In his first interview since becoming the Island’s deputy police chief, Julian Blazeby said he would examine a range of options to make the force ‘more effective and efficient’.
And one area he is ‘keen to explore’ is the use of volunteers, in a similar scheme to one he oversaw when he was Assistant Chief Constable at Staffordshire Police in 2012.
During that initiative, the force asked for members of the public to clean its fleet of vehicles, act as interpreters and hand out crime awareness leaflets in an effort to save over 5,500 police hours each year.
The move was criticised by the trade union Unison, which questioned whether volunteers would achieve the same high standards as paid staff and whether they could pose a security risk.
But Mr Blazeby, who is now running the States police after newly appointed police chief Rob Bastable fell ill, said the scheme was widely used by other forces and was well received in Staffordshire.
‘It is something I am keen to explore. There will be people out there with language skills, or people with financial skills or just people who have time on their hands and would like to come in and do some admin work and give something back.
‘Cars need washing and cleaning and we pay people but our budgets are quite understandably under pressure and there is a need to save money. I want the force to be more effective and efficient and one way of becoming more effective and efficient is by using volunteers,’ he said.
‘Since coming to Jersey I have seen there is a strong community spirit and I do think people would be interested in volunteering for the States police.
‘It was well received in Staffordshire. I remember there was a Down syndrome lad who would come in with the support of his parents and wash some cars. He really enjoyed it and it gave him a real purpose,’ added Mr Blazeby.
The deputy police chief, who took up his position in July after previously leading the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s investigation into the Hillsborough disaster, is due to consider a wider range of measures to make the force more efficient.
‘I am starting a project on how we can deliver our service in a more effective and efficient way. The aim is to reduce our costs but still deliver an effective service,’ he said.
‘I will look across every area of the force and ask how we can save money and how we can do things more effectively. I think there is some opportunely, from what I have seen so far, to do that,’ he said.
- Mr Blazeby is the subject of today’s Saturday interview in the JEP.
