Chief Constable welcomes decision to increase investment in Staffordshire Police

Temporary Chief Constable Nick Baker has welcomed the decision by the Staffordshire Commissioner for Police, Fire and Rescue, and Crime, and supported by the Staffordshire Police Fire and Crime Panel, to increase the council tax precept for policing. He said:

“This increase in funding will enable Staffordshire Police to further strengthen our capabilities to tackle the many existing and emerging challenges facing policing. This will include investment in improving the force’s digital capabilities and technology, expanding capacity in investigations and intelligence, modernising contact services and the ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) network - a key tool in identifying offenders. Investment will also be made in the Special Constabulary to ensure they have the equipment they need to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

 

“These investments will build on those which the force made last year, which included the development of a missing persons team, a proactive disruption capability and a dedicated roads policing unit which have already delivered strong results across the county through Operation Disrupt and Operation Lightning.

 

“The additional investments are also designed to support the increase in officer numbers in the force, linked to the national drive to recruit 20,000 new police officers. For Staffordshire Police this will mean an additional 90 new officers in 2020/21, on top of those already planned, who will be focused on areas where they will make the greatest impact on preventing and tackling crime and helping us to improve service for local communities.”