safe, then we can’t expect those spaces and places to thrive. I will use the money confiscated from criminals and community payback schemes to undertake a Big Clean across South Yorkshire, tackling graffiti, littering and fly-tipping across our most loved public spaces.

Work with partners, experts and people from all of our communities to develop a Police and Crime Plan that reflects our shared priorities.

The Police and Crime Plan determines the priorities for the police. When writing my first Police and Crime Plan I will bring together our communities alongside expert national and local organisations, to develop a plan that not only reflects the priorities of people across South Yorkshire, but is based on the best available advice and evidence. I will ask Former Home Secretary, Lord David Blunkett, to help lead that process.  

Protect young people by intervening early to prevent knife crime, taking a zero-tolerance approach when knife crime happens.

Knife crime is a scourge on our communities, destroying the lives of both the victims of knife crime and those who carry knives. But across the country, the rates of knife crime are growing, and they are growing more quickly in South Yorkshire than in other similar places. That’s why I will make knife crime a priority, by both establishing an approach that protects young people from knife crime, putting early intervention at the heart of that approach, while working with the police and criminal justice partners to take a zero-tolerance position when knife crime does happen.     

Establish a ‘Vision Zero’ approach, making our roads safer with a plan to end deaths and serious injuries in South Yorkshire. 

The number of deaths and serious injuries on South Yorkshire’s roads is far too high. Our road network must be safe for everyone who uses – and wants to use – it. Vision Zero is an approach first pioneered in Sweden that sees every collision on our roads as preventable. Working with our councils, South Yorkshire Police and other partners, we will adopt a Vision Zero approach, setting ourselves the target of ending deaths and serious injuries on South Yorkshire’s roads.