With a new government and an apparent joint commitment from the Prime Minister and Deputy to early spending cuts I wonder what this means for policing?

Well whatever the outcome our Chief Constable has committed to protecting front line services. That’s good for me to hear because the vast majority of what we do in Southampton is about front line services.

We are all about neighbourhood policing delivered in 3 ways. Firstly shifts doing response policing answering more urgent calls. Secondly neighbourhood teams focussing on local problems and working with communities and partners.

Thirdly our CID colleagues with others working on catching criminals and protecting most vulnerable people. Three different parts to one team in Southampton.

If you heard the headlines about the growth in police use of overtime then don’t jump to conclusions.

I see every day people trying to minimise the use of overtime but criminals don’t stick to regular hours.

In Southampton we have worked to a reduced overtime budget every year for the last 3 years.

Last year we did well and reduced crime in Southampton by more than any other area in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. I want us to do more of the same this year but at the same time get better at how we deliver our service so more people know about what we are doing and more people feel confident in us.

We are about to start our summer time campaign to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB). With our partner agencies in the City, especially the City Council, we are tackling ASB across the City, dealing with things people have told us are problems. I am determined that people will see a difference and will be told by us more about what we and others are doing.

What bothers me a lot is when I hear about people who don’t feel able to report what they are suffering because of fear of repercussions.

It's worth saying that there are things we and the Council can do so that people don’t always have to give statements and evidence in court.

There are sometimes ways we can act on hearsay evidence. I do understand how intimidating it can be to stand up and be counted in the face of the fear of what might happen as a result but please, if this applies to you or to people you know, then tell us about what is going on.

There are some ways we can protect people from repercussions and support people through what can be difficult times but we can't tackle what we don’t know about.

You say what bothers you, I will see to it that we do what we can about it this summer and then we will tell you what we have done in your area; 'You said, We did' is how it should be.