On Wednesday 30th June, we met with Emily Spurrell, the new Police Crime Commissioner for Merseyside. Emily was elected into her job in May. She wanted to meet our group to find out what our issues and concerns are.

We had lots of questions for Emily, about her job, disability hate crime, the number of police officers on Merseyside, her plans for dealing with anti social behaviour and how our communities can be made safer.

We told Emily about the issues we face such as:

“The police don’t take me seriously, they say they don’t understand what I am saying.”

“I have reported crimes to the police, but the are slow to respond.”

“I am scared to go out at night because of the gangs, they hang around the shops and in parks.”

“I won’t walk by the railway because it is not safe, people hide on the stairs because it is dark.”

Emily listened to our concerns and talked to us about her plans. She is working with lots of other services who she will speak to about the issues we raised. We learnt why it is important that we report any crimes or incidents so the police can get more information that helps them to identify crime hotspots.

It was great to meet Emily, we look forward to reading her report about her plans when it is published. We will be inviting her back to talk to us again in the future.