John
12-01-2010, 07:09 PM
Plans to introduce elected commissioners as part of a major shake-up of policing have been denounced by police authorities as "the wrong policy at the wrong time".
Launching the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, Home Secretary Theresa May said the move "would place the public back at the heart of the drive to cut crime".
But Rob Garnham, chairman of the Association of Police Authorities and a Conservative councillor, said: "At a time of budget cuts and public concern, this Bill is the wrong response to people?s priorities.
"The public understand the need to tackle the deficit. They also want to be kept safe. But where's the evidence that the public want more elections, or more politicians? Where?s the evidence that bringing in Police Commissioners will cut crime?"
Independent estimates suggest that elections for police commissioners could cost the equivalent of 700 police officers, with the plans totalling £101 mln over four years, he said.
The elected officials would oversee forces in England and Wales outside London from May 2012 with salaries of around £122,000 a year, government documents show.
Their role would be to set local policing priorities and hold chief constables to account while protecting the operational independence of the police, the Home Office said.
"At the time of significant budget cuts, growing threats from organised crime, not to mention public protests, the Olympics and terrorism, we should be ruthlessly focussed on public protection,? Garnham added.
Ministers hailed the proposals as a "bold shift of power", which would move decision-making out of Whitehall and end "top-down bureaucracy".
The reforms promise to give the public more say on policies to tackle crime and disorder and hand local councils more power to tackle problem pubs and clubs.
Local authorities would have new powers to restrict problem premises from selling alcohol late at night and fine those which persistently sell to children up to £20,000.
An immediate ban on the latest "legal highs" could also be invoked under the new legislation as soon as they become a cause for concern.
"For too long, the fight against crime has been tangled up in a web of centrally imposed red tape that has driven a wedge between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve," May said.
"I am determined to rebalance that by giving the public and the police and councils the powers they need to deal with the issues that blight too many of our communities."
Shadow home secretary Ed Balls said elected commissioners would dismantle a 150-year-old tradition of keeping politics out of policing.
"It raises the very real prospect of a politician telling a chief constable how to do their job," he said.
"People will be rightly angry if the government can find the money for this at a time when the police are facing 20-percent cuts that will mean thousands fewer police officers."
Source - Yahoo News.
Launching the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, Home Secretary Theresa May said the move "would place the public back at the heart of the drive to cut crime".
But Rob Garnham, chairman of the Association of Police Authorities and a Conservative councillor, said: "At a time of budget cuts and public concern, this Bill is the wrong response to people?s priorities.
"The public understand the need to tackle the deficit. They also want to be kept safe. But where's the evidence that the public want more elections, or more politicians? Where?s the evidence that bringing in Police Commissioners will cut crime?"
Independent estimates suggest that elections for police commissioners could cost the equivalent of 700 police officers, with the plans totalling £101 mln over four years, he said.
The elected officials would oversee forces in England and Wales outside London from May 2012 with salaries of around £122,000 a year, government documents show.
Their role would be to set local policing priorities and hold chief constables to account while protecting the operational independence of the police, the Home Office said.
"At the time of significant budget cuts, growing threats from organised crime, not to mention public protests, the Olympics and terrorism, we should be ruthlessly focussed on public protection,? Garnham added.
Ministers hailed the proposals as a "bold shift of power", which would move decision-making out of Whitehall and end "top-down bureaucracy".
The reforms promise to give the public more say on policies to tackle crime and disorder and hand local councils more power to tackle problem pubs and clubs.
Local authorities would have new powers to restrict problem premises from selling alcohol late at night and fine those which persistently sell to children up to £20,000.
An immediate ban on the latest "legal highs" could also be invoked under the new legislation as soon as they become a cause for concern.
"For too long, the fight against crime has been tangled up in a web of centrally imposed red tape that has driven a wedge between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve," May said.
"I am determined to rebalance that by giving the public and the police and councils the powers they need to deal with the issues that blight too many of our communities."
Shadow home secretary Ed Balls said elected commissioners would dismantle a 150-year-old tradition of keeping politics out of policing.
"It raises the very real prospect of a politician telling a chief constable how to do their job," he said.
"People will be rightly angry if the government can find the money for this at a time when the police are facing 20-percent cuts that will mean thousands fewer police officers."
Source - Yahoo News.