Policing Medway

Mark Reckless represents Medway on the Kent Police Authority. His priority is proper neighbourhood policing in Medway. Mark recalls:

"When I first asked Medway police eight years ago that police offers should have their own beat to patrol, they told me that I had been watching too much Dixon of Dock Green. Now, since I have been on the Police Authority, we have given one hundred neighbourhood constables and support officers their own beat."

We have recently begun to see this make a difference. Less crimes have been committed in Medway over the past year than in the year before, and burglary is down by almost a third. Last year Mark supported the Police Authority's decisions to put £2 more a year on council tax to pay for a six-strong Neighbourhood Task Team, which can be called in when the neighbourhood constable and PCSOs in your ward need support.

This year, with prices soaring and household budgets squeezed, Mark is working on the Budget Group to find savings, so that neighbourhood policing can be improved further without increasing council tax significantly further.

Picture: Mark with Chief Constable, Mike Fuller, and recently retired Medway Commander Jan Stephens

Policing Medway