More volunteers wanted to review police powers

Wiltshire Police is asking for more members of the public to join its scrutiny panel.

Volunteers watch footage from body cameras worn by officers and offer feedback to the service reviewing police powers, such as stop and search and the use of force.

Ch Supt Phil Staynings, who recruits volunteers, said "diversity is key" when selecting people.

There are currently 31 people from across the county on the scrutiny panel, the force is keen to increase this number to at least 50.

Juliet Brain from Laverstock joined the panel a year ago and said the experience has been "amazing".

Adding she is "in awe" of what officers do and that it is important the police get "feedback from ordinary people".

The scrutiny panel has existed since 2016, with members of the public watching bodycam footage whilst drawing on their own experiences, values and beliefs to check what they have seen.

Ms Brain said: "You're thinking if I saw that on the street, how would that make me feel?

"I believe everybody on the scrutiny panel is comfortable enough to speak their own mind and say how they feel and that's credit to Wiltshire Police."

Wiltshire Police was taken out of special measures in May.

The Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson hopes the scrutiny panel will also help rebuild trust with the public.

"It's about exposing what we do to our residents so they know we are efficient, effective and legitimate," he said.

He added that since the last inspection improvements have been made and he wants "concerned, knowledgeable, thoughtful residents of Wiltshire who want to help us make Wiltshire Police force an outstanding force" to join the panel.

Ch Supt Phil Staynings is part of the recruitment team for scrutiny panel volunteers.

He said "diversity is key" when selecting volunteers "everyone's got different life experiences, different perceptions, different thresholds and it's important we test those".

"That's the reason for the diversity and the broad spectrum of people we're bringing into the panel," he added.