I know you can barley contain your excitement but next May will see us voting for the second time for Police and Crime Commissioner.
Turnout was low for the elections across Wales,- with a the highest burnout of 17.2% in Dyfed Powys. Lack of information (both on the election itself and from the candidates), divided public opinion and the November timing of the election were cited as factors for this It has also been argued that the election should have been held on the same day as local election s. Which will be remedied this time
With Plaid deciding to fight the elections which coincide with the Assembly elections it m\ay be a bit more interesting this time .
It wll also mean that the sitting Commissioner. will be defending their record and so it will mean that the role will become more political.
The Wasting Mule recently has a former Police Sergeant turned lawyer who was runner-up in the first South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner election claim the man who beat him has been “invisible” since he won the post.
It occurs to me that a successful Police and Crime Commissioner.would in fact be invisible because if everything was going right then he or she would have nothing to comment on.
I am opposed to these elections over the years it will lead to because it will lead to the Candidates running on a platform not so much on who can make the police force more accountable or even effective, but who can be toughest on crime and offering draconian solutions even if they do not have the powers to implement them.
Scotland and Northern Ireland you will note will nit be holding elections as policing and justice powers are devolved to the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.
It will be interesting to see where the Welsh Parties stand in the run up to the Assembly elections on the same day . Will they be campaigning for policing and justice powers to be devolved?
Lets go further and see a end to the whole "England and Wales" package in the devolved era and we get full parity with Scotland within 5 years.
Let us hope these will be the last time we elect Police and Crime Commissioner. and we see parity with Scotland over this.
It is a golden opportunity to highlight this I don't know whether Plaid for instance will benefit from abandoning their boycott but they surely can't abandoning mention that they want these positions abolished and these powers transferred.
I
Turnout was low for the elections across Wales,- with a the highest burnout of 17.2% in Dyfed Powys. Lack of information (both on the election itself and from the candidates), divided public opinion and the November timing of the election were cited as factors for this It has also been argued that the election should have been held on the same day as local election s. Which will be remedied this time
With Plaid deciding to fight the elections which coincide with the Assembly elections it m\ay be a bit more interesting this time .
It wll also mean that the sitting Commissioner. will be defending their record and so it will mean that the role will become more political.
The Wasting Mule recently has a former Police Sergeant turned lawyer who was runner-up in the first South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner election claim the man who beat him has been “invisible” since he won the post.
“I get that from people across South Wales. I speak to a lot of people and I’m on social media and I get a lot of feedback from people who don’t want politicians running the police service and feel that Alun Michael, even though he’s a politician, hasn’t really performed.”
Mr Baker said he was “appalled” that Mr Michael had failed to challenge effectively the police funding formula that has effectively seen South Wales Police having to hand over money to Dyfed-Powys Police.
“He should have gone for a judicial review of the formula, which is wholly unfair,” he said.
The Independent candidate also accused Mr Michael of painting an over-rosy picture in his recent police and crime reduction plan, where it was claimed that people in Cardiff had never been safer.
“Many crimes are unreported and simply don’t show up in the statistics,” said Mr Baker. “There was recently a news item saying that many rapes involving students were not being reported, for example.”
It occurs to me that a successful Police and Crime Commissioner.would in fact be invisible because if everything was going right then he or she would have nothing to comment on.
I am opposed to these elections over the years it will lead to because it will lead to the Candidates running on a platform not so much on who can make the police force more accountable or even effective, but who can be toughest on crime and offering draconian solutions even if they do not have the powers to implement them.
Scotland and Northern Ireland you will note will nit be holding elections as policing and justice powers are devolved to the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.
It will be interesting to see where the Welsh Parties stand in the run up to the Assembly elections on the same day . Will they be campaigning for policing and justice powers to be devolved?
Lets go further and see a end to the whole "England and Wales" package in the devolved era and we get full parity with Scotland within 5 years.
Let us hope these will be the last time we elect Police and Crime Commissioner. and we see parity with Scotland over this.
It is a golden opportunity to highlight this I don't know whether Plaid for instance will benefit from abandoning their boycott but they surely can't abandoning mention that they want these positions abolished and these powers transferred.
I
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