Crime é um grande problema para muitas pessoas. Todos nós estamos horrorizados com o crescente número de jovens esfaqueados até a morte. Tememos os lojistas que enfrentam um aumento de 32% no furto em lojas. Acima de tudo, há uma visão generalizada de que não faz sentido chamar os policiais, eles apenas lhe darão um número de crime. E boa sorte recebendo uma condenação por estupro. Que eles voltem os olhos para o crime, sejam protestos islâmicos ou pessoas cheirando abertamente cocaína no Grand National. Até um ponto Lord Copper. Ofensas como roubo de carro, crime de faca e uso indevido de computador estão em alta. Mas o crime geral caiu 17% desde 2020, liderado por reduções em danos criminais, fraudes e homicídios. Após grandes cortes nos orçamentos policiais, houve um esforço bem -sucedido para recrutar mais polícia. Existem frases mais rígidas, pressionando enormes nossas prisões. Em duas semanas, o tempo estaremos elegendo essas pessoas para empregos que ainda são pouco conhecidos pelo público em geral. Desde que substituíram o antigo sistema de presidentes do Comitê de Polícia, as eleições atraíram baixos participantes. Então, o que eles fazem? Às vezes, eles são vistos como muito próximos, mas ocasionalmente as relações quebram espetacularmente. Foi o caso quando o chefe de polícia de Cheshire, Simon Byrne, foi suspenso em 2017 por má conduta quando David Keane era o PCC. Byrne foi liberado da acusação. Seus candidatos estarão sob pressão por causa da maré nacional contra eles no momento. Isso segue os controversos comentários que Dwyer fez sobre a duração das saias das colegas. Tory Peter McCall está de pé, mas Mike Johnson terá uma briga em suas mãos contra David Allen do Labour. Na Grande Manchester, o prefeito Andy Burnham também é o PCC, onde a força policial está tentando se recuperar de um período em que sua reputação foi amassada.
People feel the police are content to rely on CCTV rather than having a visible presence on the streets. That they turn a blind eye to crime whether it be Islamist protest or people openly snorting cocaine at the Grand National.
Those are the perceptions, they matter, but are they accurate? Up to a point Lord Copper. Offences like car theft, knife crime and computer misuse are up. But overall crime is down 17% since 2020 led by reductions in criminal damage, fraud, and homicides. After major cuts in police budgets, there has been a successful drive to recruit more police. There are stiffer sentences, putting huge pressure on our prisons.
Now we come to the question of whether Police and Crime Commissioners make any difference to all this. In two weeks’, time we will be electing these people to jobs that are still little known by the general public. Since they replaced the old system of police committee chairs, the elections have attracted low turnouts. So, what do they do?
Their job spec is to set the police budget, hire and fire the Chief Constable and set the force priorities.
It is difficult to measure whether they have made a difference because their profiles have remained generally low, like the police chairs before them.
The difficulty is the relations between Chief Constables and these PCCs. They are sometimes seen as too close but occasionally relations break down spectacularly. This was the case when Cheshire’s Chief Constable Simon Byrne was suspended in 2017 for misconduct when David Keane was the PCC. Byrne was cleared of the charge.
The Lib Dems want the posts abolished, but it is probably best to keep them as elected politicians do have a direct link to the public’s wishes on crime priorities.
Despite their view on PCCs, the Lib Dems are fielding candidates in the five elections in the North West, but it is effectively a contest between Labour and the Conservatives. Their candidates will be under pressure because of the national tide against them at the moment.
With that in mind we could see the return of Labour’s Clive Grunshaw in Lancashire after his defeat in 2021.
In Cheshire Tory John Dwyer, who first held the post in 2012, could be facing defeat at the hands of Labour’s John Price. This follows controversial remarks Dwyer made about the length of schoolgirls skirts.
Although Cumbria has been split into two unitary councils, the county will be choosing one PCC, who is also responsible for fire matters. Tory Peter McCall is standing down, but Mike Johnson will have a fight on his hands against Labour’s David Allen.
PCC elections are very male affairs, so thank heavens for Emily Spurrell who has done a good job succeeding Jane Kennedy in Merseyside. In Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is also the PCC where the police force is trying to recover from a period where its reputation was dented.
O segundo sistema de preferência foi abolido para essas eleições em favor do primeiro passado da postagem.
