Wiltshire residents likely to pay more to fund Police Force
A rise to policing funding through council tax is being considered
People in Wiltshire could soon be paying more police precept on their council tax, if plans on a rise are approved.
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Philip Wilkinson's proposals will see a rise of 5.2% on average, which would equate to £1.09 for a Band D household.
The police precept is the amount of funding we contribute to local policing through paying our council tax.
The plans come as the deadline for us to have our say in the PCC's Policing, Priorities and £s survey, which is where we can tell the PCC where we would like to see investments in the Force.
Police Forces have two primary sources of funding, one being from council tax and the other is funding from central government, although Wiltshire is among the lowest funded Forces in the country.
Mr Wilkinson says he wished he didn't have to consider the increase and ask people for more money during a cost-of-living crisis.
"Everybody knows no matter where you are on the economic financial scale, you know that the price of everything is going up," he said.
Asked about some of the reasons behind the possible rise, which would need to be ratified by the Police and Crime panel, the PCC said some of it was down to inflationary pressures.
"We have a lot more police officers than we've had before and an increase salary in police officers.
"There are all sorts of investments that we have to make to maintain and hopefully improve the quality of police performance and the service that residents get from Wiltshire Police."
Despite the proposed £1.09 increase, Mr Wilkinson told us he's still set to be £2.4 million short of the total he's hoping to have to invest in our policing.
That includes £30 million for a new police station in Salisbury.
PCC confident extra funding with lead to special measures exit
Wiltshire Police has been in special measures since July 2022 and under the guidance of Chief Constable Catherine Roper since February 2023.
Mr Wilkinson says the extra funding will help get the Force into a position where it can be taken out of special measures.
"We need to continue to invest as we are," he said adding that the Force is on an "upward trajectory".
He told us the funding would help ensure officers are properly equipped with up-to-date technology: "Every officer needs a laptop. The laptops that we've got, for example are 5-6 years old."
Replacing aging equipment doesn't come cheaply and technology is vital to allowing officers to conduct investigations while they're on the beat.
And the PCC is set upon making the improvements that are needed, saying he wants to take the Force from being graded inadequate in three of 12 areas, to being the best performing of the 43 Police Force's in the country.
He's even staked his job on it.
"I'm elected by the residents of Wiltshire. If I don't deliver with the Chief constable, then get rid of me," he said.
"Sack me and find somebody who can!"