Minutes:
53. The Panelraised the following questions ofthe Commissioner:
• The Commissioner was asked whethershewas in supportof theproposalto bringFire andRescueServicesinSussexunder the authorityof the Office of the Police and CrimeCommissioner.The Commissioner welcomed the debate on the proposals andstated that the decision would not be taken unilaterally and wouldonly be implementedif it was shown to be in the public interest.
• A recent news reportinCrawleyclaimed thatcharges onlyresulted from1 in
10burglariesinthe Borough; the Commissioner was askedif thiswas reflected across the rest ofSussexand whether there were sufficient
resources committedto the detection andprosecutionof burglaries?The
Commissioner regularlychallenged the ChiefConstable over the performance of the force in relation to burglaries.OperationMagpie was ineffectin
Sussexwhich was in the top quartile for thedetection andsolvingof burglary
cases.
• The Commissioner was asked aboutconcerns expressed bythe Police
Federation regardingthe low levelof morale in the force. The Commissioner
met regularly with the Police Federation andstaff across Sussexto gauge morale in the force.Morale hadimproved as a resultof the introductionof mobile technology.Enabling police with technologyincluding handheld devices and body worn videos has positivelyinfluencedmorale.
• The Commissioner was asked aboutseeminglyconflicting statistics regarding the reductionof crimeinSussexand the increase in the reportingof crime. Suchstatistics provided mixed messages and were confusing.The crime survey across East andWest Sussexhadestablished that there had been no increase in the levelofcrime anda decrease incrime inWest Sussex.There had been anincrease in the accuracyof the recordingof crime.
• The need for greaterdetail regarding the benefits of the TargetOperating
Modelwas raisedwiththe Commissioner.Itwas explained that local meetings were beingupdatedon the project but theinformationprovided was lackingin detail.