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Police chief defends ‘transparent’ force despite daily’s FoI battle

Katy BourneA police chief has claimed her force is “completely transparent” despite a regional daily’s ongoing fight to make details about serious crimes public.

Katy Bourne, pictured left, the Sussex police and crime commissioner, told The Argus, Brighton, she “did not understand” why the newspaper was continuing to question the constabulary over its apparent reluctance to publish details of crimes.

As reported on HTFP earlier this month, The Argus revealed its readers had been kept in the dark about 785 crimes committed during a fortnight-long period in March, following a Freedom of Information request submitted to Sussex Police.

The newspaper is now appealing a decision by the force’s FoI department not to release more details about 20 serious unsolved crimes – including kidnap, rape, possession of knives and firearms, and fraud by a company director – which took place during the same time period.

Defending the force, Ms Bourne told The Argus: “I fundamentally defend the right of the press to have freedom and I value what they do.

“I encourage Sussex Police to be as open and transparent as they can be and we are committed to having the highest standards.

“We have to understand police operations are highly sensitive. Their primary concern is always with the victim.

“There is a very fine line with the police in what they put out and what they don’t. They do not shy away from being open and I challenge the chief constable to be as effective as possible.”

Ms Bourne added Sussex Police was currently underspending on its £1.2m communications budget – one of the highest in the country – and the department’s 27 staff carry out “valuable work” like publishing crime prevention advice and working on awareness campaigns as well as answering media enquiries.

At the time The Argus revealed the figures Society of Editors executive director Bob Satchwell told the paper it seemed “ridiculous” the force was not prepared to tell the public more and suggested police were trying to prevent fear of crime.

Graham Cox, a former detective chief superintendent in charge of Sussex CID, also hit out at his former employer in a comment piece for the paper, accusing the police communications department of “turning out turgid press releases that then run the risk of being recycled into equally turgid news reports”.

14 comments

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  • July 29, 2015 at 8:04 am
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    The newspaper is not appealing a decision. It is appealing against a decision. Let HTFP at least, please, not lower standards like so many unsubbed or improperly subbed, papers of today.

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  • July 29, 2015 at 8:26 am
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    I’d love to be a crime commissioner, what a sweet gig, couple of town hall meetings a year then back to the ranch for some crackers and chutney. I’d also change my second name to Gordon and have a bat signal in my back garden, even though Batman’s not real and wouldn’t come.

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  • July 29, 2015 at 9:50 am
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    Jeff Jones with the worst comment I’ve ever seen on here. Of course Batman is real!

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  • July 29, 2015 at 10:17 am
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    If she’s the PCC, why can’t she tell Sussex Police what to do, rather than ‘encourage’?

    I suppose that’s being a bit naive, though.

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  • July 29, 2015 at 10:30 am
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    Substandard,

    Batman used to be real but unfortunately he works for Trinity Mirror and was replaced with a superhero content curator. He doesn’t actually fight crime any more he just posts pictures of bats on Twitter.

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  • July 29, 2015 at 10:49 am
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    Katy Bourne probably knows less about what goes on in crime in Sussex than the Argus does!

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  • July 29, 2015 at 10:57 am
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    Just as well the Argus did not have the 785 crimes notified. With current staff levels on regionals it would probably have published them all. The public does not love a heavy diet of crime, though the big sad stories do sell (sad reflection on human nature).
    While I see the Argus’s point I think sometimes journos forget that the police are there to catch criminals not help editors fill space and sell papers. There are often very good reasons why stories are held back. Then there is the issue of trust. Cops do not trust inexperienced reporters and that is a fact. I recall one veteran reporter who was often told things off the record to explain a situation and never let the cops down, but it takes years to develop that and the emergence of central press offices has not helped.
    Anyway, last time I saw the Sussex Police website it was stuffed with crime reports….

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  • July 29, 2015 at 1:42 pm
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    Would you be interested in wearing a helmet-cam Batman? We are in need of some quality UGC.

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  • July 29, 2015 at 10:32 pm
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    27 staff in the comms department! They should start their own newspaper… there’s not many local paper have 7 never mind 27 staff.

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  • July 30, 2015 at 12:06 pm
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    27 staff in the coms department to put out press releases that say the force doesn’t have enough money for front line policing.

    I’d rather have 27 coppers on patrol to be honest, or 20 coppers and a horse.

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  • July 31, 2015 at 12:24 pm
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    Just a thought – would the wages of 27 coms staff be enough to pay for Batman. On a horse?

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  • August 4, 2015 at 4:18 pm
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    Katy “£80,000 a year” Bourne defends the indefensible! Sussex Police has to cut £56 million from its budget. If the press office can’t be bothered to put out crime reports to the media, then scrap the press office – that should save about £5 million judging by the size of said office! What do they do all day?

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