THE Police and Crime Commissioner elections are happening on Thursday 6th May.

I have a good working relationship with Dorset Police and our Chief Constable. They work incredibly hard for all of us in Dorset, and their role in keeping us and our communities safe is vital.

The Police and Crime Commissioner is the elected leader offering direction to the police. I want to see the police in Dorset tackling the despicable county lines drug gangs, which are unacceptable and must be stopped.

I do not believe the British Transport Police have done enough to stop these gangs, so I have asked them to come to Dorchester South station to discuss it.

I want to see more officers along the coast, tackling speeding on the coast road, and I want to see a crackdown on rural crime and animal theft.

Nationally, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill provides lots of important changes to the law to fight against violent crime, including ending the automatic halfway release for certain types of offenders, and giving police better powers to search for bladed weapons and get knives off our streets.

The Bill also modernises courts and tribunals and enshrines the Police Covenant into law.

Locally policing is just as much about our communities as it is about legislation. That’s why each force is accountable to the elected PCC: each area has different needs, and must be looked at individually.

I encourage everyone to vote on Thursday 6th May. This election is our opportunity to decide the direction we want policing in Dorset to go, and that is why it is so important.

Chris Loder

West Dorset MP