Police and Crime Commissioner elections : A radical proposal
Postal votes are just being distributed for these elections which takes place in early May
Originally set up to bring more local accountability into management of local police activity it is fair to say that PCCs have not really caught the attention of voters. Most will struggle to describe what the PCC actually does
Since the post was created it has always been filled by the Conservatives
Research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has shown just 0.1% of the overall workforce is dedicated to rural crime teams across England and Wales. You can read more details at Only 0.1% of police dedicated to rural crime teams - Liberal Democrats (libdems.org.uk)
Here in Suffolk this oversight has seen the County having the longest wait times in England last year, with police taking an average of 17 and a half hours to attend anti-social behaviour reports, followed closely behind by Norfolk where wait times were 17 hours and 29 minutes.
There are now just three police stations in Suffolk open for public enquiries, and Suffolk Police have lost 75% of their Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) since 2015.
Suffolk policing is the fourth lowest funded force per resident in the country so having a Conservative PCC dealing with a Conservative government has not served us well
Our candidate for PCC is James Sandbach and he has a radical proposal with a clear commitment to abolish the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and put that money into frontline police services, crime prevention and victim support.
The office of Suffolk PCC has cost the taxpayer around £4.5 million in the last 5 years in running costs, which could be better spent on front line services not political “sinecures”.
If elected James will refuse to take up the position and will not claim any salary or expenses. His mission will be to campaign to get rid of the PCC in Suffolk and see resources redirected to fighting crime and supporting victims.
If you want to see the role of PCC abolished with money saved spent on more police activity