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Hello
As we look forward to celebrating the holidays with friends and loved ones and winding down for some well-deserved time off, I wanted to pay tribute to our emergency services, especially our Sussex police officers and staff, who will be hard at work over the festive period keeping us all safe.
Crime doesn’t stop at Christmas and neither does policing. From incidents on the roads, domestic abuse, anti-social behaviour, theft and drug offences, people will still need the help and support of the police. In fact, Sussex Police have a number of operations specifically dedicated to tackling crime during the winter months.
Residents and visitors of Sussex should be able to enjoy the festivities, safe in the knowledge that our police force is there if you need them. We can all play our part too from pre-booking taxis to get home after a boozy night out, reporting drink-drivers to police, keeping Christmas presents out of sight from opportunist burglars and staying vigilant in public spaces.
The festive period should be one of happiness but, for many people, Christmas can be an extremely isolating or even a frightening time.
In particular, domestic abuse incidents often rise over the holiday season with victims of abuse more vulnerable to coercive and controlling behaviour.
To counter this, Sussex Police run Operation Hope, with officers carrying out discreet visits to high-risk victims and robustly managing offenders to reduce potential harm.
Reassuringly, our highest-harm perpetrators are managed through Sussex Police’s Complex Domestic Abuse and Stalking Unit, which works to limit their ability to re-offend while collaborating with specialist partner agencies to encourage positive behaviour change.
Both 999 and the non-emergency number 101 are available 24/7, 365 days of the year. If you are a victim of crime, my Safe Space Sussex website features a directory of support services you can access freely and Victim Support’s confidential Supportline is also available every day.
Safe Space Sussex provides information about different types of crime and what happens at each stage of the criminal justice system, helping to de-mystify the process for people when they may be at their most vulnerable. It also has an online chat feature, run by Victim Support, which is open all year round.
It just leaves me to say a heartfelt thanks to all our police officers, staff and volunteers, as well as other emergency service workers, who won’t be there in the morning to open presents on the big day or joining their families later for dinner.
For me, they are the real heroes of the festive period as they swap the Christmas lights for ‘blues and twos’ and don their radios and uniforms.
Have a safe and joyful festive period and a very happy New Year. The next edition of my newsletter will be issued on 10 January 2025.
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