Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones asks residents’ opinions on future of policing, crime and law enforcement

Residents have a chance to tell our hard-up police force what they should focus their attention on.

An online survey has been launched by Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones – having last year attracted a record of almost 4,000 replies.

It will also ask residents to give a star rating to Lincolnshire Police – and comes after South Holland district councillors recently warned that the public has given up trying to report issues via the 101 number.

Mr Jones said: “As the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire I place great emphasis on my responsibility to ensure residents’ voices are heard.

“Funding for Lincolnshire Police is still one of the lowest in the UK and that means we must spend every penny, not only wisely, but dedicated to the issues communities care most about.

“I take the results extremely seriously and base the proposed Council Tax increases and the priority for spending on the views expressed in this survey so I hope as many people as possible take the few minutes necessary to complete the survey.”

Mr Jones had put his share of the council tax bill up by more than 5% for 2023/24 - with a band D household paying about £15 more for police services next year.

This year’s Crime and Policing Survey will ask respondents how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with the authority.

Residents will also be asked if they believe Lincolnshire Police is effective, treats victims of crime with compassion and can be trusted to behave properly and uphold the law impartially.

In previous years the views expressed in the survey have been the driving force behind some significant changes to the services provided by Lincolnshire Police.

A dedicated roads policing team, specialist enforcement teams for rural areas, raising awareness of frauds and scams, community speed watch schemes and an increase in community beat managers have been launched thanks to views expressed in previous surveys.

In 2022, Spalding was selected alongside Boston and Skegness to benefit from artificial intelligence cameras after talks with more than 1,000 young people identified sexual assaults or street harassment as the biggest threats to their safety.

Questions will also be posed about the increased use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology, the fear of crime, how victims would prefer to report an incident and what level of Council Tax payment they would support.

To take part in the 10-minute survey visit the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s website.