Alan Hardwick, the first elected Lincolnshire PCC. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
I’m looking forward to 2014 with more than a degree of optimism because I’m confident we can build on the successes of this year.
The entire Lincolnshire policing ‘family’ — officers, Special Constables, PCSOs, staff and volunteers — have achieved a great deal. Crime continues to fall and, despite the government’s eagerness to cut deeper into police funding, I will honour my commitment to maintain the number of front line officers.
But it’s not just about numbers. For any force to be effective, the key is good management; in other words, how those officers are deployed to make best use of their commitment, professionalism, training and skills for the benefit of the people they serve. More than 98% of our officers are on the front line, which is a higher proportion than many other forces.
As to their effectiveness, the proof (if any was needed) was most publicly provided in their response to the recent devastating flooding in and around Boston. With other emergency services, local authorities, volunteers and partners, they worked tirelessly to help cope with the crisis. At the same time, the force was policing Lincoln Christmas Market, with its hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Resilient? Able to respond to major and fast-changing situations? Professional? Committed? Oh yes. Not just during widespread emergencies, but all day and every day. That’s why I’m proud of every member of the policing family.
As an aside, one of my lasting memories of 2013 came when I toured the highly efficient Boston clean-up operation accompanied by a PCSO. We stopped to talk to a man who was surrounded by piles of his ruined possessions. “This will be the third skip full,” he said. Then he smiled and raised a mug of steaming tea, adding: “As long as I can still make a cuppa, I’ll be OK.”
It was not the only time I witnessed people getting on with their lives despite the ravages of flood water. I also know of the tremendous efforts made by local authorities and other agencies to help people who were unable to help themselves. I want to put my thanks and admiration on public record.
During the New Year, Lincolnshire will be the first force in the UK — but not,I believe, the last — to put volunteer PCSOs on the streets. I’ve met our first trainees, along with their PCSO mentors, and I was more than ever convinced that our pioneering initiative will be a success.
Work with the County Council that covers many projects concerned with community safety and victim care will continue to be a priority, as will regional collaboration with the other East Midlands forces that provides resilience in tackling major crime.
My Community and Volunteer Fund will continue to award grants of up to £1,000 for initiatives that have a crime reduction or crime prevention basis. So far, the grants have gone towards a wide variety of schemes from youth clubs to helping to pay for security locks for the homes of vulnerable people. The scheme is explained on my website.
During 2013 I’ve spoken to hundreds, if not thousands, of people face-to-face at all kinds of events. I’ve also toured our police stations and district police ‘boxes’ to meet as many staff, officers and volunteers as possible.
This will continue in 2014 because the people who know most about the problems and needs of their communities are those who live and work there. It’s been a valuable experience. I’m more than ready, once more, for the brickbats and occasional bouquets.
In the meantime, my sincere best wishes for a happy and peaceful New Year.
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Before being elected as Commissioner in 2012, Mr Hardwick worked as a communications professional on newspapers, radio, television and latterly with Lincolnshire Police Authority. Throughout his career, he built up a wide experience of police and policing in the UK. He is passionate about Lincolnshire and about ensuring – with the Chief Constable – the effectiveness and efficiency of a force that has recently been praised by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Prime Minister.
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The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
A man in his 20s was seriously injured after a crash on the B1397 Old Spalding Road in Wigtoft near Boston over the weekend.
Emergency services were called to the scene of the crash involving one vehicle – a blue Hyundai iX35 – shortly after 11pm on Saturday, March 6. The crash is believed to have occurred between 9pm-11pm.
The driver was seriously injured and taken to hospital.
Lincolnshire Police are appealing for witnesses and would like to speak to anyone who captured dashcam footage of the incident.
Anyone with information should contact police on 101 or via email at [email protected] quoting incident 489 of March 6.
Alternatively, it can be reported through the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online here.
There have been 643 new coronavirus cases and 31 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire so far this week – compared to 1,005 cases and 26 deaths by this time last week.
The government’s COVID-dashboard on Friday recorded 79 new cases in Lincolnshire, 28 in North East Lincolnshire and 23 in North Lincolnshire.
The latest data takes the total number of cases in Greater Lincolnshire to over 54,000.
On Friday, seven deaths were registered in Lincolnshire. These include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported six new local hospital deaths – five at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals Trust. This brings the total of hospital deaths so far this week to 24, a rise from 11 last week.
National cases increased by 5,947 to 4,207,304, while deaths rose by 236 to 124,261.
Nationally, Office for National Statistics data shows that the number of coronavirus infections in the UK continued to fall.
In the seven days up to February 27, around 280,000 people were confirmed positive, a drop of about a third on the most recent date.
The latest R number – the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to – is between 0.7 and 0.9.
From Monday, care home residents will be allowed to have a regular indoor visitor as long as they take a coronavirus lateral flow test before entry and wear personal protective equipment (PPE).
Hugging and kissing their relatives will be forbidden, although hand holding will be permitted.
Elsewhere, meeting up with one other person outdoors – for example sitting together in a park with coffee, drink, or picnic, will also be permitted.
Further relaxation is hoped to happen from March 29, when the rule of six will again be allowed, along with outdoor sports facilities reopening and the stay at home rule ending.
In a press conference on Friday evening health secretary Matt Hancock welcomed the news that a mystery person in the UK infected with the COVID variant of concern first found in Brazil had now been traced.
He said the ‘unbreakable link’ between cases, hospitalisation and deaths was ‘being broken’ due to the vaccine rollout – but added testing still remains ‘critical’.
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Friday, March 5
54,126 cases (up 130)
38,170 in Lincolnshire (up 79)
8,149 in North Lincolnshire (up 23)
7,807 in North East Lincolnshire (up 28)
2,105 deaths (up 7)
1,549 from Lincolnshire (up 7)
300 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
256 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,244 hospital deaths (up six)
772 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up five)
41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
A Boston man who amassed a collection of thousand of illegal images after becoming addicted to downloading child abuse images was jailed at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday.
Howard Angel was arrested after police raided his home and took away a laptop computer.
Tony Stanford, prosecuting, said that the following day Angel went to Grantham Police Station and confessed.
“He said he had been stupid. He was interviewed. He was relatively frank. He said he wanted help.
“He said ‘I shouldn’t have done it but I did’. He said he became addicted and hooked on it.”
Mr Stanford said that later Angel’s then wife handed police a second laptop which she found in the attic.
When police examined the two laptops they found that Angel had been accessing child abuse images for nine years.
A total of 16,944 illegal images of children were on the devices including 2,641 in the most serious category.
Angel, 59, of Wyberton West Road, Boston, admitted three charges of making indecent images of children between March 2010 and May 2019.
He was jailed for 10 months and given a 15 year sexual harm prevention order. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.
Recorder Charles Falk, passing sentence, told him: “What tips the balance here is the length of time you have been offending which is nine years.
“That and the fact that this is a very large collection makes this a case that is so serious that only immediate custody can be justified.”
Michael Cranmer-Brown, in mitigation, said that Angel had lost everything as a result of what he did.
“When this came to light his world was turned upside down. He had been in a marriage for over 20 years. He has children. He has effectively been rejected by them all.
“He has been kicked out of his family home and he is now divorced from his wife. In addition he has suffered the loss of his job. Having disclosed to his employer about his conviction he has been sacked.”
Mr Cranmer-Brown said that since his arrest Angel has sought help and urged that he should not receive an immediate prison sentence.
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