Re-elected Wiltshire PCC identifies areas police can target

Philip Wilkinson wants to build on recent improvements at Wiltshire Police

Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson has outlined where he wants the police force to focus its efforts next.

Mr Wilkinson retained his CPC role after being re-elected on Saturday and has his first official day back in office today.

He said the force was making progress in coming out of the hiring process it was put under by HM Police and Fire Inspectorate. & Rescue services in 2022.

“We now have all the basic components of the capability in place. We have laid the groundwork and we are already making progress,” the CCP said.

He told Greatest Hits Radio that there are two specific areas of crime he wants the force to do more to tackle.

“I want us to do a lot more in tackling retail and rural crime, we can do a lot more and I want us to be able to focus more precisely on those types of crime that cause the most harm.”

Retail crime is one of the most worrying types of crime taking place in Wiltshire, after a 42% increase in 2023, while the force previously told Greatest Hits Radio that it believes rural crime is under-reported.

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