Police & Crime Panel September 2026

5th September 2026

After some gentle persuasion, I'm back representing Stroud District Council on the Gloucestershire Police & Crime Panel. It can be a tad stressful at times, but I believe the work is necessary for our wonderfully diverse community. So, some informal notes and personal comment from yesterday's meeting.

Words Matter – Girls and Young Women Research Project

We noted an excellent piece of work that the OPCC has undertaken called Words Matter. How police communicators report on male violence against women and girls using the active voice, precise crime names and non-victim-blaming language.

Last week I attended a StopWatch strategy day up in London and discovered a report called the Girls and Young Women Research Project which focused on how officers treat young women and girls. I was alarmed that it confirmed a long-standing concern I had about community scrutiny down here in Gloucestershire.

These two documents together cover both sides of the trust equation. How police communicate about women and girls, and how officers treat them. So, yesterday, I challenged the PCC on the findings in the StopWatch study.

The crux of my question was this: How are complaints detected by the community (as opposed to the constabulary), and how do we ensure that the constabulary learns from them?

A few years ago at the constabulary there was a 'Community Complaints Trigger'. A complaint about stop and search, for example, should have prompted a meeting of the Scrutiny Panel, where the stop would be reviewed by members of the community themselves. It was Gloucestershire's local policy that set this trigger at just one complaint, going beyond national guidance of three. It was designed as a circular system of continuous improvement, forming part of the excellent Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme introduced by Theresa May when Home Secretary.

But recent changes at the constabulary have quietly dispensed with this trigger. Complaints are now known about only internally, with a very slim chance of ever being picked up by the community Scrutiny Panels — who have limited time to check only a tiny fraction of the stop and searches that take place between meetings.

That cycle of community-driven accountability has, in effect, been broken. And given how much emphasis policing places on trust and legitimacy, it's a step backwards that we should be honest about.

Chris Nelson's response

Rather than the considered response I asked for, the PCC was quick to dismiss the relevance of the StopWatch study and asserted that the constabulary has one of the best find rates in the country. But that's not answering the question about how procedural failings would be detected by our scrutiny panels here in Gloucestershire! Besides, the find rate measures what officers found after deciding to search. A force could find something in every search and still be searching the wrong people. And in any case given the evidence that stop and search records routinely fail at the point of encounter; no record given, no grounds logged – that statistic is only as reliable as the paperwork underneath it. Stop Search is hugely disproportionate too.

Community Engagement Strategy

Later in the meeting there was a frank and enlightening presentation by the OPCC Volunteer & Engagement Officer. Some of that presentation was a response to my initial question. The officer described some work being done around strip searches where, it seems, problems have indeed been identified.

My initial concern and question stands and I am going to get a bit more involved with the Scrutiny processes to gain a deeper understanding.

Chief Constable Recruitment

The process to recruit the new Chief Constable is well underway.

Candidates will be interviewed by panels of local and national stakeholders once one emerges successfully they will be subject to a confirmation hearing by the Police and Crime Panel on the 20th November.

For the first time there is a community consultation (survey) underway. Answers that members of the public provide for this survey will be themed to inform the first stage of the interview which will be a presentation about the concerns of the communities in Gloucestershire.

Have your say using this Microsoft Form

PEEL Assessment

The PEEL inspection programme is the HMICFRS regular assessment of the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of police forces in England and Wales. The constabulary had an inspection earlier in the year. The inspection is due to be published in the next couple of weeks. The top table seemed relaxed about it.

StopWatch background

StopWatch formed in 2010 as a coalition of academics, activists, marginalised youth, and legal experts seeking to challenge police use of stop and search powers by drawing attention to the realities for those on the receiving end of them.

Their study that had some straightforward recommendations:

Meeting information

Full Agenda pack available here.

The full webcast of the Panel meeting is available at the Gloucestershire County council portal.

Contact

As always, if you have any questions or just want a chat, I'm easily contactable – phone numbers and email on my home page. Use my contact info if you spot errors or if I've got something completely wrong!

I'm not using Facebook much anymore, but feel free to link and share these reports using whatever social media you fancy.

*You can also find me on the Fediverse (social media without adverts, algorithms, or outrage) here: https://stroud.social/eco-g

PS. As you may have noticed the listed.to platform is closing down before too long, so I'm having to embark on a migration process. I'll send an e-mail in due course. #video #OPCC