Councillors and council clerks attended the Annual Parish Conference last night to represent local residents.

The Annual Parish Council Conference gives the OPCC and Bedfordshire Police the opportunity to thank the Councillors for the invaluable work they do to support Community Policing.

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (DPCC), Ian Dalgarno opened the event by thanking town and parish councillors for having their say on the county’s police service.

The key themes covered were Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), speeding and bikes, rural crime and visible policing.

The meeting also heard from Chief Superintendent Jaki Whittred, the force’s head of local policing and Superintendent Hob Hoque, who leads community policing.

Mr Dalgarno has now pledged to raise all these issues with the force’s Chief Constable following the event.

The DPCC said “Spending time with our local councillors is vital to getting localised information for our policing teams.

“They are the eyes and ears of the community and can feed back to us about how policing is doing on the ground. Their passion and want to get things right means we can work together on how’s best to tackle these issues”.

Superintendent Hob Hoque said “It was a pleasure to attend the Parish Councillors forum and listen to the members, it’s never lost on me the important role our councillors play in keeping our communities safe.

“I am fully committed to ensuring my local officers engage with our parish councillors, your policing priorities are our priorities, and we will continue to work with Councillors to address the longer term issue.”

The OPCC offered the attendees an opportunity to feed back on the event via a survey. One Councillor said “Very informative and enlightening. Well done to all involved in making this evening a memorable experience”.

If you’d like more information on this event, please contact our office pcc@beds.police.uk