Highest number join Bedfordshire Police as 999 call handlers
Bedfordshire Police has recruited its largest ever single cohort of staff into its force control room as part of Police and Crime Commissioner Festus Akinbusoye’s pledge to invest in improving public contact. Nineteen new police staff members have started training with the force ahead of joining the nerve centre of policing in the county where […]
Almost 200 additional police officers for Bedfordshire as PCC delivers on recruitment pledge
Bedfordshire Police has this week announced it has exceeded its three-year target to recruit more than 650 additional officers. The force has increased its base number of officers by 198 since it launched its biggest ever recruitment drive in 2020, as part of the Government’s national police uplift programme. The force celebrated surpassing the target […]
PCC sets another record investment for victim support services
PCC sets another record investment for victim support services More than £2.6 million is being put into victim support and other services by Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Festus Akinbusoye this year. The funding will support a whole range of prevention and early intervention services to support victims of crime and prevent things like domestic […]
PCC hails second successful youth conference
Hundreds of teenagers have attended conferences organised by Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Festus Akinbusoye this week as part of a major drive to raise awareness about issues like knife crime and violence against women and girls. Nearly 300 year nine students attended the events which were delivered in partnership with agencies such as Bedfordshire’s […]
Officers set to move to new police hub in Leighton Buzzard
The force’s community policing team is to start making the move to Bossard House over the coming weeks as the new policing facility in West Street begins to take shape.
PCC’s school absenteeism pilot helps over 100 young people
More than 100 young people have engaged with a pilot project led by Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner to help schools tackle persistent absenteeism in the county. Festus Akinbusoye has made the absenteeism project one of his flagship projects in a bid to reduce the number of young people that could become vulnerable to exploitation […]
Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Festus Akinbusoye has backed efforts to tackle violence against women and girls during a national awareness week.
The Commissioner highlighted programmes such as Safer Streets as well as his increased investment in police’s Professional Standards Department to showcase his commit to improving women’s safety. This work coincides with the start of It’s Not Okay week, which launched on Monday (6 February) to raise awareness around rape and sexual abuse as well as […]
Police and Crime Panel supports increase in Council Tax
Festus Akinbusoye, Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Bedfordshire, has welcomed support from the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Panel to increase the police precept for 2023/24 Panel members from Bedford Borough Council, Luton Borough Council, Central Bedfordshire Council, and the independent members voted to increase the precept that helps to fund Bedfordshire Police with seven […]
Drug seizures hit £4.3 million as PCC continues delivery of Police and Crime Plan
Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Festus Akinbusoye has welcomed police figures that show illegal drugs worth at least £4.3 million were taken off the streets of the county last year. New figures from the force show Bedfordshire Police seized almost 23 kilos of cocaine and heroin and 6,500 cannabis plants over the past 12 […]
PCC backs county’s Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit following successful Home Office visit
Bedfordshire’s specialist unit dedicated to tackling the violence and exploitation of young people showcased its work to the Home Office last week. The county’s partnership Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit (VERU) hosted dozens of officials at the Hat Factory in Luton on Wednesday (25 January), highlighting work and commissioned projects which have reached thousands of […]