17 October 2018: Guest Blog – Consultation Board
17 October 2018
Gathering the views of our residents is what helps shape the services delivered across Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton. This ranges from crime prevention advice to services dedicated to supporting victims of crime.
Consultation is more than just asking questions, it’s listening and taking action. This two-way feedback system is essential, though cannot be done in isolation. Working with our partners is key to reaching as many individuals as we can, with everyone’s overall aim of keeping residents safer.
The Consultation Board is twofold, with the first half a closed meeting between the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Hampshire Constabulary to ensure any sensitive information can be shared, the second half is open to partners where a whole community approach can be discussed.
The Board feeds back into the Commissioning Board (chaired by OPCC), the Victims Board (chaired by Hampshire Constabulary) and the victim engagement working group (chaired by Hampshire Constabulary) to ensure there is no duplication and particular groups are not over consulted.
For each Consultation Board a literature review is compiled to reflect on recent research, focusing on a theme as identified by board members. Our most recent literature review focuses on serious violence, a crime which is on the rise within our communities. Tackling this in the long term is not just a matter for policing but one that must be shared, as it is just as much about tackling the root causes of crime as tackling the crime and its consequences. Working with community safety partners is essential, and the literature review helps to inform joint approaches and priorities for local consultation and research.
The literature review on serious violence, for example, looked at a paper on violence with female offenders and whether there were differences in female offending in rural and urban areas. Other areas explored included gang violence, peer influence on violent offending, and the influence of alcohol consumption.
Visit the PCC’s social media channels on Twitter and Facebook to see the discussions about different types of #HiddenHarm that are happening in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, and Southampton.