Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Matt Storey has celebrated “a year of significant progress” with his newly-published Annual Report.
The report, covering April 2025 to March 2026, is Matt’s second since taking office in May 2024.
Matt has highlighted a number of schemes, which he says make “meaningful progress” against the objectives of his Cleveland Police and Crime Plan.
He highlights projects like the introduction of a long-term domestic abuse perpetration strategy, the appointment of Chief Constable Victoria Fuller and a major investment in neighbourhood policing.
Safer, stronger and more confident communities
Matt says these projects help to deliver on his promise to build safer, stronger and more confident communities across Cleveland.
He said: “From the outset, my commitment has been clear; to listen to residents, act on their concerns and to ensure that policing and community safety services deliver for everyone in Cleveland.
“Over the past year, my team has taken important steps forward in turning that commitment into action.”
Neighbourhood Policing
Visible, proactive policing is one of Matt’s key priorities. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, launched jointly with Cleveland Police last June, saw £2.4m invested to bring in 63 extra staff and volunteers to work in the heart of Cleveland’s communities.
Every community in Cleveland now has a named officer published on the force’s website and dedicated staff have been allocated to improve town centre safety.
An additional £1.42m was invested to deliver an additional 12,000 hours of patrols in some of Cleveland’s ASB and serious violence hotspots.
In partnership with the police and local authorities, these targeted patrols managed to bring down incidents of ASB in 60 per cent of the wards by the time the project ended in March this year
Over the past year, Matt has also directed extra funding into vital support services for victims and communities.
They have included £80,000 for projects to tackle youth-related knife crime and an extra £90,000 from NHS England to provide counselling services for survivors of sexual violence.
More than £182,100 was given to projects aimed at supporting vulnerable and under-represented groups as part of the PCC’s Protect and Support Fund.
While Matt acknowledges there is still some way to go, work over the past year has achieved some impressive results.
They have included reductions in theft, burglary, vehicle crime and antisocial behaviour.
Thousands of victims of crime have accessed crucial support, including victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence and fraud.
Specialist fraud advocates have recouped more than a million pounds for local victims of fraud, by assisting with paperwork and liaising directly with banks.
Matt said: “Building public confidence, supporting victims and continuing to drive down crime will remain at the heart of my work.”
Read the report