I have today criticised Reform UK Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews following his plans to spend £2 million on so called “town marshals” across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
In my view, this proposal raises serious questions about the Commissioner’s judgement, priorities, and understanding of what local residents actually expect from policing.
I said:
“This is £2 million of taxpayers’ money being thrown at what can only be described as a gimmick.
Residents don’t want security guards in fancy uniforms wandering around town centres pretending to be a substitute for real policing. They want properly trained police officers with the powers to intervene, arrest criminals and prevent crime.
The fact these marshals will reportedly have no powers of arrest, no access to police intelligence systems, and will ultimately have to call the police when trouble starts tells you everything you need to know. This is policing theatre, not policing delivery.
Frankly, it is an astonishing misuse of public money at a time when many communities rarely see an officer on the beat.
It begs the question, has Rupert Matthews completely lost sight of his core responsibility? His job is to fight crime and support the police, not waste millions on private patrols and hope residents don’t notice the difference.
Even frontline policing voices have publicly raised concerns about these plans. That should ring alarm bells for anybody serious about public safety.
People across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are paying more and more towards policing every single year. In return, they expect more officers, more patrols and safer streets. Not headlines, gimmicks and half measures.
This £2 million should be going directly into neighbourhood policing, boosting officer numbers and putting real police back into our communities.
If this is the direction of travel under Rupert Matthews, then residents are perfectly entitled to ask whether he is more interested in publicity than actually tackling crime.”
