Tuesday 13 November 2012

Why You Should Vote For Me



I was recently asked the following questions by The Star newspaper in South Yorkshire. Here are my answers.

Why Do you believe you are suitable for the role of Police and Crime Commissioner?

I have the necessary skills, experience and vision. Effective policing and reducing crime is my passion
I’ve been in public service for 38 years, 30 as a police officer and worked in central, regional and local government. I specialised in partnership work, crime reduction and domestic violence. I was then appointed by the Labour Government as an adviser, particularly working in under-performing areas. I’ve dealt with, studied and advised upon guns, gangs and drugs and led overseas study tours.
I taught police officers, nationally, about sharing of information - placing child protection above data protection and red tape.
As a member of the Parole Board I make decisions about the management of offenders on a daily basis– always putting public protection first.
I have a Masters degree in police studies.

What makes you different from the other candidates? (Why should residents vote for you rather than the others?)

I’m the only candidate that has the necessary understanding and experience. I’ve been frustrated to hear promises from others, which sound attractive but aren’t deliverable and range from foolish to dangerous. For instance, whilst we all aspire to increasing uniform patrols – I would not propose to do so without first consulting the public and being clear about where the officers where to be taken from! We cannot leave specialist areas vulnerable. Another concern is this. Whose ideas are these? Have candidates fully consulted or are they, before having been elected, pursuing their own ill-considered whims?
Your PCC must understand the police, not just be another police officer. I offer something extra and would influence all those with a role to play in our safety and justice.
I am also trustworthy. There is nothing in my past record or career history which would cause anyone to question my integrity or competence.



What crimes cause you most concern personally and why, and what would you do to tackle these?

The crimes that concern me are not important. What is important is what concerns the public. Indeed my role as PCC is to establish what the public is most concerned about influence police priorities, if that is appropriate, and then hold the police to account.

What I would not be doing, as some are promising, is simplistically basing this upon the volume of crimes reported. That does no favours to the victims of domestic violence, child abuse or many other serious types of offending that have long term and significant effects upon both victims and those around them.

How they are tackled is an operational matter and the preserve of the Chief Constable. However, my role would be to secure adequate resources and ensure all relevant partners were pulling together.

Which crimes do you believe to be the biggest issues for the force and why? And how will you tackle them?


It’s obvious that violent crime, burglaries and anti-social behaviour are affecting many and demanding response.
                        
Drug and gang activity threatens significant problems in the future. My experience of this and the interventions that work will give you a PCC that resources our defences properly.

Child abuse will always be a priority and never neglected for lack of resources. The Rotherham grooming scandal affects not only those victims that were let down then, but any victims of today who have lost the trust to come forward. This is not just a police issue; the police often only get involved once suspicions have been reported by others. It’s crucial that the right people are in the right places and that front line workers, of all agencies, are educated to spot the signs and take positive action.  If voters don’t know of the recent issue in Rotherham then they should investigate before voting.



The police budget - money needs to be saved...how will you do this without affecting the capability of the force?

Money doesn’t need to be saved –it needs to be spent in a way that achieves absolute maximum efficiency. About 90% of the budget is of course used to pay for police and support staff. Having taken the cost of vehicles etcetera from the remainder we are not talking about huge amounts and every drop of crime reduction and public reassurance must be squeezed from it. This means doing what works – not what sounds attractive. As PCC I would also work with others to find ways of their resources being bent moulded to contribute.

It is all the more vital that we focus upon what matters – albeit sometimes at the cost of what matters less! Tough decisions are needed and I will make them. Indeed the toughest are not about what the police should do, they are about what they should NOT do.


Residents regularly say they want more bobbies on the beat - can you make a commitment now to taking on extra police officers? If you pledge to take on extra officers, how will you fund them?

The recruiting of additional police officers is not an option – indeed saving those that we have is the greater challenge. Making crazy promises about that to win votes is, frankly, immoral. Sadly, I can make no such commitment whilst under the current financial restraints. This makes it vital that officers are used in the way you would wish and the way criminals would despise. When there is an opportunity to fight for further investment, be certain that, as an ex-police officer, I will of course be doing so! If you choose me as your PCC you will have a credible voice at the table, arguing your case.

The remit of the PCC’s is police and crime. My experience is working with partners, pulling activities and resources together to tackle crime and its causes. The more  partners do, the more the police can get back to prevention and detection.


How can you guarantee that you will not let politics interfere with the running of the county's police force?

I want to keep dabbling politicians well away from our police. Any PCC must sign an oath of impartiality. I signed mine two weeks ago. Unlike others, I have also run a non party-political campaign – I can’t have it both ways.
Having acted without bias within criminal justice, day in day out, for 38 years, it is what comes naturally to me. My most effective work has been in high crime areas around the country; typically Labour heartland areas. I’ve earned a reputation as one who cares and one who actually makes a difference.
Voters have a role to play. You’re appointing someone to a position that will affect lives. If it was any other job – say a head teacher, or a neurosurgeon, would you ask candidates their politics? No. You’d look at their CVs and ask tough questions to be sure they had the right skills, experience, and vision.

 Will you be closing any more stations?

This borders on being an operational decision of the Chief Constable. However, my job would be to test public opinion, establish the pros and cons of any such suggestion and, once more, hold the police to account in delivering the service that the public wants.

Only with the proper information and communication can the police and the public make sensible decisions. In this example, the public needs to know what, if anything, it would gain; the police need to know whether the public wants that. I would give the people that voice.

The force's reputation has taken a battering in recent weeks ( Hillsborough and Orgreave for example)...how will you improve its reputation and restore faith in police officers.

The Rotherham grooming scandal should be added to this list.

Public satisfaction rates are encouragingly high despite recent revelations. Good quality day to day service of the type the public wants will go a long way too.

The Independent Police Complaints Inquiry into Hillsborough is underway and must be completed with those responsible for any wrongdoing brought to justice.

I wasn’t at Orgreave but I did grow up in a mining community in Atherton and I was proudly policing there at the time and understand the emotive nature of that conflict. If an inquiry into Orgreave is demanded by the public I will fight for funds to do so.

I genuinely want people to proudly refer to SYP as ‘our police’.  I’ve always challenged poor practice from within and outside the police. I am possibly the only candidate who would know where to look to hold them to any account.

Police overtime runs to around £8 million a year - what is your view on this and how would you reduce this bill?

This is an ever-recurring bone of contention and I would be amazed if South Yorkshire Police are not doing what other forces are doing to keep it to an absolute minimum.  As with all areas of expenditure however, I would want to be absolutely satisfied that this is the case.

The reality of the situation is that police officers can make arrests or become engaged in incidents near the end of their shifts, urgent operations are needed that demand extra officers and of course public holidays still need police officers. There are many ways now used to reduce the need for overtime – effective forward planning, good systems of handing jobs over to other officers etc. Some overtime will however always necessary in the interests of the efficiency we seek.

SYP is set to lose its own dedicated helicopter - how detrimental do you feel this will be the force? Will you fight this?

I have worked within police aviation and I am a great advocate of police air support. Yes it’s expensive but it catches criminals – it puts the police ahead of the game. Criminals don’t like it so I do! Of course there are many other uses and it is now something that we cannot and should not do without.  I congratulate the current Police Authority for the way it protected air support cover for South Yorkshire albeit I do understand the sound rationale for a better pooling of resources with other forces.

How will you engage the public as part of your role and actually find out what matters to the man on the street?

We need a whole range of engagement methods and I was delighted to see some that the existing Police Authority staff are already enthusiastically deploying. Public meetings, surgeries and questionnaires all have their place but in my experience fail to make meaningful contact with many groups of people and individuals; particular those that are difficult to reach.

I want to meet people (both personally and by other means) where they are. To get their view when they’re at the hairdressers, the pub, the school gates, the cinema or wherever it is they go about their daily business.


Have you ever been a victim of crime? If so, what were the circumstances?

To be honest I struggle to find any adult that has not, albeit the experiences of some may have been less serious. I have been subjected to my home being burgled, theft of and from my car and I have been assaulted.

More importantly is my understanding of what the effects of crime can have upon victims. My parole work brings me into contact with the perpetrators of the most serious crimes and I see the results upon victims first hand. If victims do not feel supported and do not feel that justice has been done then one might ask ‘what is the point?’

I am committed to the support of victims but also the support of witnesses; both before court, at court and beyond court.

Have you ever been arrested, cautioned or convicted? If so, what were the circumstances.

I firmly believe in being honest and facing your past mistakes. I’m disappointed to confess that I have been caught by a speed camera driving in excess of 30 mph However my licence is now clean. Otherwise my record is absolutely and completely unblemished and as a current member of the Parole Board I am subjected to thorough and extremely high levels of positive vetting.

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