Hertfordshire Constabulary set for scrutiny in live accountability meeting this Thursday

Firearms licensing, crime investigations and action to protect women from abuse and predatory behaviour will be under scrutiny at a police accountability meeting on Thursday, January 15.

Hertfordshire Police & Crime Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards holds monthly Accountability & Performance Meetings (APMs) to hold Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Chief Constable to account on behalf of the public. Mr Ash-Edwards webcasts APMs for public transparency.

The meeting will be held at 10.30am and members of the public can register online to watch the webcast live.

Firearms licensing is set for the agenda on Thursday. It will be the seventh time that firearms licensing has been on an APM agenda since Mr Ash-Edwards took office in May 2024, reflecting the scale and depth of the challenges in this area of police operations. Most recently, the police inspectorate HMICFRS issued a cause of concern for the service provided by Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Hertfordshire police’s collaborated firearms licensing unit.

Jonathan Ash-Edwards, Police & Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire, said: “My Accountability & Performance Meetings help me hold the Chief Constable to account on behalf of the public for the performance and work of Hertfordshire Constabulary. They are webcast live and a recording published for transparency.

“This month I will again be raising firearms licensing, for the seventh time since I was elected, and seeking to understand how the police are responding to the findings and recommendations of the recent inspection. While progress has been made in the last year, including the number of licensing decisions more than doubling compared to the previous year, the inspection report confirms my view that there is much more to be done and that the public still aren’t receiving a good enough service.”

At the APM, the Chief Constable will be asked for an update on the Constabulary’s response to the inspection report and how improvements will be implemented. He will also be asked about progress on reducing the backlogs of decisions on firearms licence renewals and applications.

The APM agenda will also include: crime investigations and solving crime, Project Vigilant - an initiative to disrupt sexually predatory behaviour in the night time economy, and Clare’s Law - the domestic abuse disclosure scheme.

Mr Ash-Edwards, said: “Solving crime is one of the most fundamental responsibilities of the police. It is something that only the police can do. Nationally and locally, more crime needs to be solved so that victims receive justice and offenders are held to account. Solving more crime is a key objective in my Police & Crime Plan and I’ll be scrutinising how the Constabulary is responding.

“Ensuring that women are safe while enjoying a night out in Hertfordshire’s town centres is essential and has been a focus of my Safer Town Centres project. One of the police’s activities is Project Vigilant which aims to proactively disrupt sexually predatory behaviour in the night time economy. I recently observed a Project Vigilant deployment in Bishop’s Stortford and I’m keen to understand how wider use of this initiative is being made in Hertfordshire.”