It is important to me that we ensure that Surrey Police do what only the police can.
Policing is an important part of our wider emergency services community, but there are things that only the police can do: including investigating crime, the arrest and detention of suspects and using force including taser and when necessary, firearms. I do not believe that officers should not be sitting in hospitals for hours with someone experiencing a mental health crisis, doing the job of our medical staff or investigating non-crime hate incidents such as 'misgendering'.
I will continue to work with the Chief Constable to make sure that policing goes back to the basics of detecting and solving crime.
