PCC Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts reflects on her first year in office

Police and Crime Commissioner Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts has reflected on her first year in Office and how she is looking forward to the opportunities to deliver the best services for local residents.

So far, she has worked with the Force, residents, community groups and strategic partners to drive far-reaching change, and has committed to amplifying the voice of communities so that they can work together for a safer Derbyshire. 

The Derbyshire PCC, who celebrated a resounding victory in last year’s elections, has made a bold and ambitious start to her tenure, ensuring local policing responds to the needs and expectations of the public as promised in her manifesto. 

Shortly after her election, the PCC launched the largest public consultation of its kind in Derbyshire, engaging more than 3,300 residents to help shape the future direction of policing and crime prevention.

The views and expectations gathered during this extensive engagement exercise laid the foundations of her new Police and Crime Plan – a clear, community-driven blueprint for safer streets and stronger neighbourhoods over the next four years.

The roadmap targets the six priorities that matter most to residents: serious violence including violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour and community safety, neighbourhood policing, bringing offenders to justice, drug dealing and substance misuse and supporting victims and safeguarding. 

Following its launch, the Commissioner set her first budget, ensuring resources are directed where they are needed most, and where they would make the greatest impact on the public’s priorities.

She also hit the ground running in her pledge to work collaboratively to solve issues, strengthening Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) across Derbyshire and ensuring agencies are aligned with her plans to prevent crime and support victims, while also providing targeted funding to support their local initiatives.

Reflecting on her first year, Commissioner Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts said: “This has been a year of listening, learning and leading and I am extremely proud of what has already been achieved together – but this is just the beginning. My Police and Crime Plan takes us up to 2029 and I am confident that over the coming years we will continue to push the boundaries of success and innovation even further. 

“When I was elected, I vowed to be a People’s Commissioner, putting local people at the core of my work to make Derbyshire safer and stronger. Over the past 12 months, I have reacted swiftly to residents’ concerns and encouraged maximum use of the tools and powers available to officers to bring peace and respite to hard-working families and to hold offenders accountable for their actions. 

“I have responded swiftly to residents’ concerns, working closely with Chief Constable Rachel Swann to not only maximise the use of existing tools and powers, but also to seek additional powers — enabling officers and PCSOs to take stronger action on the issues that had left many residents feeling helpless. Our goal is to bring peace and reassurance to hard-working families and ensure offenders are held fully accountable.

“With the promise of more frontline officers in our neighbourhoods this year to further increase visibility and build trust, I can assure the public that our efforts to protect Derbyshire and its communities will intensify. We will also leave no stone unturned in addressing the root causes of criminality to prevent problems from escalating or happening in the first place.  

“A great number of partners are committed to elevating our county and reducing inequality to ensure our people thrive – and together we are and will continue to make a difference.” 

With more to come, some of her achievements include:

Serious Violence Including VAWG

• Securing a total of £641k from the Home Office to support implementation of the Serious Violence Duty across the county in 2025-26, funding a series of new interventions to reduce harm and prevent violence before it happens as part of the multiagency Derby and Derbyshire Serious Violence Board.
   
• Supporting further educational visits to raise awareness of the dangers of knife-carrying with crime prevention officers attending more than 100 schools in the past 12 months. 
   
• Anti-social Behaviour and Community Safety
   
• Supporting a new enforcement policy by the force in November 2024 to seize illegally and anti-socially ridden e-scooters at the first opportunity in response to widespread public concern. Also launching a PCC-led awareness campaign to support implementation. Over 400 illegally used e-scooters have since been seized.  
   
• Investing in new technology to provide a faster and more reliable response to the public which has seen the wait time for 101 non-emergency calls drop from 245 seconds in April 2024 to just 52 seconds in April 2025 and 97% of 999 calls picked up in 10 seconds so far in 2025, up from 92% in 2023.
   
• Launching a new Safter and Stronger Communities Fund, distributing more than £150k in grants to over 30 local charities and grassroots organisations to deliver awareness and education, divert young people from crime and to support people impacted by domestic abuse and other policing priorities.  

Neighbourhood Policing 

• Welcoming new Home Office funding worth £2.8m to recruit additional officers into frontline Neighbourhood Policing roles as part of the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, with 35 expected over the next 12 months.
   
• Increasing the number of residents signed up to Derbyshire Alert – the county’s police messaging system.
   
• Supporting the roll out of GoodSAM technology allowing call handlers to instantly access live video from a caller’s smartphone with consent, giving officers real-time visuals of a scene before they arrive. 

Bringing Offenders to Justice 

• Introduced two new sections on her Derbyshire Victim Services website.  One is dedicated to providing advice, support and guidance for crimes relating to online harm and online safety, issues which affect everyone in the increasingly digital world. The second section helps to signpost all victims and witnesses to the support available to them with Criminal Justice Partners as they navigate the criminal justice system and await justice.  It has all the information they need in one place to ease their journey. 
   
• Worked with the Force’s criminal justice team to drive a 22% improvement for case file quality.
   
• A focus on Out of Court disposals which have proved to be effective. Over 70% of those who undertake Immediate Justice have not gone on to reoffend.

Drugs and Substance Misuse 

• Rolling out Drug Testing on Arrest (DToA) to help break the cycle of addiction and offending and direct more people into treatment.
   
• Training of 1,300 police officers to administer overdose antidote Naloxone which has been used 26 times, each time saving lives. 31 probation staff also  trained to administer the drug.

Supporting Victims and Safeguarding

• Supporting the delivery of a Derbyshire Victim Services (DVS) campaign in conjunction with local victim service providers to raise awareness of the trauma support available to victims.  
   
• Producing a new comprehensive guide with partners to help victims of sexual violence access life-changing support services across Derbyshire, ensuring no survivor feels alone.