David Sidwick reflects on one year as Dorset's PCC

The Bournemouth-born and bred PCC was elected in May last year with nearly 27,000 more votes than the second-place independent candidate. 

Sitting down with the Echo, Mr Sidwick said his priorities have remained the same since he first took office of Dorset Police’s top job. 

They include cutting crime and anti-social behaviour, having more police out and about, addressing the high harms in society (domestic and child abuse), tackling rural crimes, putting victims first and making every penny count. 

Dorset PCC David Sidwick

On his number one priority, tackling anti-social behaviour, Mr Sidwick said: “Dorset Police came up with Operation Relentless to address ASB.  

“But it needed more than that. It needed something which would happen very locally for residents when they felt they had had a problem.  

“I put in place an Operation Relentless community fund. So far 20 applicants have taken advantage of it this year.” 

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Mr Sidwick is so confident in his plan, it covers a seven year period as he hopes to win a second term. 

But that doesn’t mean the PCC isn't open to changing his priorities – he wants residents to fill in a survey.  

“I will go virtually anywhere a community wants me to go and listen to them and their needs to try and make it better,” said Mr Sidwick.  

“I don’t want to be sat in an ivory tower in Winfrith. It’s lovely to know where my plan is working, but please tell me where it isn’t working.” 

Mr Sidwick believes Dorset Police is headed in the right direction, but admits “there’s a lot of work still to be done.” 

Mr Sidwick has set up a survey for residents to give feedback on Dorset Police

“During the 100-day plan at the start, we did 50 things. Some of those were very clear things like bringing Operation Relentless. Other things built building blocks for what's going forward now.” 

Mr Sidwick praised Dorset Police’s latest figures: 20 per cent down on anti-social behavior, organised crime groups down from 28 to 18 in six months and county lines groups down from 35 to 13. 

There has also been a '400 per cent increase in the rural crime team', which, he says, means a “much greater capability to address wildlife crime in Dorset than we ever had before.

The team have gone from three dedicated officers up to 10.

“Some people are saying to me that they are seeing a difference in engagement; they are seeing more police in their communities.” 

Mr Sidwick at a drugs raid earlier this month

On the topic of rural crime, Mr Sidwick was asked about the white-tailed eagle which was found dead in North Dorset in January this year.  

He defended Dorset Police’s response, saying: “What I did was stand up, support the investigation of the sea eagle and stood up for the operational independence of Dorset Police.” 

Summer is naturally a busy time for Dorset and its police force, and with more people comes more crime.  

But with an influx of tourists which effectively trebles our population, extra funding isn’t provided from the central government for Dorset Police.

Mr Sidwick has a plan to tackle crimes during the holiday season. He said: “It's not rocket science, it's putting the police out on the streets and patrolling and working with our local authority.  

“We have a wonderful control room for the CCTV which can see pretty much everything along the beach.” 

Mr Sidwick’s only frustration during his tenure has been the speed at which change is happening. 

He said: “It can take a lot longer to get things done. I’m finding the rate of change frustrating. 

“But now we've got a direction of travel and we've got a consistent statement of where we want to go. 

“It's about delivery and I'm very clear when I said as a candidate that we wanted to have our police to be crimefighters again.”