Everything you need to know about Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner Election

Polls open in Kent and Medway this Thursday, with candidates from Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties wanting your vote.

Transcript

00:00 The three individuals asking for your vote this Thursday, they're all standing to be

00:04 the next Police and Crime Commissioner. But what do they stand for?

00:09 It's getting more boots on the ground, delivering the new neighbourhood policing model which

00:12 will see named officers in your local community, additional hotspot patrols in your wards and

00:18 also on our roads to make people safer.

00:21 I believe that we do need more bobbies on the beat, more police support officers to

00:28 be seen to be the ears and eyes of the people.

00:30 I want to increase visible policing, I want to deal with anti-social behaviour and the

00:35 soaring shoplifting figures across Kent and Medway. And the way that I'll do that is by

00:40 investing in preventative programmes.

00:43 But what exactly is a Police and Crime Commissioner?

00:47 The role is political and a commissioner is separate from Kent Police itself. They have

00:51 the responsibility of holding the Chief Constable to account, setting policing priorities and

00:57 the budget and how much you and I pay in council tax towards Kent Police.

01:02 But also seen as the bridge between the force and the public and with current levels of

01:07 trust in policing low, how do these candidates plan to change that?

01:11 We've increased resources into vetting to make sure those who are joining and those

01:14 who are doing specialist roles are being checked properly. I've helped set up a national whistleblowing

01:20 hotline to make sure that people can anonymously report concerns about police officer behaviour.

01:26 But in addition to that, the trust is also built on the street.

01:30 Yeah, trust is a big issue but it really shouldn't be because most police officers are fine,

01:36 they are great people. We trust them, we rely on them and there's only a few bad ones that

01:41 have let people down. And you've got to rebuild that trust and I think it can be done.

01:48 So the first thing is holding the Chief Constable to account on things like ensuring that the

01:54 appeal report is delivered on. The appeal report identified that investigations into

01:59 crimes weren't taking place and required improvement in Kent. I think people expect that if they

02:04 report crime that it's investigated. The second thing comes down to transparency.

02:09 Voting opens at 7am on Thursday and closes at 10pm. And you must have a valid voter ID

02:16 and you'll be putting one X in the box next to the candidate of your choice.