MP outlines plans for an elected police boards or sheriff in Suffolk AND 379 more Suffolk bobbies on the beat

David Ruffley MP has welcomed the new Conservative policy to make local police forces more accountable to local people and to pay for 40,000 extra police officers- with an extra 379 for Suffolk Constabulary. David said:

'Violent crime is rising in Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and Needham Market.. In the last year alone, the number of robberies and sexual offences rose by over 10%. We will never begin to tackle crime in Britain and Suffolk unless we have real neighbourhood policing. This means having a visible police presence on streets and in communities, and placing local police on the front line against crime. This is why Conservatives are planning to put extra police officers on the streets in Suffolk.

'Rightly or wrongly, people are also concerned that police do not always share the same priorities as them. More and more low-level crime and disorder is unreported and wrongly tolerated. This is why we want to hand over power from Whitehall bureaucrats to directly elected police authorities accountable to local people in Suffolk.'