North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones (pictured) is standing down.
Mr Jones, the region’s second ever police and crime
commissioner, has announced he will be retiring at the next election
whenever it is held.
The former police inspector swept to victory on a
Plaid Cymru ticket in 2016 - with a thumping 25,000 majority.
According to Mr Jones, it was one of the proudest
moments of his life when he was elected to lead the police force he had served
for 30 years, both in uniform and as a detective.
The next election had originally been due to take
place last May but the vote was put back a year because of the Covid-19
pandemic.
Mr Jones said: “The main reason I have decided not
to seek re-election is that I will been working for more than 46 years by the time
of the next election.
“As a result of the pandemic the term of office was
extended for a year. I started thinking about this last May but I didn’t talk
to anybody else about it until three months ago.
“I have achieved a lot in the past five years and it
is going to be more difficult to make a difference next time because of the
pandemic, Brexit and the fact that the term of office has been curtailed to
three years.”
On his first official day in office, Mr Jones
pledged to make tackling domestic violence a top priority.
A month later, he put his money where his mouth was
when he announced at the North Wales Police and Crime Panel he was providing
the money to ensure that North Wales Police was the first force in Wales to
issue body worn video cameras– particularly useful in the aftermath of an
incident of domestic abuse – to all front line officers.
One of the things that had changed most in between
the time he retired as a police officer and taking office as police and crime
commissioner was the fact that a lot of crime had moved online.
He had therefore also invested money and resources
to tackle new and emerging threats like the sexual exploitation of vulnerable
people, including children, and fraud.
As
well as setting up a new Economic Crime Unit to crack down on fraudsters, the
police and crime commissioner provided funding to pay for a dedicated officer
to support fraud victims and, similarly, Mr Jones made history when he funded
the appointment of the UK's first police support officer to help victims of
modern slavery.
Both
officers are based at the Victim Help Centre in St Asaph which receives funding
from Mr Jones and provides support and advice for victims of crime from across
North Wales.
As a long-time campaigner for drugs legislation
reform, Mr Jones is also proud that he has helped to shift public opinion on
the issue as well as launching a raft of pioneering initiatives.
Among
them is the ground-breaking Checkpoint Cymru scheme – the first of its kind in
Wales - to steer low-level offenders, including people caught with drugs for
personal use, away from crime.
Then
earlier this year Mr Jones was instrumental in the setting up of a pilot
project in Flintshire when officers there became the first in Wales to carry a
life-saving nasal spray called Naloxone which acts as an antidote to a drugs
overdose.
Once
the results of the trial are evaluated, the commissioner hopes the initiative
can be rolled out across North Wales.
The
biggest single decision taken by Mr Jones during his term of office was the
appointment of a new Chief Constable and he is delighted with the “excellent
leadership” since he got the top job.
Mr
Jones said: “In fact, I’m just blown away by the professionalism of young
officers that I’ve met over the last five years.
“Nothing
stands still with policing. Our officers are having to deal with new and
worrying trends like online crime and child sex abuse. But these are not
issues that that the police can tackle alone – for example, the Internet
Service Providers can do a lot to prevent online grooming and the abuse of
children.
“In
an ever changing world, the criminals are adapting and the police have to adapt
equally quickly which is why we have increased the staff in the Victim Help
Centre.
“One
of themes during my term in office has been the partnership with the Third
Sector who deliver support for survivors and vulnerable people.
“I’m a big fan of the Third Sector. They deliver a
service in the fraction of the time a public sector agency can. They are making
a real difference to real people, especially in terms of providing support for
survivors of domestic abuse.
“I think one my proudest achievements was providing
extra money to buy body worn videos.
“It’s proven to be a good decision because it has
provided evidence that has helped in securing convictions on domestic violence
and domestic abuse cases.
“The formation of the Modern Slavery Unit is
another achievement of which I am proud and I made history when I appointed the
first support officer to help modern slavery victims.
“Culturally, North Wales Police has changed over
the past five years. The way the force operates now is around trauma and how it
informs policing, with better services for vulnerable members of the community
- whether they are offenders or victims.
“We’ve been addressing the causes of crime not just
the symptoms and that’s the right thing to do. We are doing a great deal of
preventative work by looking at Adverse Childhood Experiences which can have a
massive impact on future behaviour.
“Invariably, the root cause is that something
traumatic has happened in people’s lives, including being abused as children.
Mental health issues go hand in hand with problematic drug use and people in
that situation suffer from a whole raft of problems.
“One of the things I am most proud of is that the
tide of public opinion around the drugs issue has changed and moved on.
“What I find most frustrating with the public
sector is the fact that they’re reactive rather than preventative.
“We need to stop the revolving door of people going
in and out of the Criminal Justice System. Rather that perpetuate the cycle of
crime and punishment we need to break that vicious circle so there are fewer
crimes and fewer victims.”
