In October the Government announced a fundamental change to the way in which our Police force is to be governed. There is a danger that this will lead to the police becoming political footballs.
The proposals will remove decision making from a committee of 17 people known as Sussex Police Authority and hand it to an elected individual to be known as the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Currently, the members of the Police Authority are drawn from across Sussex and 8 of them have no party political allegiance. These Independent members of the Police Authority bring to the overview of Sussex Police a range of skills and knowledge which assists in setting force-wide strategy. They also act as a counterbalance to the tribal politics of the other 9 members who are local councillors.
The future strategic direction for Sussex Police will be set by the Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner (or PCC). The work of the PCC will then be scrutinised by a committee of 15 councillors from across Sussex and as few as 2 Independent members.
Whatever the outcome of the elections for the PCC on 15th November 2012, the change will increase the number of elected members of local authorities participating in the decision making and reduce the number of Independent voices. This means that the PCC must work even harder than the current Police Authority to engage independent points of view, skills and knowledge which one person cannot be expected to possess alone.
If the PCC is dependent on a political party for their nomination and electioneering, they will reflect the priorities of that party. Any policy decisions taken by the party will influence the decision making of the PCC, excluding the electors of Sussex from setting policing priorities. The tribal aspects of the political parties will be emphasised compared to the current arrangements.
If the person elected is an Independent candidate, then they will be required to establish a good relationship with all of the political parties across Sussex, and they will be better placed to do so since they will be removed from sectarian disputes. The sad thing about our adversarial political culture is that political parties seem almost honour-bound to oppose measures put forward by another party, regardless of the merits of the proposal!
The PCC should be elected based on the skills and experience that they bring to the role, not the colour of their rosette. They should have engaged with a range of communities and networks to gain the electoral support they need to be elected, not rely on party political allegiances that have, often, been passed down the generations.
The suggestion that this role is not suited to party politicians is widely held. One of the authors of the policy is Blair Gibbs who was Chief of Staff to the Policing Minister from 2007-10. On Radio 4 on 6th August he explained who he thought would be suitable as a PCC “Prominent local business men, ex-magistrates, former police officers, or even people who are involved in the voluntary sector. We can’t have this whole process taken over by party hacks”
This view resonates with similar comments made by the other political parties. A survey by YouGov which questioned 2400 people found that whilst 65% trusted the current arrangements to protect their family that this reduces to 15% if a single politician replaces the Police Authority.
The police are unique in their role as public servants, they cannot strike and their employment is protected because they are Crown agents. Their work is constantly under scrutiny. The left tends to criticise them because they don’t respect civil liberties and can be heavy handed with disruptive demonstrations; the right tends to criticise them because they are too soft on dealing with minority groups who the politicians want to have removed.
In Sussex we have a police force that is well run and across the force do a brilliant job. The force is well respected but it is not perfect and there is always room for improvement. Whatever the future holds for us and our police force, it is vital that party politics do not interfere with the current performance of the force and the improvements yet to come.
ianchisnall 
Another concern I have about this being an elected role is that decisions may be taken based on popularity rather than justice, with an eye to the next election.
I do agree although this is one of the problems of any electoral process where the electors are in effect disconnected from the elected person and the issues they grapple with. Clearly the Police and Crime Commissioner will not be able to reset the whole of our modern democracy in one step. Part of the solution is to vote for someone who will be willing to take difficult and at times unpopular decisions and return to the electorate on a regular basis to explain why. If the voters were to elect 41 Independent Police and Crime Commissioners across the UK that would certainly send a strong signal to Parliament wouldn’t it!
I completly agree… I just hope Sussex Police can find some (more) women from “Prominent local business men, ex-magistrates, former police officers, or even people who are involved in the voluntary sector.” There is no way a political appointment wont be a white (upper/) middle class male, I think it’s vital community representatives are welcomed to fill shortfalls in the experience and knowledge of elected members.