Macclesfield: The elected representative to tackle crime in our county has revealed his plans for the remainder of his term in office.

Yesterday, John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, launched his Police and Crime Plan.

It outlines his six key priorities for policing, crime and community safety in the county for the next three years. One of these priorities is to deliver justice for victims.

The six key priorities for policing and crime in Cheshire from now until 2024 are to:

Prevent and tackle crime, make Cheshire's roads safer, Protect vulnerable and at-risk people, Improve public confidence in policing, and modernising the police service.

But the most important priority appears to be deliver justice for victims of crime, as Dwyer has clarified on this the most in the immediate aftermath of the plan's launch.

Part of the Commissioner's role is to commission local support services for victims of crime.

Each year he claims to commit more than £1.2 million to fund victims' services, helping those who have been affected by crime in Cheshire.

In his Plan, the Commissioner outlines how he plans to support victims in our town and county. This includes:

Appointing a Victims' Champion to ensure needs of victims are being met and to improve the confidence of victims with regards to reporting incidents.

1. Scrutinising Cheshire Constabulary's performance against the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime and holding the Chief Constable to account to ensure victims have the support they need through the criminal justice system.

1. Ensuring crimes are recorded accurately, improving victim confidence.

1. Reducing reoffending by funding programmes which work with offenders to tackle the root causes of crimes.

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire said:

"Victims are at the heart of everything I do. I want to empower them to speak out and speak to the police, Crimestoppers or a third party reporting centre so action can be taken to help them.

"Victims having confidence in the police is key, and appointing a Victims' Champion, as well as scrutinising the performance of the Constabulary, is my way of feeding their voices into the process."

Work has already been undertaken in this area, and the Commissioner has secured over £847,000 from the Home Office's Perpetrator Fund to run two programmes to help people involved in domestic abuse.

This includes working with the survivor, the perpetrator and their families.

This will be welcome news to many Macclesfield families. Most wards in Macclesfield have violence and sexual offences as their most recorded crime.

This includes Macclesfield Central, which has the most assault, domestic abuse or sex crimes by month.

The most populous police ward of Macclesfield recorded 75 violence or sex offences in September 2021.

September 2021 was the joint-highest month for overall crimes in Macclesfield Central this year, tied with July 2021. Both months recorded 192 crimes.

In recent memory, only December 2020 had more crimes, with 195 recorded. This is expected, as domestic abuse in particular rises during the festive season.

With Christmas on the horizon, Dwyer's plan will hope to reduce domestic abuse rates and provide greater support for victims.

His Cheshire CARES (Cope and Recovery Enhanced Service), is the country's first in-house victims' support service which offers support to every single victim of crime in Cheshire.

This is regardless of whether the incident is reported to police, and is one of the new services provided by the Commissioner.

This and other bespoke services provide wrap around care, helping victims through the process and on the road to recovery.

Previously, many Macclesfield victims would be referred to Cheshire Victim Support, a third party which while provide an important service, have no connection to Cheshire Constabulary.

John Dwyer added: "I'm proud to have established Cheshire CARES during my first term in office and I am committed to doing all I can to help victims of crime.

"By providing multiple support channels for victims we can ensure that they always feel they have somewhere to turn to in Cheshire, and that they have confidence in whatever process they choose to follow."

It is unknown who or when the Victim Support Champion will be announced.

Macclesfield Police Station is located on Brunswick Street, and crimes can be reported to them using 999 in emergencies, or 101 in non-emergencies.

To read the Police and Crime Plan 2021-24, please go to this webpage.

To request a hard copy of the Plan, simply email [email protected].

But please consider the environment before submitting this request for a paper version.

Elsewhere in Macclesfield crime news, sheep worrying persists as a problem this autumn.

Please click here to read that article.

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