Summary

  • Avon and Somerset Police chief constable Sarah Crew spoke to BBC Radio Bristol's John Darvall

  • It's part of our regular hot seat series of interviews where you can put questions to people in high-profile positions

  • Her interview comes after her calls for a "stand against hate" following a rise in racial tensions in the area

  • You can watch the interview on demand in the watch & listen tab

  1. Watch the interview againpublished at 11:28 BST 8 October

    Thank you for joining our coverage of Avon and Somerset police chief constable Sarah Crew's hot seat interview with BBC Radio Bristol's John Darvall.

    You can listen back to the interview in full on BBC Sounds or watch in full below.

  2. What have we learned?published at 11:24 BST 8 October

    John Darvall's interview with Sarah Crew has come to an end.

    To recap, these are some of the key points:

    • Hate crime on the rise: Ms Crew says division and unrest has led to feelings of "deep fear" in communities, with some people afraid to report crimes
    • Additional officers: The force has deployed 80 additional officers in its Neighbourhood Policing Teams to improve visibility and help tackle issues like anti-social behaviour
    • Shoplifting decreasing: According to figures from the force, shoplifting incidents have risen slower and 18% of reports have been dealt with
    • Tougher vetting: Aspiring and serving police officers face tougher vetting systems to improve confidence in the force
    • Engaging with communities: The force intends to work with the public to find out what people want from the police
    • Race Matters: Police will work to change the race disparity in instances stop and search, which black people are more likely to be the subject of
  3. Plea for unitypublished at 11:14 BST 8 October

    Ms Crew says the more people can put aside their differences and come together, the stronger communities will be.

    “Love is stronger than hate,” she says.

  4. Race disparity in stop and search powerspublished at 11:11 BST 8 October

    Black people are almost six times more likely to be stopped and searched according to figures from the force.

    Ms Crew says police are entitled to stop and search somebody when they have “reasonable grounds” to do so.

    The force has introduced a scheme called Race Matters which aims to change the race disparity in searches.

  5. Building relationships with the publicpublished at 11:08 BST 8 October

    Dan from Weston-super-Mare asks Ms Crew what her thoughts are on zero tolerance policing.

    He says police “aren’t feared” or respected in the UK and asks if it’s because the forces are “too soft”.

    Ms Crew says Avon and Somerset Police needs to work with the public to find out what they want from officers.

    "We've got a role to work with our other partners and communities themselves in creating conditions of safety where people can go about their lives and live it in a way that's lawful, peaceful and they can thrive.

    "It's a very delicate balance and you only achieve that by engaging with communities," she adds.

  6. 'Fantastic results' in prosecuting domestic and sexual abuserspublished at 11:01 BST 8 October

    Nel in Bristol asks what are police doing to support victims of domestic abuse and coercive control in helping them to feel confident that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.

    “Most of the time, nothing happens as it’s considered lack of evidence,” Nel says.

    Supporting victims is one of the force’s objectives in its Police and Crime Plan for 2025-2029.

    Ms Crew says the force has seen some “fantastic results” in prosecuting and convicting offenders after Operation Soteria was launched to transform rape investigations.

  7. 'Tougher' vetting to improve trust in policepublished at 10:51 BST 8 October

    Ms Crew says vetting processes have "gotten tougher" for both aspiring police officers and for those already serving.

    There are currently 42 employees suspended under investigation for a "range" of matters, she says.

    Ms Crew adds that there is "great confidence" in colleagues to report misconduct and behaviour issues in the police, with a "rising trend" in reports for the last three years.

    By the end of March 2026, the force aims to have 3,421 serving officers.

    An extra 70 officers will have to be recruited this financial year to meet the target.

  8. 'Success' in dealing with shoplifterspublished at 10:45 BST 8 October

    Sam from Bristol works on Kingswood High Street, but has previously worked in Clifton and the city centre. He is concerned about shoplifting.

    He says only the Metropolitan Police and Gloucestershire Police have a “worse conviction record” on shop lifting.

    Sam suggests that Avon and Somerset Police does not prioritise dealing with shoplifters and asks if the force could advise retail workers how to deal with these matters themselves.

    Figures from Avon and Somerset Police show that 16,883 reports of shoplifting were recorded in 2024, compared to 6,808 in 2021.

    Ms Crew says the numbers have risen slower and 18% of these matters have been resolved.

    “That’s because we’ve dealt with this… we’ve had some success,” she says.

    She adds that the police will seek to use powers under anti-social behaviour legislation so offenders can be issued with a criminal behaviour order to ban them from certain shops.

  9. Use of illegal e-scooterspublished at 10:41 BST 8 October

    When police receive reports of “dangerous” and illegal e-scooters, Ms Crew says the offender is first issued with a verbal warning.

    If they are caught a second time, officers confiscate and dispose of the e-scooters.

    “We need to keep the public safe and we’re trying to intervene,” Ms Crew says.

    She adds that the offenders are prosecuted if necessary.

  10. Tackling anti-social behaviourpublished at 10:36 BST 8 October

    Avon and Somerset Police has deployed 80 additional officers in the Neighbourhood Policing Teams to improve force visibility and help tackle problems around the policing area.

    “What they’re focusing on are the things that cause the most problems.

    "If in Portishead it’s anti-social behaviour, that will be one of the areas that they’re focusing on," Ms Crew says.

    She adds that officers can use “a range of powers” to tackle anti-social behaviour.

    It comes as the force recorded 72,000 incidents of anti-social behaviour between May and September.

  11. 'Flags should be a symbol of pride'published at 10:28 BST 8 October

    St George's flags have been appearing all over the country. The move has divided people, with some stating that the action is patriotic, while others say it's linked to anti-immigration beliefs.

    Ms Crew urged people to avoid hanging them on public property as the action could be deemed a criminal offence.

    “Where there’s clearly a deliberate intention to intimidate, to cause discord, we do come into the area of criminal offence," she says.

    She adds that police have not received any reports relating to flags yet, but she is aware that some flags have been linked to criminal damage and verbal abuse.

  12. 'People are fearful in reporting'published at 10:22 BST 8 October

    The first question comes from Kieran in Bath who asks what police are doing to bring people together amid “growing unrest and division in everyday life”.

    Ms Crew recently issued a statement about the "deep fear" among some members of the community, particularly in minority groups.

    She says the statement was issued after she spoke with community leaders and members who are "generally very, very fearful".

    Ms Crew says hate crime has contributed to these feelings - a nine-year-old girl was shot with an airgun in a racially motivated attack, Swastikas have been seen in Longleaze and a mosque in Taunton was damaged in a hate crime.

    She says there has been a "steady rise" in hate crime in the last five years and there were spikes after the Southport attack and the anti-immigration protests in the summer.

    She adds that "people are fearful" in reporting hate crimes and police are working "really hard" to build that trust and confidence with the community.

  13. How common are racial hate incidents?published at 10:12 BST 8 October

    John starts off by talking to Sarah Crew about racist incidents across Bristol.

    For context, here's how many incidents of racial hate have been recorded in the area over the past five years:

    • 2020: 2,492 incidents
    • 2021: 2,820 incidents
    • 2022: 2,743 incidents
    • 2023: 3,150 incidents
    • 2024: 2,563 incidents

    So far this year, 2,563 racial hate incidents have been recorded.

    The force added that it’s aware these figures do not “fully reflect” the community, as not all incidents are reported to them.

    Anybody who experiences a racially motivated incident or attack is encouraged to report it to police.

  14. Live stream beginningpublished at 10:09 BST 8 October

    John Darvall's interview with Chief Constable Sarah Crew is about to begin.

    You can watch it live at the top of this page.

  15. Police priority: Improve standards of policingpublished at 10:04 BST 8 October

    The final priority in the force’s Police and Crime Plan for 2025-2029 is to improve standards of policing so people receive a fair and effective service.

    The plan from Police and Crime Commissioner Clare Moody says factors like responding to calls and investigating crime are “essential” in maintaining and improving public confidence in the police.

    In 2023/24, Avon and Somerset Police says it received nearly one million calls on 999 and 101. Compared to 2019, the force says its 101 calls reduced by 13%, but 999 calls increased by 44%.

    A total of 410,000 incidents were recorded from the calls and 150,000 of those became recorded crimes.

  16. Police priority: Support victimspublished at 09:56 BST 8 October

    The force’s fourth priority in its Police and Crime Plan for 2025-2029 is to support victims to ensure they get the help they need when they need it.

    Figures from police show there were 92,500 victims of crime in the Avon and Somerset area in 2023/24.

    The Police and Crime Plan from Police and Crime Commissioner Clare Moody says the impact of crime on victims can be “far reaching”, leading to a range of physical, emotional and psychological effects.

  17. Police priority: Reduce crimepublished at 09:52 BST 8 October

    Avon and Somerset Police’s third priority in its Police and Crime Plan for 2025-2029 is to reduce crime.

    The force aims to achieve this by working together with other organisations and the public to build safer communities.

    It follows the National Policing Prevention Strategy’s three levels:

    • Primary: preventing or minimising the risk of harm through a focus on large populations
    • Secondary: targeting individuals who are at high risk of offending to divert them from crime
    • Tertiary: reducing or preventing existing recurring problems by tackling the vulnerability of the victim or location or reducing the motivation of the offender
  18. Police priority: Reduce violent crimepublished at 09:47 BST 8 October

    The second priority in Avon and Somerset’s Police and Crime Plan for 2025-2029 is to reduce violent crime, with a specific focus on male violence against women and girls and serious youth violence.

    In the year ending September 2024, police say they recorded:

    • Almost 43,000 violent offences, which equalled more than 25% of all crime reports
    • 26,000 domestic abuse cases, which equalled 16% of all crime reports
    • 7,200 sexual offences, of which 3,200 were rapes
    • 1,700 knife crime offences, which was a 29% increase compared to the previous year
    • 650 knife possession offences
  19. Police priority: Strengthen neighbourhood policingpublished at 09:42 BST 8 October

    Earlier, we brought you Avon and Somerset Police's list of priorities for 2025-2029, as published by Police and Crime Commissioner Clare Moody.

    The first priority in her plan is to strengthen neighbourhood policing to provide a visible police presence, engage with communities and tackle anti-social behaviour.

    The force says neighbour policing is “essential” and when the teams do it well, they help bring people together, tackle hate crime, extremism and support community cohesion.

  20. What are Avon and Somerset Police's priorities?published at 09:37 BST 8 October

    All police forces in England and Wales are expected to contribute to achieving the objectives laid out in the National Crime Measures.

    Clare Moody, Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset Police, outlines the force’s five priorities in her Police and Crime Plan for 2025-2029:

    • Strengthen neighbourhood policing
    • Reduce violent crime
    • Prevent crime
    • Support victims
    • Improve standards of policing

    The priorities were established from a public consultation which more than 1,140 people contributed to.

    We'll go into these priorities in more detail shortly.