Police and Crime Commissioner election is vital for future public safety but politics, again, interferes
While the United States makes their biggest decision in four years at the start of November, the UK also has a little election of their own - and it could prove to be crucial for the future of the way Britain police the nation. Over 18-year-old registered residents in England and Wales may already have received their Police and Crime Commissioner election poll cards through the post in the past couple of weeks and in days to come, I'm sure the millions in question would receive countless amount of candidates' leaflets telling people why they are worthy for this prestigious role.
What do Police and Crime Commissioners do? According to the ever-so-reliable Wikipedia, such people will "secure the maintenance of an efficient and effective police force within their area, and to hold the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of the police and crime plan". In addition, they will be held accountable for the police planning and funding of their regions. All-in-all, there will be less relying on the government and local councils and more responsibility for the police forces, although effective communications between both police and government is crucial if need be.
How did the Police and Crime Commissioner elections come about? Part of the Coalition deal, the Conservative and Liberal Democrats parties actually agreed on something by putting pen to paper a deal to change the policing system. This agreement does not affect Scotland or Northern Ireland as they already have their way of policing agreed by their Parliament and Assembly respectively. London is also exempt from such election as Mayor Boris Johnson is effectively the Metropolitan Police's Commissioner whilst the City of London Corporation acts as the City of London Police's Commissioner. In all, there are 41 regions which are involved in this election, four of which are in Wales. All this would take place on Thursday 15th November and it's expected to be a re-election in 2016.
It is going to be a fascinating election nonetheless. The police profession has been publicly scrutinised in recent years over incidents such as the G20 summit in 2009 where Ian Tomlinson died, allegedly killed by a police officer, which was later denied by the High Court, and the lack of reasoning behind their lack of influence with regards to the phone hacking scandal, costing News Corporation hundreds-of-millions-of-pounds of legal damage and later charging and imprisoning past editors and journalists. More recently, the police has been hugely criticised over the handling of the Jimmy Savile saga which has shocked and horrified the nation. Police now are trying all they can to solve the case and jail those in the public limelight and are alive but would that be enough, or has the damage already been done?
Despite the negative publicity we see in the papers and television stations, at the same time, police forces have been praised locally, working well with other emergency services. Police officers take pride in what they do and they are part of a 24-hour service, doing the most intense, rewarding yet life-threatening shifts. It is up to the 41 Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales to highlight and emphasise that and aim to regain the trust and reliability factor the public had on the force for many decades previous.
Believe it or not, I'm in support of this initiative. It's not every day where I support David Cameron's plans but it's a good idea. Someone needs to lead regional police services and take responsibility to make effective changes. In Cardiff for example, several police stations have closed and others no longer have 24-hour opening hours. The crime rate in the Welsh capital has decreased in recent months but they could still be lowered. Decent budget and management planning could open more police stations and encourage more streets to have Neighbourhood Watch making the public feel safer and secure in their own homes, especially around winter time as Hallowe'en, Bonfire Night and Christmas are quickly approaching.
However, I do question some of the candidates for this election. I am uncomfortable about the fact the majority are/have been politicians, or at least affiliated with a political party. Some are "Independent" and others are part of non-profit campaigns, "Justice and Anti-Corruption", "Campaign to Stop Politicians Running Policing" and "Zero Tolerance Policing ex Chief" - but most are of the three major parties plus UKIP, whose leader Nigel Farage is pro-Iran (had to put that one in).
Regardless, I have been constantly moaning in the past about politics unnecessarily interfering with everything ranging from sport to religion but policing should be more of a public issue than a political one. It certainly doesn't help when the politician profession is among the least trustworthy compared to other occupations. The public feel politicians are more concerned about what goes in their pockets rather than the well-being of people. The politicians who are competing for a place as a Police and Crime Commissioner must know the region they're going to represent well and also have experience in doing the public justice in order to sound at least a little genuine.
Let's look at my constituency in this instance. For South Wales, the first candidate is Labour's Alun Michael who in the past has been an MP for Cardiff South since 1987 as well as being a journalist for South Wales Echo and a youth worker, helping offenders in various places in Cardiff get back on the right track. He was also the Deputy Welsh Secretary for Labour under Tony Blair. He seems like a reasonable candidate, having a decent track record of helping people and has boosted his chances of being elected by announcing he would step down as Cardiff South MP if he is chosen to be Police and Crime Commissioner. Second candidate for South Wales is Conservative's Caroline Jones. She has lived in South Wales all her life and has been fund-raising for various renowned charities ranging from cancer to the British Legion. She has also worked with youth and adult offenders in the past so like Alun Michael, she knows her stuff.
Alongside Jones and Michael, South Wales has two Independent candidates, Mike Baker and Tony Verderame. Baker is a qualified criminal and civil lawyer who served 30 years as a police officer. Like me, he firmly believes the police force needs positive footage after several cases prove otherwise. "I feel that over the years the Police service has been squeezed in many respects, not only financially due to budget cuts, but because of bad press in relation to several cases. More importantly I believe the public over the years have been left with the impression that the Police are not listening to them and therefore to a large degree have ‘lost the streets’," says Mike Baker.
Tony Verderame, a retired businessman says he doesn't feel politics should be in policing and would like to explore what residents feel need to be addressed in order to combat crime. He has worked tirelessly for the rights and voice of elderly and vulnerable people - so much so, he has been recognised by winning the Queen's Award in 2006.
For me, it's quite a hard choice to pick a winner between the four candidates and although policing shouldn't be political, I'm glad that people like Alun Michael is willing to step aside from his role as MP to dedicate himself being a Police and Crime Commissioner. I hope in the other 40 constituencies, the candidates are more passionate to be in this role for the people's safety rather than just for publicity.
This is an interesting election in the sense that we will see how the political parties fair. Recent polls suggest the Conservative Party have performed best in the Annual Conferences but will that be shown in the forthcoming election? I genuinely hope people do go out and vote. It is quite an important election and I hope the media finds the time to publicise the importance of this election.
To find out the candidates for your constituency, click here.
What do Police and Crime Commissioners do? According to the ever-so-reliable Wikipedia, such people will "secure the maintenance of an efficient and effective police force within their area, and to hold the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of the police and crime plan". In addition, they will be held accountable for the police planning and funding of their regions. All-in-all, there will be less relying on the government and local councils and more responsibility for the police forces, although effective communications between both police and government is crucial if need be.
How did the Police and Crime Commissioner elections come about? Part of the Coalition deal, the Conservative and Liberal Democrats parties actually agreed on something by putting pen to paper a deal to change the policing system. This agreement does not affect Scotland or Northern Ireland as they already have their way of policing agreed by their Parliament and Assembly respectively. London is also exempt from such election as Mayor Boris Johnson is effectively the Metropolitan Police's Commissioner whilst the City of London Corporation acts as the City of London Police's Commissioner. In all, there are 41 regions which are involved in this election, four of which are in Wales. All this would take place on Thursday 15th November and it's expected to be a re-election in 2016.
It is going to be a fascinating election nonetheless. The police profession has been publicly scrutinised in recent years over incidents such as the G20 summit in 2009 where Ian Tomlinson died, allegedly killed by a police officer, which was later denied by the High Court, and the lack of reasoning behind their lack of influence with regards to the phone hacking scandal, costing News Corporation hundreds-of-millions-of-pounds of legal damage and later charging and imprisoning past editors and journalists. More recently, the police has been hugely criticised over the handling of the Jimmy Savile saga which has shocked and horrified the nation. Police now are trying all they can to solve the case and jail those in the public limelight and are alive but would that be enough, or has the damage already been done?
Despite the negative publicity we see in the papers and television stations, at the same time, police forces have been praised locally, working well with other emergency services. Police officers take pride in what they do and they are part of a 24-hour service, doing the most intense, rewarding yet life-threatening shifts. It is up to the 41 Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales to highlight and emphasise that and aim to regain the trust and reliability factor the public had on the force for many decades previous.
Believe it or not, I'm in support of this initiative. It's not every day where I support David Cameron's plans but it's a good idea. Someone needs to lead regional police services and take responsibility to make effective changes. In Cardiff for example, several police stations have closed and others no longer have 24-hour opening hours. The crime rate in the Welsh capital has decreased in recent months but they could still be lowered. Decent budget and management planning could open more police stations and encourage more streets to have Neighbourhood Watch making the public feel safer and secure in their own homes, especially around winter time as Hallowe'en, Bonfire Night and Christmas are quickly approaching.
However, I do question some of the candidates for this election. I am uncomfortable about the fact the majority are/have been politicians, or at least affiliated with a political party. Some are "Independent" and others are part of non-profit campaigns, "Justice and Anti-Corruption", "Campaign to Stop Politicians Running Policing" and "Zero Tolerance Policing ex Chief" - but most are of the three major parties plus UKIP, whose leader Nigel Farage is pro-Iran (had to put that one in).
Regardless, I have been constantly moaning in the past about politics unnecessarily interfering with everything ranging from sport to religion but policing should be more of a public issue than a political one. It certainly doesn't help when the politician profession is among the least trustworthy compared to other occupations. The public feel politicians are more concerned about what goes in their pockets rather than the well-being of people. The politicians who are competing for a place as a Police and Crime Commissioner must know the region they're going to represent well and also have experience in doing the public justice in order to sound at least a little genuine.
Let's look at my constituency in this instance. For South Wales, the first candidate is Labour's Alun Michael who in the past has been an MP for Cardiff South since 1987 as well as being a journalist for South Wales Echo and a youth worker, helping offenders in various places in Cardiff get back on the right track. He was also the Deputy Welsh Secretary for Labour under Tony Blair. He seems like a reasonable candidate, having a decent track record of helping people and has boosted his chances of being elected by announcing he would step down as Cardiff South MP if he is chosen to be Police and Crime Commissioner. Second candidate for South Wales is Conservative's Caroline Jones. She has lived in South Wales all her life and has been fund-raising for various renowned charities ranging from cancer to the British Legion. She has also worked with youth and adult offenders in the past so like Alun Michael, she knows her stuff.
Alongside Jones and Michael, South Wales has two Independent candidates, Mike Baker and Tony Verderame. Baker is a qualified criminal and civil lawyer who served 30 years as a police officer. Like me, he firmly believes the police force needs positive footage after several cases prove otherwise. "I feel that over the years the Police service has been squeezed in many respects, not only financially due to budget cuts, but because of bad press in relation to several cases. More importantly I believe the public over the years have been left with the impression that the Police are not listening to them and therefore to a large degree have ‘lost the streets’," says Mike Baker.
Tony Verderame, a retired businessman says he doesn't feel politics should be in policing and would like to explore what residents feel need to be addressed in order to combat crime. He has worked tirelessly for the rights and voice of elderly and vulnerable people - so much so, he has been recognised by winning the Queen's Award in 2006.
For me, it's quite a hard choice to pick a winner between the four candidates and although policing shouldn't be political, I'm glad that people like Alun Michael is willing to step aside from his role as MP to dedicate himself being a Police and Crime Commissioner. I hope in the other 40 constituencies, the candidates are more passionate to be in this role for the people's safety rather than just for publicity.
This is an interesting election in the sense that we will see how the political parties fair. Recent polls suggest the Conservative Party have performed best in the Annual Conferences but will that be shown in the forthcoming election? I genuinely hope people do go out and vote. It is quite an important election and I hope the media finds the time to publicise the importance of this election.
To find out the candidates for your constituency, click here.
Down here in 'Dyfed-Powys' I have four options.
ReplyDelete1. Vote Tory
2. Vote Labour
3. Don't vote
4. Spoil my ballot paper
At the moment I'm leaning towards writing "devolve policing" on my paper. That's if I can be bothered to vote.