#120 - Lisa Townsend - Common-sense Policing: Drugs, Gangs and Hurty Words

Lisa Townsend is the elected Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the Conservative Party in Surrey. In this interview, we discuss openly about the failure of prohibition, the politicisation of policing & growing crime. We discuss: – Crime, police priorities & why frontline officers are demoralised – Drugs, gangs & the rise of middle-class shoplifting – Whether prohibition has failed & what to do about it – Policing vs mental health vs social work: who's doing what? – State bloat & NHS reform – The case for decentralisation, taxpayer control & back-to-basics policing CONTACT PETE › Website - http://petermccormack.com › Feedback - https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email - [email protected] › Instagram - /mccormack555 › X/Twitter - https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH LISA TOWNSEND › X/Twitter - https://x.com/_lisa_townsend SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Ledger - https://www.ledger.com/ › Gemini - https://gemini.com/ › Casa - https://casa.io/ › Incogni - https://incogni.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 – Intro   00:04:45 – Public Safety   00:10:20 – PCCs vs Politicised Policing   00:15:30 – What the PCC Role Does   00:18:49 – The Real Job of Oversight     00:28:10 – Who Should Enter Politics?   00:32:00 – Can We Still Afford the State?   00:36:30 – Crime, Cost & Council Collapse 00:46:30 – Who Really Sets Police Priorities?     00:56:00 – The Shoplifting Spiral   01:01:30 – Middle-Class Theft Surge   01:06:30 – The Cocaine Hypocrisy   01:10:45 – Policing's Hidden Frontlines   01:16:00 – Has Prohibition Failed?   01:21:00 – Drugs, Markets & Legalisation     01:32:45 – What Should the State Do?     01:42:00 – The Mental Health Breakdown     01:51:00 – NHS Reform & Political Cowardice   01:56:00 – Can the PCC Model Work?   02:00:00 – Should PCCs Be Better Known?   02:06:00 – What's Wasting Police Time?   02:08:00 – Final Thoughts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -