Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) are either an “advancement in public accountability” or a way to manage policing “behind closed doors”, depending on who’s asked. With the PCC elections coming up in May, some councillors have been vocal in their opposition to the PCC role.
Central Bedfordshire’s stand
Central Bedfordshire Council recently voted to pass a motion calling on PCCs to be scrapped and to spend the money on frontline policing instead. This led Bedfordshire’s PCC, Festus Akinbusoye, to claim either a “naivety or an ignorance” among councillors about the role, pointing to its “far greater” responsibilities than the police authorities (PA) which PCCs replaced.
Professor John Coxhead, a professor in policing practice at the University of East London, believes this is a “very interesting and important debate”.
He says that although the initial attention is around Bedfordshire, this deserves to be a national conversation, and now, given the PCC elections in May. “the old police authority model operated as a form of committee, comprising politicians/JP’s/independents, but performing PA roles as an addition to their day job, meaning their time was less focused. There was also perhaps too much debate at times, across political ideologies, which could slow things down. It’s arguable how much they directly reflected the public being policed.”
Professor Coxhead says some commentators claimed that having PCCs was politicising policing, but he points out that PAs were organised politically before them. “PCCs have a full-time role to allow them to focus and get things done, on the model that they were directly elected and could be held to account on the next polling day.”
He thinks the PA model was cumbersome and its, often adversarial, debate could slow down its effectiveness. He believes that, because it was composed by part-time members, its focus was not as sharp as it could have been. “It was a bunch of people,” he explains, “who the public could not ‘see’ and they did not see who was responsible for what, so its was cloaked in a “behind-closed-doors board room anonymity”.
Scrutiny vs accountability
In contrast, he says, the PCC is a focal point and is directly elected, with a more holistic portfolio. However, their accountability in between elections is dubious, he believes, with little to trigger scrutiny.
Following Central Bedfordshire’s vote, council leader, cllr Adam Zerny, said: “People do not believe there is any need to have a politician paid to oversee the police, when this task can easily be covered by the Beds Police & Crime Panel.” Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Panel is made up of councillors from the county’s three local authorities and four members of the public.
Professor Coxhead doesn’t believe the Police and Crime Panels were properly thought through when PCCs were brought in, and were added as more of a supposed safeguard to appease some chief constables who feared too much power in one pair of hands of a PCC, who might be overly political.
“I would suggest we need a dynamic accountability structure,” he says, “that enables strategic direction to be set at the local level, recognising the national/international context (given the nature of cross border/e-crime), that integrates policing as a function amongst the wider public services and societal needs to do much more joined-up working in the interests of both value for money and effectiveness, measured by cross cutting outcomes rather than siloed inputs.”
To his mind, policing is too important a function not to have strong and consistent accountability, saying ‘the public are the police and the police are the public’. So once every four years is “nowhere near good enough in my view to be accountable.”
Assessing the effectiveness of PCCs and police authorities
An Association Of Police And Crime Commissioners (APCC) spokesperson said: “PCCs are the voice of the public in local policing and are directly elected by their local communities.
“Since their inception just over eleven years ago, PCCs have established their role in cutting crime, supporting victims, and mobilising local partnerships to keep people safe. PCCs engage with local people on their priorities when putting together their Police and Crime Plans, ensuring that local concerns are being prioritised by the police and are reflected in the strategic priorities of Chief Constables.
“PCCs are more visible and approachable than the former Police Authorities, with many hosting monthly accountability meetings with their Chief Constables that the public can attend and contribute to with questions, improving transparency.
“Many PCCs also have independent scrutiny panels covering specific areas of focus, which are made up of members of the public from diverse groups who assist them in their scrutiny roles. This is a vital component of public involvement in scrutiny in relation to issues such as Stop and Search, and through this can help to increase transparency and public confidence in policing.”
Elections for the six Police and Crime Commissioners in East Anglia (including Bedfordshire) will take place on Thursday, May 2, 2024.
Story from Local Democracy Reporting Service
