Mark Reckless: Tackling Crime through Community Activism

Mark Reckless MP welcomed the report of Baroness Newlove, the Government’s Champion for Active Safer Communities, which sets out a radical new approach to community activism. As she suggests, there needs to be a change of culture so neighbourhoods no longer view crime, anti-social behaviour and disorder as a problem for someone else to solve. Services and local agencies need to go beyond just asking communities what their problems are – they must see local communities as equal partners in tackling issues.

The Government has a clear plan to cut crime through reforming the police and the criminal justice system. They have already abolished all the complex targets that Labour imposed from Whitehall and set the police just one goal: to cut crime.

Communities also have an important role to play in the fight against crime. The www.police.uk website, launched in February, gives local people real information in map form about exactly what crime is happening in their areas and allows them to hold the police to account for their work.

Further reforms include:

• Introducing, from next May, directly-elected Police and Crime Commissioners to restore the link between the police and their communities.

• Driving out bureaucracy that wastes police time so that officers can be crime-fighters not form-writers.

• Reforming and strengthening the powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Mark Reckless MP said:

"I fully support this commitment from Government and Baroness Newlove to harness the great energy of communities across Medway in the fight against crime.

"Crime and anti-social behaviour are not someone else's problem but a real issue that we all must work together to address. I want to see streets right across Medway reclaimed by the people who live here".

Mark Reckless: Tackling Crime through Community Activism

Mark Reckless MP: At Last, Democracy Is Coming To Policing

Originally posted on ConservativeHome Today and tomorrow the House of Commons will put its finishing touches to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill. It is a long title for one key reform, putting a directly elected individual “in charge” – as the Home Secretary put it on Monday – of each police force. That reform will have huge ramifications as power in policing shifts from the Chief Constable to the elected Commissioner. Unsurprisingly, the Chief Constables don’t much like that. However, unlike police authorities, which have spent public money fighting their own abolition, most Chief Constables, if not necessarily their Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), accept very professionally that it is for elected politicians to set policy under which they operate. Police authorities are generally considered to have been the weakest of the ‘tripartite’ pillars of police governance, the others being the Home Office and the Chief Constable. Our plan to deal with that, which I passed to Douglas Carswell to develop further when he replaced me at the Conservative Policy Unit in 2004, was to transfer the police authority powers to people who are elected, so as to reinforce those powers with a democratic mandate. David Cameron wrote that plan into our manifesto in 2005 and has evangelised it ever since, so much so that he appointed the hugely impressive Nick Herbert as Police Minister, having seen him make the case for democratic control of policing when leading the thknk-tank Reform. The Prime Minister then promised in July 2006 that “We will enshrine operational independence in legislation”. It is unfortunate that some concessions have since been made to ACPO, but any apparent increase in Chief Constables’ powers will surely prove illusory once they face Commissioners empowered with a democratic mandate. If this bill fails to give the elected Commissioners the power they need to deliver what the public wants, then they will come back and demand that power, and Parliament will give them the power, as we have for the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. I will nonetheless make the case today and tomorrow for us to get it right first time, to give the elected commissioners the powers they need now, and to give a clear steer to the courts that, in the Home Secretary’s words, the elected commissioners must be “in charge”. Chief Constables must of course make operational decisions regarding investigations and arrests independently of politicians, but it is for the elected commissioners to determine policy and set priorities. Moreover, if panels of elected councillors are to scrutinise elected commissioners and potentially second-guess their budgets, then we shouldn’t need the Secretary of State to third-guess that process. It may make sense to give the Secretary of State a reserve power to require a referendum if a local council wants a really excessive council tax increase. For policing, that power would surely better be exercised in extremis by the Panel which will scrutinise the police budget and represent the local councils and electorate which would pay for a referendum. David Cameron, Theresa May and Nick Herbert are truly driving home the Direct Democracy agenda with the police. They deserve our support.

Mark Reckless MP: At Last, Democracy Is Coming To Policing

Hound Is Found Safe And Sound

Mark Reckless has welcomed the news that the Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy known as Rocco has been found safe and well and is now back with his rightful owners.

Following a huge team effort involving dog lovers from right the way across the country, Rocco was eventually found by walkers in woods near Tescos in Gillingham.

Mark, who was happy to help with the search, responded to the news by saying:

"This is great news! It was obvious how much Rocco meant to his owners so I really am pleased to hear that this story has had a happy ending.

My congratulations go out to everyone who helped in the search, particularly all the volunteers at Doglost.co.uk. I trust Rocco will enjoy being back with his family, and in his own bed.

Whilst I am glad the puppy is back home, I would still urge anyone with information on who may have stolen Rocco in the first place to contact Crimestoppers confidentially on 0800 555 111 or Kent Police on 01622 690690."

Hound Is Found Safe And Sound

Help Find Rocco

Mark has been contacted by a constituent regarding the theft of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy in Strood. The owners are obviously very distressed at the loss of the puppy and are offering a reward for his safe return. If you have any information, you can contact the owners by email at missingrocco@hotmail.com or you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. All emails or calls will be treated as confidential.

Help Find Rocco

Mark Reckless Quizzes Police Minister

During last week's meeting of the Home Affairs Select Committee Mark Reckless MP took the opportunity to question the Minister for Policing and Justice, the Rt Hon Nick Herbert MP, on the role directly elected commissioners could play in making better use of taxpayers' money.

Q168 Mark Reckless: In Kent we have already identified £11.5 million of savings through collaboration with Essex, and there are one or two other examples—Herts and Beds comes to mind—where there has been good progress. But generally the savings from collaboration have been rather disappointing, and I wondered whether you thought Ministers might be able to accelerate this, or whether you would look to the directly elected police and crime commissioners to be able to drive out much more substantive savings through collaboration?

Nick Herbert: I think I agree with you that progress up until now has been too slow, but I think that is partly because there hasn’t been the kind of fiscal driver to do it. Now that police forces know that they are receiving less grant for the next four years, that is, I think, changing the incentives, both for chief constables and for police authorities. It is driving much more interest on the part of police forces in collaboration, outsourcing, better procurement, and so on. Because they all share the same desire as we do in the Government, which is to maintain the front-line policing service and the service that the public receives and find savings in other ways, in better use of taxpayers’ money.

Mark Reckless Quizzes Police Minister

Congratulations For Safe Exit Success

Mark Reckless has congratulated Kent Police after their Safe Exit team were presented with a national award at the Jane’s Police Review Gala Awards by the Home Secretary Theresa May.

The Safe Exit scheme, which was awarded first place in the ‘Diversity in Action’ category, was launched by the Kent Police in Medway in partnership with the Medway Drug and Alcohol Team, Medway Council and NHS Medway to tackle the negative impact that street prostitution has on local communities. To date the scheme has seen over 80% of women involved in the illegal sex trade in Medway sign up to receive advice and support, enabling them to take control of their lives and leave the trade safely.

Speaking of the award, Mark Reckless said:

"I am delighted that Steve Corbishley and his team have received this award from the Home Secretary. The Home Affairs Select Committee also showcased this work after I invited Keith Vaz, our Chairman, to Medway to learn more of our success. I will be seeing Steve Corbishley and his team tomorrow to congratulate them."

The awards ceremony took place at the London Hilton, Park Lane, London. One thousand people, including police officers and staff, were in attendance with the Home Secretary, to recognise and reward outstanding achievements in policing.

Congratulations For Safe Exit Success

Welcoming Keith Vaz MP To Medway

Policing successes in Medway and Kent were highlighted in the House of Commons on Monday following a cross-agency meeting arranged by Mark Reckless in Medway, and attended by Keith Vaz MP, Chairman of the influential Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC).

Following an invitation from Mark Reckless, MP for Rochester and Strood and fellow HASC member, to visit the constituency, Mr Vaz met with key figures in the local community including Ian Learmonth, the Chief Constable of Kent, Cllr Rodney Chambers, leader of Medway Council, and Neil Davies, CE of Medway Council, to discuss how innovative and effective programmes such the Safe Exit and Integrated Offender Management schemes have achieved real and tangible results in the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour.

The Safe Exit scheme was launched by the Kent Police in Medway in partnership with the Medway Drug and Alcohol Team, Medway Council and NHS Medway to tackle the negative impact that street prostitution has on local communities. To date the scheme has seen over 80% of women involved in the illegal sex trade in Medway sign up to receive advice and support, enabling them to take control of their lives and leave the trade safely.

The Integrated Offender Management scheme is run by staff from the Kent Police, Youth Offending services and other agencies to tackle the most problematic offenders within a specific area or community.

Both of these schemes were praised by Keith Vaz when he returned to Westminster for questions to the Home Secretary. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Vaz stated:


“This morning, at the invitation of the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood (Mark Reckless), I visited Medway and was shown two innovative, award-winning schemes pioneered by the police there to combat prostitution and to ensure effective offender management.”

Mark Reckless MP welcomed the visit, saying:

"I was really pleased to welcome Keith Vaz to the constituency in his role as Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee. We had a really constructive meeting and debate on the role of policing here in Medway. In my role with the Kent Police Authority, and as a Medway Councillor, I have worked closely with the Police and other agencies to ensure we deliver the best possible service to the people of the Medway Towns.

I particularly welcome the Chairman’s recognition in the House of Commons for the innovative schemes we have developed here in Medway to tackle prostitution and reoffending. It has been shown that by working closely with local councils and other
agencies, the Police can tackle the root causes of problems within our communities. I hope that other forces will replicate this ground-breaking work which we have been doing in Medway and which Keith and I have promoted in Parliament this week."

Welcoming Keith Vaz MP To Medway

Maiden Speech In The Commons

I congratulate Gemma Doyle and Members on both sides of the House on the excellent maiden speeches we have heard today.

I thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for recognising me for this maiden speech. It is, after all, five years since my predecessor, Bob Marshall-Andrews, took to the airwaves to concede defeat. Many Members may have heard him admit defeat on that occasion, but not all may have heard him make later what has variously been described as an Al Gore-style retraction or a Lazarus-like recovery.

Bob Marshall-Andrews represented the constituents of Medway for 13 years, highly ably holding the Government to account throughout that period. During that time he faced a pincer attack from my campaign and from his Front Bench. On one occasion, the Labour Whips were so keen to assist my campaign that they leaked the fact that they had given him permission to undertake legal work in Hong Kong for several weeks while Parliament was sitting. Such things are always opaque, but I understand that it was in retaliation for Mr Marshall-Andrews having auctioned a series of Whips' letters to recalcitrant MPs, to raise money for the Campaign group.

Bob Marshall-Andrews had a number of great successes. He defended the right to trial by jury-I am delighted that my hon. Friend Mr Raab took up that cause this evening-and he helped to prevent the extension of detention without trial. He played a major part locally in bringing the campuses of four universities to our constituency.

The counstituency of Rochester and Strood is the successor to the Medway constituency. It contains two of the five Medway towns. Rochester, with its castle and cathedral, was and should again be a city. Strood, its proud neighbour over the River Medway, grew in the patriotic fervour of the Boer war, along with Chatham dockyard, and that is recorded in street names such as Gordon, Kitchener and Cecil.

The constituency contains the historic dockyard of Chatham, which built and served our Navy from before the time of Pepys, to Nelson's HMS Victory, to the Falklands conflict. We are proud of that heritage, but we are also proud that, 25 years on, we have recovered from the closure of that dockyard.

The constituency is two thirds urban, but also a third rural. We have the Hoo peninsula, between the Rivers Medway and Thames, which stretches from Grain to Cliffe, and where we saw off the threat of an airport twice the size of Heathrow. The constituency also contains the north downs villages of Cuxton and Halling.

On the substance of the debate tonight, I should declare an interest: I am a member of the Kent police authority. However, on occasion, turkeys do vote for Christmas, and I should like to welcome the coalition's proposals to abolish police authorities and replace us with directly elected individuals. It must be right that those who exercise the coercive power of the state should be held to account by those whom they serve. That is a progressive cause. It is the cause for centuries of the parish constable against the remote magistracy. It is the cause of London Labour councils and the South Yorkshire police authority through the 1980s. It is the cause of the Levellers and, indeed, the Diggers, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton referred earlier. However, it is a cause today that is represented not by the Opposition, but by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend Mr Cameron, who represents not just Burford, but democratic ideals of the Levellers who lost their lives there.

I have heard the odd senior police officer oppose those plans, yet there is no suggestion of any intrusion on the chief constable's prerogative. The powers that will be transferred are currently those of police authorities. Surely, the objection is not merely that directly elected individuals will exercise those powers more effectively than police authorities have done to date.

We will also codify operational independence. I would caution that that does not mean that the police should be allowed to get along with things solely as they wish. The Metropolitan police have a tradition of independence because we have had a concern to guard against them becoming the arm of central Government. However, our tripartite system is a compromise between counties, where chief constables would occasionally receive instructions, and boroughs, where oversight was much greater. Indeed, the watch committee of the borough of Preston met twice a day-once in the morning, to give the chief constable his instructions, and once in the early evening, to check that he had carried them out.

Before I close, I should like to draw the House's attention to what I consider the major trend in policing of the past 25 years. It is the movement of power from locally appointed and accountable chief constables to an organisation that is both a private company and a trade union with a closed shop: the Association of Chief Police Officers, which has grown to dominate the field of policing without the sanction of the House. It has its committees and its cabinet, and it issues instructions to us in Kent on how much we should charge for policing the Faversham carnival or the Maidstone water festival. It is right that we should now move and have directly elected police commissioners to rebalance the policing landscape and restore local democracy.

Hansard Source: 7th June 2010

Maiden Speech In The Commons

We Need To Protect Our Border

Mark Reckless is extremely concerned to learn that Labour are apparently slashing the number of immigration officers deployed at Dover to protect against illegal immigration:

Read the article here

As a member of the Kent Police Authority Mark is demanding to know whether Kent Police have been properly consulted about these proposals.

He is also questioning whether the civil service should be carrying them forward during an election period when they know that the Conservatives will introduce a new border force, combining police and immigration officers.

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We Need To Protect Our Border

A Kent Jury Begins Work At Inquest

Today I attended the first day of the inquest into the death of Dan Tucker in December 2007 in an incident involving firearms officers from Kent Police.

The inquest, which is being conducted at the Adult Education Centre in Gravesend (pictured), is expected to run for at least a week and began today with an opening statement and the examination of medical witnesses.

Kent Police's handling of the incident has already been scrutinised by the High Court (which made no criticism) following an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. We on the Kent Police Authority have also reviewed (and approved) the procedures which Kent Police apply generally following a fatal shooting.

The inquest, however, will allow what happened to be considered and determined by 11 member of the public who, unlike in criminal proceedings, are allowed as jurors to ask questions of witnesses. Witnesses are also questioned by independent counsel for the inquest as well as barristers acting for both the police and family of the deceased.

I hope that this procedure, and in particular the central role taken by members of the public who are chosen at random from the electoral roll to serve as jurors, will help all those involved to come to terms with what happened, at least so far as that can be done through a system intended to judge what happened as fairly and independently as we know how.

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A Kent Jury Begins Work At Inquest

Police Held To Account

The conviction of Commander Dizaei of the Metropolitan Police this week emphasises that the police are properly subject to the law in this country and that it will be applied to them just as to everyone else.

When a police officer behaves badly, then members of the public should know that, if they report that behaviour, their complaint will be taken seriously and, where the evidence supports it, action will be taken.

One of my duties as a member of the Kent Police Authority is to help sample complaints which have been considered locally by our professional standards department and to make sure that they have been dealt with in the way that my electors would expect.

Whilst Sir Ian Blair as Metropolitan Commissioner, quite wrongly, initially tried to avoid independent scrutiny of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell, he was not allowed to get away with it. By contrast, Kent Police have been open to - and welcomed - very extensive independent scrutiny following complaints regarding the Climate Camp policing.

It is essential that the police be held properly accountable to the public. The justice system worked this week and, hopefully soon under the Conservatives, the public will also get the chance to elect those who oversee our police.

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Police Held To Account

Chief Constable's Retirement

It has now been confirmed that our Chief Constable in Kent, Mike Fuller, has been appointed as the Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service. I would like to congratulate Mike on his well deserved appointment.

I believe that it is hugely impressive, and potentially of great benefit to the CPS, that Mike was called to the Bar on the basis of a very demanding course of part-time study, while serving as a leading police officer (and I say that knowing how demanding the course can be even when done on a full-time basis).

Mike Fuller has the academic and vocational training in criminal procedure, as well as a wealth of relevant experience as a senior police officer, but, not having practised as a prosecutor, will still have the fresh perspective to shake up some of the less successful aspects of the CPS.

The CPS will certainly benefit from the fearless and independent perspective that I know Mike will bring to the job.

The CPS does not benefit from local and democratic(ish) oversight that we on the Kent Police Authority give to our Chief Constable. However, I believe that Mike will be just the person to call the CPS to account, working with Parliament's Justice Select Commitee, which I was delighted to see played a key role in his selection.

Mike leaves the Kent Force in good shape and can take particular pride in the success of the new neighbourhood policing model and the real rapport which he established with the Kent public.

Our excellent Deputy Chief Constable, Adrian Leppard, will act as Temporary Chief Constable when Mike takes up his new position, until we are able to appoint a new Chief Constable on a permanent basis to take the Force forward.

Having recently served on the selection panel that chose three excellent Assistant Chief Constables, I am confident that we are well placed locally to make the right choice for the people of Kent.

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Chief Constable's Retirement

Sir Hugh Lays Down The (Wrong) Law

I don't want to intrude on the Labour party's private grief, so I will instead respond to Sir Hugh Orde, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) who, for some reason, has taken it on himself to lay down what should happen regarding Islam4UK's threatened march through Wootton Basset.

Sir Hugh is quoted today in the Telegraph as saying that the extremists "have the right to march ... people might not like it but that is the law".

Leaving aside whether that is consistent with the postion Sir Hugh took as Chief Constable in Northern Ireland, my first reaction is what on earth has it got to do with him.

Sir Hugh Orde heads an organisation which is a private company and has never been given any right to seek to interfere with police operational decisions, any more than it has a right to determine police policy.

By saying he would be "surprised" if they were to block the protest, Sir Hugh applies quite inappropriate pressure to Wiltshire's Chief Constable, Brian Moore, and his excellent deputy, David Ainsworth, with whom I worked when he was an Assistant Chief Constable in Kent.

Sir Hugh is always terribly keen to assert the independence of chief constables when there is any suggestion that they should do what someone who has been elected wants, yet here he is sticking his nose into their operational decisions.

Second, there is a strong argument that Sir Hugh has got the law wrong. Section 13 of the Public Order Act 1986 states as follows:

13. - Prohibiting public processions.

(1) If at any time the chief officer of police reasonably believes that, because of particular circumstances existing in any district or part of a district, the powers under section 12 [imposing conditions] will not be sufficient to prevent the holding of public processions in that district or part from resulting in serious public disorder, he shall apply to the council of the district for an order prohibiting for such period not exceeding 3 months as may be specified in the application the holding of all public processions (or of any class of public procession so specified) in the district or part concerned.

(2) On receiving such an application, a council may with the consent of the Secretary of State make an order either in the terms of the application or with such modifications as may be approved by the Secretary of State.

Contrary to Sir Hugh's view, the police in Wiltshire therefore do potentially have the power to ban a march - if the democratically elected local council and the democratically elected Secretary of State agree with them.

Further, it is far from clear that Sir Hugh can rely on the Human Rights Act in support of his view that Islam4UK should be allowed to protest at Wooten Basset in the manner threatened. Section 3(2)(b) states very clearly that the act "does not affect the validity, continuing operation or enforcement of any incompatible primary legislation".

Moreover, the article 11 right is hedged with restrictions such that it should in any event be compatible with the power of Wiltshire police and those whom we elect to ban a march as threatened:

Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

2. No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. This Article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces, of the police or of the administration of the State.

We will shortly be asking the electorate for a mandate on what needs to be done to make the police properly accountable to the public they serve. Sir Hugh's comments emphasise just how overdue that is.

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Sir Hugh Lays Down The (Wrong) Law

Where's The Justice In That?

A Message from Conservative Home and Chris Grayling, Shadow Home Secretary

Sometimes Britain seems to be going quietly mad. A country where an elderly lady can be prosecuted for poking a teenager in the chest, where a police force can be prosecuted under health and safety laws when an officer is injured chasing a criminal, where a mother is driven to suicide by years of unchecked menace by a gang of troublemakers, where a vicious attack on a stranger is all too often dealt with by a caution, is a country that is getting things badly wrong.

How did we ever get ourselves into such an extraordinary position?

How did we get ourselves into a position where it is the criminal whose rights seem to come first, and where the victim is all too often forgotten or ignored?

And how did we get ourselves into a position where all too often the offender just gets away with it?

The picture set out in the most recent figures released to the Conservative Party by the Government is stark. They blow the lid off Britain's caution culture, and of a system that is sending all the wrong messages to offenders.

- Over the past decade, the number of offenders let off with a caution has risen sharply and now stands at nearly 1,000 a day.

- A third of those committing violent offences are now dealt with by a caution. That proportion has also more than doubled since 2001.

- A smaller and smaller proportion of offenders ever come before a court. Nearly half of all offences are now dealt with by a warning, a caution or a fixed penalty notice.

- Even sexual offences are treated in this way, with nearly one in three sex offenders let off with a caution. Detection rates have plummeted too.

- Only ten per cent of burglaries are solved.

- The detection rate for sexual offences has dropped by a quarter.

- So has the detection rate for violent offences - down by around a fifth.

Small wonder that so many people have lost faith in criminal justice in this country.

This short document sets out some of the reasons for the failings. It paints a picture of police stuck behind computer screens and not on the streets. Of unwieldy bureaucracy. And a system where justice is not being done.

It is a snapshot of a system that desperately needs a fresh start.

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Where's The Justice In That?

More Questions Re: Climate Camp Policing

Today's Guardian suggests that Kent Police attempted to put pressure on Medway Council to facilitate increased surveillance of climate camp protesters, despite Medway Council's concern that this would "alienate the community".

An FOI request has shown that Sergeant Keith Waymont wrote to us at the Council to complain that council officers were not being sufficiently co-operative with police plans for surveillance. The Guardian reports that he wrote:

"When I put this [Medway Council's alleged non co-operation with surveilance] to my bosses, they were less than impressed, given the importance of this operation as the new power station build is likely to create a considerable number of jobs for Medway."

In my role as a Member of Kent Police Authority I have today written to our Chief Executive to ask that Sergeant Waymont identify the 'bosses' with whom he says that he raised the issue, so that the matter can be investigated.

On the face of it, the letter is utterly unacceptable. By pressurising Medway Council to set aside our concerns about planned police surveillance because "the new power station build is likely to create a considerable number of jobs for Medway", it implies that the climate camp policing was intended to face down the protestors and help E.On build a new power station.

To the best of my knowledge, this is not true. In some aspects of the operation the police went out of their way to try to demonstrate neutrality, e.g. by not using E.On faciliities to command the operation. However, the unveiling of this letter - thanks to FOI - can only add to concerns regarding the policing of the protest.

I consider that our duty as the Kent Police Authority is not solely to support Kent Police, but to hold them to account on behalf of the public. If we are to do this properly, it implies that on occasion we may have to make measured criticism of the Force.

We have, with the Force, arranged two independent reports into the climate camp policing. I and the Chair and Chief Executive of the Police Authority met with the Climate Camp legal team to seek to understand and take account of their concerns. Rather than just allow the police to deal with climate camp complaints individually, we as an Authority are seeking to determine the overall lessons to be learned from these complaints.

This work has been painstaking and has taken longer than we initially hoped. Our conclusions will feed into HM Inspectorate of Constabulary's national review of the policing of protest. I hope that we will also before too long be able to publish them for the benefit of the Kent public and those who sought to protest peacefully in our county.

In the meantime I would like to put on record my condemnation of the letter as quoted in the Guardian today and congratulate the paper on its investigative reporting.

More Questions Re: Climate Camp Policing

Photographer Arrested In Chatham

Mark Reckless is to make inquiries into the alleged arrest and detention of an amateur photographer in Chatham High Street under section 44 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000 on Wednesday 8th July.

As the Kent Police Authoritys lead member for legal services and member of the Professional Standards committee, Mark helps ensure that complaints such as these made against police officers are investigated fully and transparently .

The allegations made against the officers are serious and need to be addressed on an urgent basis to establish the facts of what actually happened on the day, and determine police are acting properly when deploying section 44 powers.

Conservatives will always support the police in the fight against crime and terror, but we will not condone behaviour by particular officers that unjustifiably impacts on law-abiding members of the public going about legitimate personal business.

Photographer Arrested In Chatham

It's Time To Back-Up The Law Abiding Majority

Chris Grayling has spoken about the urgent need to "tackle the blight of antisocial behaviour" in order to fix our Broken Society.

The Shadow Home Secretary highlighted Home Office statistics showing three million acts of antisocial behaviour recorded last year, adding, "And that's only a tiny fraction."

Pointing to the tragic events in Doncaster this week as an example of "a society that is losing its way", Chris said, "They are only the latest and probably the worst example of a whole series of incidents where children are killing or maiming other children."

We have proposed:

- Strengthening the hands of the police to deal with the problems
- Introducing grounding orders for young troublemakers, which can be easily enforced
- Making those who commit serious acts of antisocial behaviour pay for the damage and do community work.

Chris said, "Antisocial behaviour will be punished and the payback will be fast and tough."

And he stressed, "Too little has been done in the past decade. Under a Conservative Government that will change."

It's Time To Back-Up The Law Abiding Majority

Police Council Tax Raised 4.99% to Top Up 'Slush Fund'

The Kent Police Authority (KPA) have voted to increase the police precept by 4.99%, the maximum likely to be permitted by the government with a 5% cap. This is in line with the KPA's policy as set out by its Deputy Chairman, Cllr Mike Hill, to raise the precept to the average of whatever other police authorities happen to charge. Mr Hill said at the meeting:

"We have an insoluble problem of having near the lowest council tax precept of any police authority. Therefore a strategy to bring it up to something like the average is right and we have to go for something higher"

KPA Member Cllr Mark Reckless, and Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Rochester and Strood, opposes this policy and voted against the tax rise. He said:

"We have plenty of money to pay for Neighbourhood Task Teams, and what Kent Police say they need to become among the best performers in the country, without raising the council tax at all this year. All we would have to do is limit staff pay rises, including the 45% hike for the Police Authority Chair, to the 1% set by KCC, and get rid of the slush fund"

- MARK RECKLESS

1. On 10th December KPA Members voted by 9 votes to 4 to increase their own allowances by 45% for the Chair, 25% for Committee Chairs, 19% for the Deputy Chair and 12% for other members. Cllr Reckless has waived his increase.

2.The KPA have decided to pad all police budgets with an allowance for inflation that is twice as high as the Bank of England expects. This adds 1 ¼% to the tax rise.

3. The KPA had said it needed to hold £12.5m of taxpayers' money as an 'Insurance Reserve' (and then allowed KCC to 'invest' about that amount in Icelandic Banks). Cllr Reckless raised concerns that the money was not needed for its supposed purpose - to pay legal claims - and was instead being used as a slush fund for money taken in council tax but not needed. External advice since is that only £3.8m is necessary for likely legal claims.

4. Kent Police and KPA finance officers have nonetheless decided to keep £6.5m in the 'Insurance Reserve', the extra £2.7m being the exact amount left over from raising the council tax by as much as government allows once the entire 'Step Change' rise in spending requested by Kent Police is paid for.

5. Cllr Reckless has made three further criticisms of the 'Insurance Reserve':

- a. This supposed provision for uninsured legal claims is determined by Kent Police's Head of Finance without consulting the Head of Legal Services;

- b. Kent Police claims record is better than assumed as recording historically has been better for claims they pay than claims they don't have to pay - yet this is then cited as an argument for heaping up more money in reserve, not less;

- c. Motor claims have fallen sharply as police must now have obey road traffic rules, unless on emergency, but the reserve assumes accidents are as frequent as before the policy was changed, even though it is knows that they are not.

Police Council Tax Raised 4.99% to Top Up 'Slush Fund'

Kingsnorth Climate Camp

Mark would like to thank local residents, particularly those on the Hoo Peninsula, for their patience and understanding while we 'hosted' the Climate Camp. It was not our choice to have the Camp here, but it was right to allow peope to protest peacefully while ensuring the power stayed on and inconvenience was minimised.

Two serious complaints have been made against officers from other forces who were here to help with the policing. Mark, as Kent Police Authoritys lead member for legal services, will help ensure that these issues are dealth with properly. Conservatives will always support the police, but never support unacceptable behaviour by particular officers.

Kingsnorth Climate Camp

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