David Sidwick to attend first panel meeting this week

The Conservative won the post on a turn-out of less than a third of the population across the county, beating nearest rival, independent Dan Hardy.

Mr Sidwick, who is paid around £70,000 a year, will be at his first Dorset Police and Crime Panel which will meet online on Wednesday, July 7 at 10am.

His item, first of the agenda after the formalities, will include an outline of his police and crime plan and an overview of his first days in office since taking up the post in May.

The meeting also includes a report outlining the work of now retired former police commissioner Martyn Underhill on the final year of his 2016-21 term. He served an extra year because of the pandemic.

Other reports at the meeting include a road safety update, a monitoring report on the police and crime plan, the forward workplan and a complaints update.

A report from the PCC’s director of operations, Adam Harrold, says Mr Sidwick’s vision is that Dorset should be the safest county in England and Wales, achieved by cutting crime and anti-social behaviour and by putting victims and communities first.

The new commissioner has set out six priorities which including making policing more “visible and connected” to fulfil a prevention role.

He says he wants to see contact between the police and public improved and will target violent crime and organised gangs; to be tough on drugs and tackle high harm incidents such as child abuse, domestic abuse, hate crime and modern slavery.

Mr Sidwick has also pledged to make rural crime a priority and to support victims of crime. He says he will transform frontline policing, reducing administration, allowing patrol and response teams to spend more time in communities making residents feel safer.

He is planning a series of face to face meetings during the summer to talk about his draft police and crime plan which he hopes to have ready by the end of October 2021.