THE CONSERVATIVE candidate for Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner will bring back the village bobby with a modern twist if he is elected in November.
Matthew Ellis, formerly Staffordshire County Councillor cabinet member for adults and wellbeing, said he wanted to see policing across Stafford and Stone more rooted in local communities and that police officers need to be more visible than they are currently.
“My plan is to recruit between 150 and 200 new Special Constables across Staffordshire,” he said. “But importantly, rather than being part of a large ‘pool’ of officers who are sent all over the wider area they’d be recruited to police the specific community where they live whether it be rural or more urban.”
He said his plan wasn’t about replacing PCSOs or police officers already in place but for an additional uniformed presence offering reassurance for local people.
“Talking to locals in Stafford and Stone over recent weeks, the idea seems to have been well received by most with many saying it would indeed give that sense of a police presence closer to them than it is now.”
He said his policy was about returning to old values of policing and giving communities a police presence with local knowledge and a stake in the area.
Special Constables are volunteers who work for their local police service carrying out duties similar to regular officers including traffic duties and foot and mobile patrols in their communities, providing public reassurance, reducing crime, dealing with anti-social behaviour and public order, investigating minor crimes and carrying out drink and drugs enforcement and automated number plate recognition checks.
