What changed in Leicestershire
In May he floated the idea of paying contractors — between 20 and 30 of them — to provide what he called a "visible and uniformed" presence on the streets. On Monday he announced a different route: £1.6m redirected straight into Leicestershire Police, with ten new PCSOs heading out on patrol in Market Harborough, Hinckley, Loughborough, Coalville, Melton Mowbray and Ashby-de-la-Zouch before Christmas, running through to May 2028. Oakham and Uppingham were originally on the list, but according to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, retail crime volumes there did not justify inclusion.
Why the original plan fell apart
The plan did not just wilt — it got publicly called out. The Leicestershire Police Federation said it was "entirely against" the idea. Conservatives on the police and crime panel branded it a gimmick because private security staff carry no powers to stop or detain anyone. Panel chairman Les Phillimore, a Tory, told the BBC he thinks Matthews "has made the right decision and gone with the police rather than private security," adding that the public will have "more confidence" in uniformed officers with proper authority. Liberal Democrat panel member Michael Mullaney went further, calling it a U-turn he was pleased to see. Loughborough Labour MP Jeevun Sandher was blunt: "Security guards with no authority to arrest or detain were never the answer. This money needed to go directly into policing to protect our high street." Matthews' defence — that he was only trying to replicate a 2025 trial in Melton Mowbray — has not survived the cross-party dressing-down. Chief Constable David Sandall has stepped into the gap, promising engagement, problem-solving and partner working in "crime hotspot" areas, the kind of language that suggests genuine policing rather than a dressed-up steward service.
What it means for our patch
For residents in Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Immingham, the Leicestershire row is not local news, but it is a working example of how a visible-presence policy gets tested in public. Three things are worth holding onto here.
First, uniforms without authority are a confidence trick. If someone in a hi-vis tabard cannot stop a shoplifter, detain a suspect or write up evidence that will hold up in court, then what exactly are they for? Patrol presence is only as good as the powers behind the badge.
Second, money follows credibility. Matthews had to swallow his pride and push the £1.6m into the force itself. That is the right place for it, and it is the outcome local pressure produced. When residents here ask Humberside Police where the visible patrols are, the answer should never be "we hired a private firm." It should be officers on the beat, properly briefed, with community intelligence wired in.
Third, watch the rollout. The Leicestershire PCSOs are not yet on the streets — recruitment is happening this autumn, with patrols promised before Christmas. That is the test. The same scrutiny should be applied when our own force promises extra visibility around Freeman Street, the seafront or Immingham town centre. Promises are easy; foot patrols, measurable and consistent, are what actually shift how safe a neighbourhood feels.
Residents who want to keep tabs on this side of the Humber can do something useful today: write to the Office of the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner and ask, in plain terms, what proportion of the local policing budget is currently spent on contracted private security versus warranted officers and PCSOs. Straight answers build trust; vague ones do not.