Policing for the people, or politicising the Police?
This week we should all be receiving details of the candidates for election as Police and Crime Commissioner for our area.
You may have noticed the ads running on TV dramatically illustrating a number of petty crimes and implying that the new Police Commissioners are going to make all it all go away.
All seems very hopeful, but will Police Commissioners really be able to make that much of a difference? After all, if politicians were any good at sorting things out most problems would have been solved long ago.
This change is being sold to us as making the police more accountable. Recent experience has shown us that voting for someone doesn’t make them more accountable. Indeed, as anyone who voted Lib Dem at the last election now knows, it often makes them less accountable.
So, we can change our minds and vote for someone else at the next election – but by then the damage may already have been done.
If the pundits are to be believed, the election on November 15th could set a new record for low turnouts.
It’s pretty obvious that confidence in politicians is at an all time low in the UK. Introducing yet another political battleground at this time is perhaps further evidence of a government completely out of touch with the electorate. But then what government hasn’t been in recent times?
Mr KRoss 