Police and Crime Commissioners are good for policing, give them a chance.

Posted 24 Aug 2014 by Walaa Idris

Despite the low turnout (15.1%) when they were initially elected back in November, and the even lower than imaginable turnout of Thursday’s by -election (10.3%), I still think PCCs (Police and Crime Commissioners) are a good idea and should stay.

Here is why. First and foremost because it is still early days and both the public and PCCs are finding their way around the role.

Like most new positions, this post needs some tweaking here and there. The duties should be clearer to the post holder – PCCs work for the public and oversee the police not the other way round. This can at times prove challenging especially when the PCC is a former police officer (officers usually come from decades of following rules and answering superiors, and can find the transition difficult. It can be hard for some to change roles and assume leadership particularly with those who in the past outranked them). And of course those who never worked in such posts tend to struggle with managing expectations of not only the police, who are a tightknit and regimented fraternity, but also the public, who can at times be unrealistically demanding.

Unlike most I have no trouble with the political slant in the role as I believe having a political tie focuses both the post and the post holder better, but I do agree that more independent candidates should be encouraged to bring freshness and diversity to the post.

The reason many PCCs have had little impact on their local communities is due to, as I mentioned above, the newness of the role, plus the high number of ex-police elected to the role. Who in some cases, seem to have simply carried over their old roles to the new post. When having a police background should have been an asset, used to better understand and improve policing in the area, it didn’t, because it became one and the same.

We know the police have their restrictions. So it’s the duty of the elected PCC to enhance policing by setting the guidelines that provide the link between what the public wants, the service they expect and the service the police deliver to them. It’s as easy and as important as that. Therefore the main duty of the PCC should be to understand what his community needs and his gift is to decide what crimes the police should prioritise.

In London we (the public) share our concerns at ward level in Safer Neighbourhood Watch Committees. This gives each ward the bespoke service they need but it’s non-operational. PCCs on the other hand can decide on operational priorities (why do you think some police take issue with them). A Police and Crime Commissioner can be as important and as effective in the policing of his/her region as he/she decides.

Having the elections in November was a bad idea not at all helpful for the inception of the position. Autumn days are shorter and darker for electioneering than spring days. Furthermore, because in the UK, all important elections take place in May. A November poll lessened the importance of the election and therefore the post.

As for this Thursday’s by-election in the West Midlands, here too the timing was unfortunate. Beside the summer holidays, August Bank Holiday is the last long weekend before Christmas. And for many it is the last chance they have to escape before the demands, on businesses and individuals, of the Festive Season begin.

Then of course there is Ann Barnes, Kent’s PCC, who had her own reality TV show ‘Meet the Commissioner’ on Channel Four. I caught parts of it and found the whole thing hilarious and not too impressive. But will let you watch and decide for yourself what you make of it. However, in my opinion Ann Barnes wasn’t very helpful to the role.

Police and Crime Commissioners, give the local community a say on how they want to be policed. They also give them a say on who they want to represent them in that role. Surely both are good things to stand-up for, support and improve.

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