Justice Minister thinks we like staying in the warm

Well if Jack Straw really thinks that's true then he needs to come to Southampton and any other City in the country this evening and see the number of officers on duty on News Year's Eve out in the cold and wet trying to keep the streets as safe as possible in the face of drunken and loutish behaviour. Many of those officers would rather be at home with their family or out with friends but instead they are in uniform, on the streets delivering our public police service. Where is Jack Straw tonight? I'm out with my colleagues in the city centre. Maybe I'll invite him to Southampton for next New Year's Eve.
My colleague PC Ahmed Sasso who was awarded an MBE in this year's honours is another officer who day in, day out puts himself out for the people he serves. Congratulations to him, well deserved and I am proud he's in my command in the City.

Crime over Christmas

So this is the slightly odd few days between Christams and New Year. I gather from the press that 18 million people in the country went shopping in the sales. So much for the credit crunch. Well if all that shopping helps business and therefore jobs in Southampton then that's good. Sadly for too many people it wasnt shopping they couldn't resist. They couldn't get through Christmas without getting involved in violence, normally drink related and often committed against partners or family members. There seems to be much greater risk from people who are known to each other than from what many people might fear ie stranger attacks on the streets which in fact are very rare. We've known for decades (its been the same since I was a PC in the City 25 years ago) that a few days together over Christmas may be all it takes for family arguments to break out. But it's not about Christmas, it's about the continuing attitudes and behaviour, usually of a violent man towards a woman, which sometimes comes to the surface at Christmas (and after a few drinks). What sort of a Christmas present to a partner is a black eye and bruised ribs. What about the kids who witness this? I don't think another PS game or new mobile in the sales is any type of repair to the harm caused. So there's more for police and others to do in 2010 to try and protect vulnerable people and target those who commit these crimes. But enough of being bleak, it's almost a new, and hopefully more peaceful, year.

I spoke to soon

I spoke too soon about having escaped the weather. The morning of 23rd was treacherous with sheet ice everywhere and many drivers, cyclists and walkers finding it too hard to keep their grip. I was very proud that nearly all our staff made it in to work and were soon out and about helping people who were suffering in the ice. The Echo website comments were interesting. Newspaper and TV headlines were critical of councils for their failure to cope with the weather. Some readers comments were similar but many more seemed to recognise that the weather was freakish and its not reasonable to expect councils to cope with such extremes. I know only too well how easy it is to have a pop at public services. From what I know of officers in Soton City Council they work hard and with real commitment to serve people in the city.

What will this Christmas bring?

Let's hope this Christmas is a good one for the City and everyone living and working here. We've escaped the worst of the weather and the crowds in town seem to indicate lots of present buying going on. Sadly every Christmas and New Year is tinged with the bad experiences for some people due to drinking too much and then fighting in night clubs or within families. There's been quite a bit in the press recently about the harm caused by too much drinking and caused to people especially young people. I'll be out on New Year's Eve with my colleagues who face drunken violence as a daily policing duty. What a waste of my staff's time to have to spend so much of it controlling people who cant enjoy themselves without getting out of their head on alcohol. When you think about the amount spent on it then who are the mugs? I wish more of the money passed over pub and club bars and then vomited onto the ground outside could have been spent on meaningful gifts for family and friends. I met a drug user recently who had enough money to buy himself crack but not enough to buy his kids presents. I don't judge I just support my colleagues in their hard work and sometimes wish it could be different.

Language in public messages

I've had some interesting feedback to a couple of public messages I have put out recently. Where I have tried to make a comment about my commitment to giving a better police service to the City some people have reacted to say that my comments have just been 'political' spin. Have we had so much carefully managed comment from politicians in recent years that now even sincere statements of intent and public service are seen as shallow? A former colleague of mine had a good phrase for things which are just there or things which are just said to make something look better. He called them 'just eyewash'. I need to think about how I can make statements of commitment and intent without them being disregarded as nothing more than eyewash. Of course you also dont know what the silent readers or listeners think.

Police Boss New to blogging

OK so I'm new to blogging and I wait to see whether I say anything which anyone wants to read. I am the Police Commander in Southampton and I want to use a blog as a way of communicating more widely and informally to people. Which people? Well I don't mind really but mainly it's the people in Southampton whose council taxes pay my salary and the salary of all my officers and staff who serve the people of the City. I'd be just as pleased if this was of interest to the many thousands of people who use the City for work, education, entertainment shopping etc.
I'm happy to talk about my own role and work and I will talk about current policing operations or other crime and community safety issues. Anything which is of interest. I will try and explain what we do and why and hopefully this may give people more confidence in their local Police service. Let's just see where this takes us.........

So as a start has anyone been in the city centre on weekend nights recently and come across the police horses and mounted officers? We are trying them out as a new tactic to help control some of the worse drunken behaviour. They'll be out again over the next couple of weekends. If you saw them what did you think about them? Were they a welcome sight? Did they reassure or intimidate? Let me know what you thought or anything else about the city centre at night.