What is Kevin Hurley going to do for us?

Surrey first Police and Crime Commissioner Kevin Hurley took office last week.  Mr Hurley stood for election on a platform of "zero tolerance" and all candidates for the new policing position talked about more "bobbies on the beat".  But what is zero tolerance and how will or new PCC get more police on our streets? 

Zero Tolerance

My understanding of the term was similar to that set out in Wikipedia  (not always a reliable source but appears accurate in this case).  It has typically been used to refer to sentencing policy.  As PCCs won't have any control over this area I was puzzled as to how Mr Hurley was going to apply it.

Discussions and interviews I have seen with Mr Hurley refer to tackling issues e.g. if a police car drives past a gang of youths who abuse the officers in the vehicle the police will stop and speak to the group.  Mr Hurley goes on to talk about discretion being used as to what happens next.  Seems like reasonable policing to me, hardly zero tolerance.

It all seems rather contradictory so we will just have to wait and what impact our new PCC has on Surrey policing.

Bobbies on the Beat

Another puzzle is how Mr Hurley will get more "bobbies on the beat".  He talks on his website about "more visible street policing" and about reducing back office roles.  

However Mr Hurley has called a halt to selling off police stations.  Surely operating police stations requires back office staff and also keeps police officers in the station rather than on the street.

The Surrey police strategy, defined by former Chief Constable Mark Rowley,     was to sell off police buildings and base police in other community facilities.  The money from sales and reduced estate costs was ploughed back into local policing to keep neighbourhood police teams on the streets.  

If the police stations are to stay open how will Mr Hurley fund police on our streets.  His website talks of using the "ill gotten gains of criminals" to pay for beat officers.  Shades of Tony Blair and taking drunks to cash points to get money out to pay fines.  There are powers at a national level to seize money from serious criminals involved in crimes such as drug dealing and money laundering.  Are these powers available to PCCS?

Maybe the answer lies in this blog post from Mr Hurley covering his time policing Hammersmith and Fulham.  It seems extra police resouce came from calling on local businesses to fund police.  Is this Mr Hurley's plan for Surrey?