A North East police boss was forced to defend her efforts to combat poverty after they were labelled a “cheap” vote-winner.
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Kim McGuinness recently unveiled a new ‘Fighting Poverty, Fighting Crime’ policy, pledging to focus on the root causes of offending by tackling deprivation and unemployment. But the rebranded plan came in for criticism on Monday morning. Andrew Shepherd, an independent member of the area’s Police and Crime Panel, told Ms McGuinness that it was “not your business” to fight poverty.
Mr Shepherd said that he “absolutely” understood the link between poverty and crime, but insisted it was not the Labour PCC’s remit to combat it and asked what direct impact Ms McGuinness’ new policy would actually have on Northumbria Police’s operations. He added: “I think you are setting yourself a task that you are not resourced nor equipped to take on. You are setting yourself up for a fall.
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“I recognise it is local authority business and certainly central government business and it is not being addressed as it should be. All I am saying is that I do not think it should be appearing in the PCC’s plan. You have not told me anything that will change as a result of it being in there.
“It looks like a fairly cheap way of trying to attract some votes. We all know it is not your responsibility or your job.”
Ms McGuinness hit back by saying that evidence proves that the poorest are at greater risk of becoming a victim of crime, including being six times more likely to be a victim of domestic abuse. The former Newcastle councillor, who has been PCC since 2019, argued at a meeting in Gateshead that she would be “neglecting a duty” if she failed to take on issues like homelessness and addiction, which can lead people to crime.
She said: “The fact is that you are more likely to be a victim of crime if you live in poverty and you are more likely to live in poverty if you live in our region. That is a really sad fact.
“Too many people are in prison because they are desperate and poor, too many people stay in or go back to prison because they are desperate and poor. We have to break those cycles.
“I will always back the police to recruit more and catch criminals and fight crime, but it would be remiss of me to not understand our responsibilities in fighting poverty – that, to me, is very clear.”
Ms McGuinness was backed up by other members of the panel, with chair Angela Douglas saying it was “all of our responsibility” to combat poverty. Sunderland councillor Sean Lewis added: “If the root causes of crime were not included in the plan on how to tackle crime, I wouldn’t see what the point of the plan is.”
