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Why do former police officers want to become PCCs?

Despite being a controversial role within the service ex-officers are standing as candidates in this year?s elections.
Published - 07/04/2016 By - Helena Hickey - Police Oracle

More than 25 former police officers are vying to become police and crime commissioners in this year’s elections, which are now less than a month away.

At the moment, five of the PCCs standing for a second term were previously police officers, holding positions from detective chief inspector up to deputy chief constable.  

However, the number could be set to increase with at least 22 more ex-officers now campaigning for the role.

Of these, nine are standing as Independent candidates, seven for UKIP, four for the Conservatives, one for Labour and one for Plaid Cymru.

So why do so many former police officers want to take on the role rather than spend their retirement in more conventional ways?

David Whitehouse, who served for 35 years with Warwickshire Police, is standing as an Independent candidate for his former force and believes his time in the job would be of benefit to the role.

“I’ve always taken an interest in the force having served for so long, and now I feel I can play quite an important part because I have stepped out of it and seen what has been going on from a distance,” he told PoliceOracle.com

“We can’t turn the clock back because what has happened was inevitable because of the cuts, but as a former police officer I can understand the complexities of what has gone on and scrutinise the decisions made.”

The former chief superintendent, who says he will focus on increasing police officer numbers and visibility if elected, also worked as head of community safety for the force following his retirement as an officer in 2007.

“This experience would be very helpful as well – it was all about pulling strings together to work with partners which is a significant part of the role of a PCC,” he said.

“I’m not saying non-officers can’t be police and crime commissioners but I do think I would have the ability to pick up the reins quickly – policing is a very complex environment.”

Other candidates, including Natalie Devaney (below), have made the decision to stand after spending less time away from the service.

Ms Devaney, who was a front line officer in Staffordshire for 30 years before retiring last July, said she felt obligated to run for the position.

“I feel compelled – you can’t sit around and moan, you have to do something about it,” she said. 

“For the last five years we have seen cuts and a PCC who is the instrument of the government. Had it not been like that and someone had done a good job then I wouldn’t be doing this – I could have gone on holiday and spent my money elsewhere.”

The Independent candidate, who is the only former female officer standing in the elections, said her knowledge of the service would be vital in the role.

“Having being in the job very recently, I can tell senior officers things they might not understand or have a grip on,” she said.

“We had a meeting with the chief constable last week and I told her how few of us there were on shift the night I retired because I felt it was imperative she knew. There lies the difference – I can go to the chief and say things others wouldn’t be able to.”

Another recently retired officer currently campaigning is Jonathan Smith, standing as the UKIP candidate in Devon and Cornwall after 30 years’ service.

He says his main aim is to abolish the position altogether but if unable to do so will work on getting rid of the bureaucracy that comes with the role.

“I worked as a PC on the front line for my full career and for the last 20 years have personally experienced the pain and damage done by political intervention and meddling in the police service,” he said.

“I always went to parliament lobbying for change but being a lowly PC no-one listens to you and you get treated with contempt. Now I have an opportunity to do something about the service I feel strongly about, because if nothing changes I have no doubt we will lose the police service as we know it in this country.”

He added that the £10.5 million set to be spent on the office of the police and crime commissioner over the next four years would be far better spent on officers.

“It is very expensive and unnecessary – they said they have disbanded the police authorities but they are still there under the guise of the police and crime panel. If I can’t dissolve the role – I have no illusions of grandeur – then I will not be there to support the government or the senior officers. I would face the constables and say ‘what do we need to do to make the force better?’.”

Not all believe that the possibility of a former officer holding so much power would be a positive step, however. Rachel Rogers, a Labour councillor who stood in the Dorset PCC elections in 2012, says there a number of ongoing concerns that need to be addressed.

“The election of former police officers poses an immediate question about the effectiveness of the rushed legislation,” she told PoliceOracle.com

“One of the roles of the PCC is to ‘hold to account’ the chief constable of a police force, with the ultimate sanction of dismissal.

“The reality of a relatively junior former police officer holding in his palm the career of his former chief constable and being responsible for the investigation of complaints against the very same police officers who were recently his colleagues – and whom if he were a Federation or Superintendents’ Association Rep, he may well have been supporting – in no way tallies with the public perception of ‘independent scrutiny’.”

The elections are set to take place on May 5.

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