Police commissioner trends with calls for his resignation

North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner is facing thousands of calls for his resignation for comments he made about the murder of Sarah Everard.

Philip Allott told the BBC today that women “need to be streetwise” about police powers and that Ms Everard should “never have submitted to arrest”.

Mr Allott initially defended his comments by saying he was not blaming the victim on Twitter before he deleted the Tweet and apologised.

However, his apology has not stemmed a tide of fury on Twitter. More than a thousand people commented on his apology in under an hour.

These comments are completely obscene. It is victim blaming 101.

The onus should never be on women to change their behaviour, but on men, our institutions and society to reform. https://t.co/U8SThWM6tb

— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) October 1, 2021

These comments are appalling. It’s not up to women to fix this. It’s not us who need to change. The problem is male violence, not women’s ‘failure’ to find ever more inventive ways to protect ourselves against it. For change to happen, this needs to be accepted by everyone. https://t.co/8oC2c5U9Pj

— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 1, 2021

This idiot needs to be fired. Immediately. https://t.co/tNgeEluFWf

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 1, 2021

The police are telling women that women are responsible for whether or not they are attacked or murdered by the police https://t.co/TS8IAtObuY

— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) October 1, 2021

Since then “Philip Allott” has become number one trending in the UK, “Resign” is number seven trending and “Police Commissioner” is number eight trending.

Labour leader Kier Starmer, Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, and TV personality Piers Morgan were among those expressing anger about Mr Allott’s comments.

The Stray Ferret asked if he would consider his position, Mr Allott said:

“No, I’m not. I have got a great record in protecting women. It was one of my campaign pledges.”

Mr Allott’s comments come as murderer Wayne Couzens, a Met Police officer, had falsely arrested 33-year-old Ms Everard in order to abduct her.

Couzens was given a whole life sentence at the Old Bailey yesterday

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Police commissioner apologises for Sarah Everard comments after backlash

North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has apologised for comments he made in the wake of the Sarah Everard case.

Mr Allott faced calls to resign after he said that women “need to be street wise” and that Ms Everard “never should have submitted” to arrest.

The comments sparked a Twitter backlash, including the director of Big Brother Watch, Silkie Carlo, calling for him to resign.

Mr Allott said in a tweet this afternoon:

“I would like to wholeheartedly apologise for my comments on BBC Radio York earlier today, which I realise have been insensitive and wish to retract them in full.”

https://twitter.com/philAllottPFCC/status/1443954284048039945?s=20

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Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Mr Allott said the commissioner’s office had recently authorised funding for an early prevention and intervention scheme to be launched in about three months’ time, which would target persistent offenders who have committed up to two crimes.

He recently told councillors in North Yorkshire that the scheme would involve public health work “because if we can break that cycle we will not only save the public purse  fortune in terms of locking people up, we will actually stop them reoffending”.

The Stray Ferret asked if he would consider his position, Mr Allott said:

“No, I’m not. I have got a great record in protecting women.

“It was one of my campaign pledges.”

Mr Allott’s comments come as murderer Wayne Couzens, a Met Police officer, had falsely arrested 33-year-old Ms Everard in order to abduct her.

Couzens was given a whole life sentence at the Old Bailey yesterday

Police commissioner urged to resign after Sarah Everard comments

The North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner faced calls to resign today for comments made in the wake of the Sarah Everard murder.

Philip Allott told the BBC that women “need to be streetwise” about police powers and that Ms Everard should “never have submitted to arrest”.

The comments have been criticised by campaigners, including Reclaim the Streets, which held a vigil in York in memory of Ms Everard.

Mr Allott, who lives in Knaresborough, took to social media to defend his comments.

He tweeted:

“Nobody is blaming the victim what I am saying is that we need to inform women far better of their rights, something I intend to action here in North Yorkshire ASAP.”

https://twitter.com/philAllottPFCC/status/1443932825313501194?s=20

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However, he subsequently faced calls to resign his position following the comments.

Silkie Carlo, director of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, responded to Mr Allott to say:

“I know my rights! If I was arrested by a police officer with a badge & handcuffs during lockdown, I would have no choice. 

“Jess Phillips said the same this morning. It could have been any of us. She stood no chance. How dare you say she “submitted”. Please, for our safety, resign.”

Mr Allott’s comments come as murderer Wayne Couzens, a Met Police officer, had falsely arrested 33-year-old Ms Everard in order to abduct her.

Couzens was given a whole life sentence at the Old Bailey yesterday.

 

Average speed checks could be introduced in North Yorkshire

Average speed camera checks could be introduced on rural roads and built-up areas across North Yorkshire, it has emerged.

While authorities in the county have repeatedly ruled out using fixed speed cameras as a deterrent, North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Philip Allott, has told highways bosses he is considering the system with a view to prosecuting more speeding drivers.

Mr Allott previously said he had concerns over North Yorkshire Police’s 12 mobile speed camera vans, which were introduced in 2011, and that getting to grips with the issue was among his highest priorities.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways, said he would support average speed cameras because they would be more effective in making drivers comply with the limit.

He added average speed cameras would be suitable for any road and any speed limit.

Cllr Mackenzie said: 

“I think it is a better idea than fixed speed cameras because when people get to know where they are they simply slow down near the camera and speed up afterwards. They are not a particularly good deterrent for people who know the area.

“Clearly this is something for the North Yorkshire Police to decide to do and I’m sure if they do decide to introduce a regime of average speed cameras they will come to us and ask for our views. I am a supporter of anything that deters speeding.”

His comments came after leading councillors questioned whether the force’s speed camera vans were frequently located at predictable locations, reducing their effectiveness.

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Cost of cameras coming down

While the county council has been urged to help redesign roads to reduce injury accidents, senior county councillors questioned whether focusing more on other driving offences, such as illegal parking, and less on speeding would lead to fewer road collisions.

Average speed cameras have become a common sight on motorways and A-roads since they were first used in the UK in 2000. Motoring analysts say the cameras are increasingly sited in 30mph zones.

The cost of average speed cameras has fallen significantly in recent years and with increases in technology, the two cameras can be as little as 75m apart. Supporters of the system claim the only way drivers can guarantee to avoid average speed camera fines is to comply with the limit.

RAC Foundation research, published in 2016 focusing on 25 average speed camera sites, found they led to a 36% reduction in the rate of fatal and serious collisions in the post-installation period.

Call for police action against Harrogate Asda car park ‘boy racers’

A Harrogate resident has called for police action against ‘boy racers’ who regularly descend on the town’s Asda car park.

The resident, who lives on Mayfield Grove within earshot of the car park, told the Stray Ferret he would organise a demonstration if nothing was done.

He said people on streets near the store were tired of the noise and had safety concerns about vehicles speeding.

According to the resident, who asked not to be named, about four to six cars belonging mainly to young men congregate nightly in the car park and rev their engines and pop their exhausts.

The resident said they had raised the matter with Philip Allott, the police commissioner for North Yorkshire, and a police community support officer had agreed to visit the supermarket this week to discuss the matter,

They said they would now wait to see what ensued before deciding whether to mobilise support for a demonstration.

“Every night for years these idiots gather in the rear part of Asda car park where they rev their engines then race out of the car park and round Harrogate.

“I have video and pics that I gave to Philip Allott of a Mercedes that is there most nights and which nearly wiped out a couple of customers.

“If the police don’t do anything about it, we are going to arrange a demo at Asda.”

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A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said:

“We are aware of anti-social-behaviour problems around the Mayfield Grove area of Harrogate, in particular issues with speeding vehicles.

“We will be actively deploying specialist resource to the area which will include roads policing officers who will be robustly dealing with any offences.

“Officers will also be linking in other local organisations and utilising local CCTV to help us build intelligence.”

The spokesman said these measures were in addition to North Yorkshire Police’s ongoing Operation Crome initiative to tackle anti-social and illegal driving.

An Asda spokesman said:

‘’We thank the vast majority who use our car parks responsibly and we will work with the authorities to ensure that the spaces around our stores remain safe for our customers.’’

Police commissioner: 101 line deluged by ‘neighbours complaining about each other’

A police commissioner has told how fewer people going away on holiday this year has seen the force’s phone lines being deluged “with everybody complaining about each other”.

Philip Allott, North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said as a result of the pandemic on some days last month the force got record numbers of 999 and non-emergency 101 calls, even more than they do on the traditional busiest days of the year, such as New Year’s Eve.

Mr Allott was responding to fresh criticism of the force’s 101 line by elected community representatives at a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s corporate and partnerships scrutiny committee.

North Yorkshire’s 101 line has regularly struggled to meet demand since it was was introduced in 2011 as a national measure to ease demand on 999.

Despite Mr Allott’s predecessor Julia Mulligan launching a string of initiatives to increase capacity, the meeting heard South Selby division Cllr Mike Jordan claim “the phone just doesn’t get answered”.

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Eastfield and Osgodby division member Cllr Tony Randerson said those staffing the 101 line needed more training because when residents did eventually get through they were given useless or misleading information.

He said:

“A resident of mine was on the phone 20 minutes waiting for a response about antisocial behaviour. When he got a response he was told ‘it’s not a police matter, go to your council’, which is unbelievable.”

‘It’s not fit for purpose’

Cllr Randerson called on the commissioner to press the Home Office for a complete overhaul of the 101 system.

He said: 

“It’s not fit for purpose and it hasn’t been fit for purpose for the last eight years.”

Mr Allott said the situation had been exacerbated by far fewer people going on holiday and neighbours irritating each other.

He said: 

“So you’ve got a record number of people complaining about each other. The pandemic has created a lot of these record call numbers at a time when nobody else is willing to pick these calls up.”

He added the 101 number was being used for a spectrum of non-policing issues.

Call for funding to be tripled

Mr Allott said the police were having to deal with time-consuming calls over matters such as potential suicides and noise, which were the responsibility of the NHS and council environmental health officers.

He said: 

“The police will do the enforcement, but what we can’t be is a sticking plaster for everything.

“Unfortunately there is an expectation that the police and the 101 number are the number of last resort and the reality of it is unless we triple the funding it can never be that.”

Mr Allott said cutting the length of time 101 callers faced was “the number one thing on my agenda”, that more staff were being trained and yet more staff were needed.

He added he was investigating introducing software to the force’s website which displays call waiting times so non-urgent callers could then chose to phone back later. In addition, software which can model what the call situation will be like at specific times to enable the force to better manage demand peaks is also being examined.

He said when the force launches Home Online next month, people will be able to report issues such as antisocial behaviour on its website and demand for 101 should ease.

New citizenship scheme to be launched for young people

A new scheme to help young people become better citizens is to be introduced in the Harrogate district.

Philip Allott, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, is currently finalising details for the Good Ctizenship programme, which will be launched across the county this autumn.

Mr Allott, who succeeded fellow Conservative Julia Mulligan as commissioner this year, said the scheme would spread the message that it is an honour and privilege to live in this country but also comes with responsibilities.

It will recruit the likes of former police officers and teachers and operate in partnership with schools. A provider for the scheme has yet to be announced.

Mr Allott added the programme would not lecture young people but rather “get them to identify what they want to do to help their communities and then give them the tools to do that”.

He said:

“It could be giving them bags to collect rubbish or it could be about helping them engage with their neighbours.”

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The budget for the scheme has yet to be finalised but Mr Allott said:

“It won’t require a ton of money but it will require a ton of passion.

“Society has become less tolerant and young people will become a greater force for good if they buy into it. We will work with youth partnerships to roll this out.”

 

Academics to review speed limit enforcement in North Yorkshire

A police commissioner has unveiled plans to enlist academics to help tackle speeding across England’s largest county.

Philip Allott, North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said he aimed to enable the force to deal decisively with safety on rural roads and in villages. But with more than 6,000 miles of roads and 800 villages to cover, demand for enforcement was outstripping police resources.

Mr Allott said universities had been invited to tender to review how speed limits are enforced in the county and he was hopeful work to come up with alternatives would shortly get underway.

He was speaking to North Yorkshire County Council’s Richmondshire constituency committee following years of controversy surrounding North Yorkshire Police’s speed camera vans.

While fixed speed cameras have repeatedly been deemed an unsuitable solution for the largely rural county, the force has insisted the vans are used to deter speeding at sites of accidents.

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Julia Mulligan, Mr Allott’s predecessor, frequently defended the use of the vans and denied they were a revenue generator.

Last year she tweeted: 

“Any cash raised is spent on road safety, but they are largely self-funding, and certainly not ‘cash cows’. We also have clear evidence of behaviour change and lives saved.”

Nevertheless, motorists, including former police traffic officers and a number of leading councillors, believe the vans have frequently been sent to sites, such as bridges over motorways or dual carriageway laybys, in a bid to maximise numbers of fines.

Just 35 traffic officers

After being elected Mr Allott said there were “big concerns” over the vans, which were introduced in 2011.

He told the constituency committee while speeding was a prominent issue for residents, the force had just 35 traffic officers to oversee enforcement.

Mr Allott said: 

“The issue for us is that for the safety camera vans there are 750 sites for 12 vans plus two motorcycle units, and they can’t possibly go to every location.”

Mr Allott said he wanted elected community representatives to be able to direct police towards the areas of greatest concern.

He said: 

“What I would like to move towards is a position where if you say ‘I want the camera van to go out here or there’, you can have that as a councillor three times a year.”

Referring to calls for 20mph zones in some built-up areas, he said neither the camera vans nor hand-held speed guns were calibrated as low as 20mph.

He added: 

“If you are a councillor and wanting a lower speed limit, I as commissioner will support it. There are some challenges and you can see why I want an academic institute to look at this.”

Ripon to get two CCTV cameras after ‘mini crime wave’

North Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner has pledged to pay for two CCTV cameras in Ripon following a “mini crime wave”.

The two cameras are set to cost £10,000 each, but Philip Allott, the county’s police, fire and crime commissioner, has said his office will foot the bill.

It follows a spate of anti-social behaviour in the city, including an alleged knifepoint robbery of a teenage boy Bondgate last month. A 17-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man were later charged and remanded in custody.

Mr Allott told a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council‘s Skipton and Ripon Area Constituency Committee today that his office was willing to pay for the extra cameras, but warned that other measures would have to be taken to bring down crime.

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He told councillors that police already had resources to investigate and apprehend offenders and that other measures to take kids off the streets were needed.

Mr Allott said:

“In Ripon where there has been a mini crime wave, primarily thanks to four families where the perpetrators have been held on remand pending court appearances. We need to work with partners.

“I can make sure the police have resources and indeed in Ripon they have, to investigate and apprehend offenders but we need to look at diversion stuff we can do.

“The city council yesterday evening is keen to get not one but two extra cameras from the borough council. We will fund that and the cost is £10,000 each.

“But somebody has to do that application to my office, I cannot do that application alone.

“Equally, we do need councillors in particular to help in terms of local partnerships and safety hubs to help us with the diversion stuff that we can provide to take kids off the streets.”

North Yorkshire Police not answering half of 999 calls on time

Half of 999 calls to North Yorkshire Police were not answered on time last month, according to the force’s own figures.

The force’s control room received 9,572 emergency calls — the highest ever number for the month of August.

However, 50 per cent of those were not answered within the 10 second target set nationally.

Half of calls met the target and 45 per cent were answered within five seconds, according to police.

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Deputy chief constable Phil Cain told a North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner accountability meeting yesterday that on average the force answered 999 calls within 22 seconds last month.

He said:

“We want to get a lot better at that.

“The challenge for us is balancing against the volume increase of three nines we are receiving since the easing of lockdown restrictions versus some of the staffing challenges we have got in the control room.”

DCC Cain said police were creating long and medium term plans, which include using technology and additional staff, to improve response times.

Overtime plan

The move comes as the county’s police, fire and crime commissioner, Philip Allott, approved £69,000 worth of funding in July for the force to create an overtime plan and hire six more call handlers for busier times.

An additional £70,000 was set aside should more funding be required until the end of October.

A decision notice on the commissioner’s website said:

“The requirement for this available funding will be reviewed at the end of October and the commissioner expects to see proposals brought forward through the next round of budget setting to ensure the longer-term sustainability of the force control room.”

Mr Allott told the Stray Ferret in July that he expected improvements in response times in the coming months following the easing of restrictions and after improvements to the service were made.