Merseyside Police’s work to tackle VAWG and hate crime in spotlight at PCC’s public Scrutiny Meeting
16.12.24 - Merseyside
Merseyside Police’s work to tackle Violence against Women and Girls and hate crime will be in the spotlight at the Police and Crime Commissioner’s public Scrutiny Meeting today (Monday 16th December).
The Chief Constable, Serena Kennedy, and her senior team will update Emily Spurrell and the public on the police’s work to prevent crimes including rape, sexual assault, stalking and harassment, bring offenders to justice and support victims and survivors.
The meeting will give the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) the opportunity to scrutinise the police’s response to these crimes and the work being undertaken to encourage reporting and ensure those who come forward get the right response.
This session will also review how Merseyside Police responds to hate crimes, particularly in the wake of the disorder over the summer when incidents spiked.
At each of the PCC’s quarterly Scrutiny Meetings, Chief Officers also provide an update on the work to address the crime types which are identified under the Strategic Policing Requirement as national threats. These include the use of guns, knife crime, cyber crime and child sexual abuse.
Other topics which will be covered include Modern Slavery and child exploitation, harmful practices, and economic crime.
It will also include questions submitted by the public and from two of the PCC’s independent scrutiny members who are appointed to represent Merseyside’s communities.
Members of the public are encouraged to watch the meeting live at 1pm today.
A recording will also be available on this website afterwards.
Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “There’s no doubt, policing continues to face lots of challenges.
“Violence against Women and Girls is a global issue and Merseyside continues to see worryingly high levels of gender-based violence. The #TakingAction campaign I launched with the Chief Constable in September was created to show we recognise the fears and concerns of women and girls in our communities.
“Today’s meeting is an opportunity for the public to hear from the Chief Constable directly about the work being undertaken by Merseyside Police to prevent these incidents and respond when they do take place.
“It also gives Chief Officers a chance to talk about the work they are doing to drive improvements in this area and ensure tackling VAWG is treated as an emergency.
“As always, my Scrutiny Meetings will also give me the opportunity to hold the Chief Constable to account on a whole host of topics which matter to our communities. From hate crime to Modern Slavery, and Serious and Organised Crime, this meeting will cover some of the most important issues to local people, so I would encourage people to watch online.
“It is one of the most important parts of my role to monitor how Merseyside Police are progressing against the priorities set out in my Police and Crime Plan and to scrutinise the force on how they are meeting the needs of the communities they serve. The issues discussed today are important conversations that need to be addressed if we are to continue to build trust and confidence.
“As always, I will also be dedicating some time to ask questions on behalf of the public on the policing issues which affect them.”