Standing up for law and order

Team Maynard — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:31:54 +0000

Lots of people across Blackpool and Cleveleys feel let down by the criminal justice system. They feel that it just isn’t on their side anymore.

Under Labour, the police are spending more time on paperwork and less time on police work.

Violent criminals are let off with cautions.

We can’t go on like this.

Cutting red tape and increasing the amount of time available to go on patrol will be a Conservative government’s priority for police.

We will reclaim control of our town centres at night so that they’re safe places for people to enjoy a night out, without fear of violence or intimidation. We will enable the police to take action against the causes of binge-drinking hotspots, taking on irresponsible shops which knowingly sell alcohol to children.

Importantly, we will restore credibility and trust to the justice system so that people taking reasonable steps to stop a crime is not prosecuted. The law will be on the side of law-abiding people.

Crime. What we need to do.

Paul Maynard MP — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:08:38 +0000

My most recent post on the crime figures elicited a few responses, so I thought it might be helpful just to set out what the Conservatives will do. A blog is about commenting on what is happening – so it’s never meant to be an essay on policy prescriptions, but I think people are right to point out that the police are never there when you need them. That is the fundamental that needs tackling.

In addition, we need to consider two things. Firstly, the balance of crimes committed by first-time offenders and repeat offenders. We need to come down hard on first-time offenders – not just issue a caution. That way, we stop their involvement in misdemeanours increasing. Those who are frequent offenders need to be both punished and rehabilitated. That means ensuring that the time they spend in prison is spent wisely - improving literacy skills, for example, to help them get meaningful jobs on the outside.

We will scrap the stop and account and the stop and search forms
We will strengthen police powers of stop and search to enable officers to respond decisively to incidents or threats of serious crime

We will take our reforms further by empowering local people as well as police officers. By introducing directly-elected police commissioners, and by requiring all police forces to publish crime maps and hold quarterly beat meetings, we will enable local communities to hold their police force to account.

We cannot tackle crime unless we also address the causes of crime, such as family breakdown, drug abuse and binge drinking. But the fight back starts with getting more police officers back on to the streets. Only then can we begin to rebuild the safer communities we all want.

Paul Maynard MP » Crime in Blackpool and Cleveleys – protecting law-abiding citizens

Standing up for law and order

Crime. What we need to do.