Police Crime Commissioner

[Scully]

I'm not voting due to apathy; I'm not voting because I feel the role has no credence; I simply see it as having no point or substance.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Scully

[fielddweller]

Whether you agree with the need or desirability of a PCC role or not, if a candidate supports shooting then please vote to get them in. Far better than a raving anti having all that influence.

100% Correct. I have two pro shooting candidates of which one has answered all my emails so she is getting all our votes.

Fielddweller

[paulnix]

I'm not voting due to apathy; I'm not voting because I feel the role has no credence; I simply see it as having no point or substance.

Only thing I see it as is keeping yet more politicians and civil servants in a job pushing paper around, even more people those actually producing something have to keep in jobs.

[Chris Bb]

I'll be voting for the local council anyway.

 

Rather than not vote for this job I shall spoil my vote by writing a suitable comment on the card and not filling in any of the boxes.

 

 

I believe that this job, along with local mayors (London, etc.) having more than ceremonial power/responsibility is part of the Americanisation of our politics, by whom and for what ultimate reason I have no idea.

 

Like the NHS, the Police need less administrators and more "doers", that's where the money should go.

[Whitebridges]

There's an informative read on page four of this weeks Shooting Times (4th May).

 

Sub headline: " It is for the new Police and Crime Commissioners to hold licensing departments to account".

 

I have read an awful lot of moans and groans,even resentment of licensing departments on here. Your PCC is in situ to influence and change things for the better.

 

Granted the birth of the PCC was a consequence of a Tory / Lib-Dem pact but there will not be any back tracking will there?

 

Get on with it and use the system to the advantage of the shooting community if you will.

[four-wheel-drive]

An abstention is a legitimate vote.

 

Also many people chose not to vote because they genuinely do not understand the issues. I do not think lack of knowledge should be a criminal offence.

The point that I was trying to make is that we should all vote as an English/British person we should at least show a little respect for all of those people who battled for so long to get us the vote. Even if it is something that we do not no or understand enough about we should make our feeling known and this is where I think there should be the non of the Above place on the voting slip and by using that we can at least show the powers that be that we are not just to lazy to get out ***** off the chair but we care enough to go and register our vote or even send off a postal vote.

[Scully]

 

 

Rather than not vote for this job I shall spoil my vote by writing a suitable comment on the card and not filling in any of the boxes.

 

 

 

Now there's an idea.

[chrisjpainter]

 

Rather than not vote for this job I shall spoil my vote by writing a suitable comment on the card and not filling in any of the boxes.

 

I'e been seriously considering just drawing a big white elephant on the ballot paper.

[bostonmick]

I will not vote on any of them,after the last pantomime in the lincs force,

[Whitebridges]

I will not vote on any of them,after the last pantomime in the lincs force,

 

So you would rather roll over and die then?

 

Lincs is in a mess from what I gather. So why not give your PCC some proper yellowbelly ear ache !

[bostonmick]

So you would rather roll over and die then?

 

Lincs is in a mess from what I gather. So why not give your PCC some proper yellowbelly ear ache !

yes they are in a bit of a mess,and of course that half a million or so he cost the force within his first year suspending the chief constable then going through a court case only to lose and reinstate the chief really helped,as with all forces lincs are being squeezed over cost so why saddle them with the extra cost of this post,not just his wage but a car and driver a secretary a p/a and of course the obligatory expense account.jobs for the boys comes to mind.but if you feel that you get value from yours then do as you feel right.there is no rolling over to die as you put it as none of these voted in will give any of us a second thought once in the job and will then most likely leave at the next election after they have used the position to smooth the path to further lucrative positions .

[Scully]

yes they are in a bit of a mess,and of course that half a million or so he cost the force within his first year suspending the chief constable then going through a court case only to lose and reinstate the chief really helped,as with all forces lincs are being squeezed over cost so why saddle them with the extra cost of this post,not just his wage but a car and driver a secretary a p/a and of course the obligatory expense account.jobs for the boys comes to mind.but if you feel that you get value from yours then do as you feel right.there is no rolling over to die as you put it as none of these voted in will give any of us a second thought once in the job and will then most likely leave at the next election after they have used the position to smooth the path to further lucrative positions .

 

It's not often ( if ever ) that Mick and me agree on much, but I have to say the above just about sums up how I regard the roll.

[Whitebridges]

yes they are in a bit of a mess,and of course that half a million or so he cost the force within his first year suspending the chief constable then going through a court case only to lose and reinstate the chief really helped,as with all forces lincs are being squeezed over cost so why saddle them with the extra cost of this post,not just his wage but a car and driver a secretary a p/a and of course the obligatory expense account.jobs for the boys comes to mind.but if you feel that you get value from yours then do as you feel right.there is no rolling over to die as you put it as none of these voted in will give any of us a second thought once in the job and will then most likely leave at the next election after they have used the position to smooth the path to further lucrative positions .

 

Our current incumbent is Stephen Bett and I think it's very likely he will get in again. After a bit of a dodgy period where he was accused of fiddling his expenses he seems to have embraced the role.

Our firearms department is really good and turnaround times are pretty fast compared to other counties. Are GS4 still doing the licensing for Lincs? They've had plenty of time to have their systems and procedures

sorted out by now but i gather the service is still ****. This has to be the sort of thing your PCC should be on top of.

[chrisjpainter]

Well. In the end, I voted. Where I live, most people vote early on the way to work. I went up at 11am. I was the 11th person to have voted since polling opened at 7am. I think the turnout might be pretty low!

[Muddy Funker]

Utterly pointless role, the combined wages and running costs for the position along with staff must run into millions.

Would be better employing more front line officers, they come in at around £21,000 a year, cheap as chips.

Edited May 5, 2016 by Muddy Funker

[bostonmick]

Our current incumbent is Stephen Bett and I think it's very likely he will get in again. After a bit of a dodgy period where he was accused of fiddling his expenses he seems to have embraced the role.

Our firearms department is really good and turnaround times are pretty fast compared to other counties. Are GS4 still doing the licensing for Lincs? They've had plenty of time to have their systems and procedures

sorted out by now but i gather the service is still ****. This has to be the sort of thing your PCC should be on top of.

yes g4s are still running the firearms dept,and my guess would be they are about the same as most forces.my own experience from my renewal last year was sent in forms on the same day as the reminder came at the end of feb,new licence arrived mid april even though I still had until mid june on old cert,so I consider that good service,a friend I shoot with was issued a temporary certificate because he told them he had a ecg at the hospital but no problem was found or medication issued he got his cert around six weeks after his previous had expired but was covered by the temp one.and I have spoken to a few who have waited for a couple of months beyond their due date for new cert but were also issued temp certs,so a bit of a mix.i have also listened to the candidates for this election on local radio and it strikes me that the campaign speech they all give is to cure all the same things as the previous one was elected on,so after five years and probably about three million spent he achieved nothing.i once called in to ask a question when he was on local radio I asked what he was going to do about the firearms dept and the erratic service g4s were giving only to get the standard politicians answer of how everyone was striving to bring blah blah blah,so I would say use the money spent on these non producers to bring in more officers. in times of emergency people are reassured by officers on the ground not some pcc in his ivory tower.

Edited May 5, 2016 by bostonmick

[harpoonlouis]

One of my local candidates for this role has 37 years in the police force with a full pension and now wants an £85000 a year job to hold his old mates and the payers of his pension to account.....told him not in a month of Sundays could he be impartial.

 

Almost makes me give up the will to live.

[UKPoacher]

One of my local candidates for this role has 37 years in the police force with a full pension and now wants an £85000 a year job to hold his old mates and the payers of his pension to account.....told him not in a month of Sundays could he be impartial.

 

Almost makes me give up the will to live.

The thing is that if you want a Police Commissioner to make a positive difference to the force there are only two streams where candidates should come from IMO. Neither of them offer the perfect solution, but would each address 50% of the problems better than someone from local politics, the senior ranks of the police or retired military personnel.

 

The first is a proven business person who has a history of turning failing industries around. Most of the decisions made by a Commissioner revolve around finance and resources, not law. The business side could be dealt with by the Commissioner and the policing side mattes dealt with after discussion with senior officers.

 

The second is a retired police officer who has not progressed up the slippery pole to senior rank, but has experienced different roles within the police. That candidate will have a better idea on why the police are failing in their duties as regards law and order. The business side would be dealt with in consultation with senior civilian staff within the police.

 

The problems within the police are largely created by fast tracking university graduates up the ranks without them gaining meaningful experience of every day policing. They have never had to manage a crime list or face an angry crowd and because they have come straight from university they have never managed a business either. So they actually have no meaningful experience in any of the roles they are doing. That coupled with the constant change of departments as they progress through the ranks means that thy never spend more than a couple of years in any one position before moving on. Imagine a company with 5,000 employees, based over 12 sites , with different employment contracts and terms of work, add the political influences at local and national levels and what would you expect of the Head of Human Resources formerly known as the Personnel Department? Someone with a lifetime experience in that field, who had a degree in a relevant subject plus diplomas from business schools perhaps? Not some Chief Superintendent who is just passing through on his or her way to a higher rank.

 

So in short the role of Commissioner is flawed in that no one could really make enough difference for the role to be worthwhile.

[bostonmick]

So the vote is in for lincs.we had no candidate with the required vote for outright win so went to second preference.winner is conservative candidate.so how will that work a conservative who believes the government is right in all its actions is there to fight for extra funding for the force.cameron and Co must be laughing their little socks off.

[Guest stevo]

So the vote is in for lincs.we had no candidate with the required vote for outright win so went to second preference.winner is conservative candidate.so how will that work a conservative who believes the government is right in all its actions is there to fight for extra funding for the force.cameron and Co must be laughing their little socks off.

Marc jones is the new PCC for Lincolnshire , he has promised to get rid of GS4 from firearms licencing and return it back to the police , that's one of the reason he got my vote !

Edited May 6, 2016 by stevo

[Guest stevo]

http://www.marcjones.org.uk/news/gun-licence-“-house”-pledge-candidate-marc-jones

[bostonmick]

Marc jones is the new PCC for Lincolnshire , he has promised to get rid of GS4 from firearms licencing and return it back to the police , that's one of the reason he got my vote !

G4s signed a 10 year contract with lincs in 2012 so he is quite correct in saying he will not renew the contract as he will not be in the position when it comes up for renewal.

[oowee]

We had (Avon and Somerset) an ex BASC candidate so my choice was simple, that was until he failed to appear on the voting form.

[adzyvilla]

Well Bett is out of the running in Norfolk. Hope the Lab guy doesn't get in. Its between labour and the wonderfully named Lorne Green (Con) in the second round of voting.

[ph5172]

We had a young lad stand as an independent, 1st class degree, was all over the social media aspect with videos, facebook and twitter campaigns, video conference Q and A.

 

Problem was his whole thinking revolved around the fact he was going to remove money from the front line to spend on rehabilitation and education of offenders, quite how he expected any offenders to be caught to put this plan into action is beyond me!!