Big Issue: Why you should vote for the Police and Crime Commissioner - by Richard Graham

“How's about an elected mayor like London has?
Is that transparent enough for you,Mr. G?”

“Richard Graham misquotes our fine ex-Chief Tony Melville, to "make a political point".
The former Tory Chief Whip, Andrew Mitchell, implied that contemporaneous notes made by elite Diplomatic Protection Officers were inaccurate.

Would I believe such superb police officers or former bankers?
It's a matter of integrity Mr Graham.”

“Having a PCC makes a lot of sense to me, its our money and we should have a say in how it's spent. The police have set their own agenda for too long and wasted a lot on a money on a new headquaters with exec showers and the rattle around it rather than getting on the streets - why is that? because it hard to get out there and meet people, hear concerns and then have to take some action but that's the job; let's hope whoever is elected gets the police to try a bit harder pls.”

“'In August 2011, after the disturbances in Gloucester, I had to explain to the country on Newsnight what on earth had happened in our city.

'But there was no-one who would objectively tell me whether our police might have contained the problem through different action. Just the previous Chief Constable telling me it was none of my business.'

I did suggest to our Tory councillor, before the public disorder, that having the police behave as if they were expecting the trouble ocurring elsewhere in the country, would pre-empt that trouble. Despite the negative press our ward regularly enjoys, does anyone doubt that without the police going in mob-handed (with horses!), residents would have handled the odd pillock looking for his fifteen minutes of fame? Whereas when the cops roled in, every idiot wanted a piece of the action, and responsible citizens avoided the risk of being mistakenly arrested themselves?

What 'councilwonk' has said, though, rings true. We know that the Tories wanted to effectively cut the police's budget, and that the Chief Constable would therefore regard any queries from Richard Graham about policing as political interference. What's debatable is whether the CC has a right to any say about the police precept, or should his job be 'not to reason why'?

I would say the police are a long way now from being capable of doing the job we expect them to do, and we are largely expected to look out of ourselves. We are where we are, though, and shouldn't what we give approximate to what we get?”

“Just £6 per YEAR per Band D payer increase in Council Tax would have dramatically stopped the dangerous cuts to the Police Service in Gloucs
Yet Tory dogma would not allow this.
That is the Tories cynical abandonment of public safety”

“Mr Melville knows what you should ALL understand - that the installation of PCC's is a barely disguised assault on the political independence of policing, and it is a national outrage. It is cynical, conniving, and is the start of the destruction of policing in the great tradition we have always led with. The front of this government is beyond belief, and the naïveté of people not seeing it for what it is should be shocking. Be very afraid of this - not for what it is in the here and now, but for what it means for the future of policing and the cynical ambition of the level of control this government wants to exert on us. And this from someone who voted for them in the first place.”

“Many people will be surprised to see Tony Melville breaking cover on this issue. He did more then anyone in ages to inject politics (just not party politics) into policing in Gloucestershire. He lead a remarkable lobbying campaign which tried to twist the arm of the police authority to give him a bigger council tax increase, which even saw police officers, in uniform, on TV, making political (but not party) speeches. Funny how he was "surprised to be held to account", but cross that the local MP reports this as "being told it was none of his business". No surprise that Mr Melville wanted to get out of policing before the new role properly held people in his position to account. Many people might reach the conclusion that Tony Melville was exactly the sort of political police chief who preferred limited public scrutiny of his actions.”

“I am astonished that an MP should have such a poor recall of a conversation with a police officer. Has this happened anywhere else recently? Just for the record in the summer disorder of 2011 I was surprised that Mr Graham was seeking to hold the Chief Constable directly to account for operational decisions in the middle of
the worst national disorder for a generation and undermining the role of the Police Authority. I can forgive anyone a lapse of memory but this looks more considered. I notice this article is replicated on Mr Graham's newsletter in which he not only suggests why you should vote but who for as well. I have deliberately kept my distance on these elections and wonder why I am now misqouted to make a political point? It serves as a good reminder why I resigned. Politics interfering with operational policing beware!”

“The two main parties have ever been so far apart eh? Well if you can remember pre-Blair Labour then you might remember a party that was further to the left than it is now. The reason I use the term LibLabCon is because i can no longer determine a real difference between any of them. Im guessing this is because they all take their instructions from the same people....”

“"Selina" who awarded the contract to Atos to push disabled people back to work since been the subject of undercover investigations as to their methods.
Labour were planning cuts they also spent very unwisely.
They should could be the natural party of government but they are simply woeful with managing the finances.”