Why the local PCC election matters

You can decide who will be in charge at Leicestershire Police HQ

On Thursday, over 700000 residents of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland will have the opportunity to cast their votes for the area’s first-ever directly elected police and crime commissioner (PCC).

However, local surveys suggest that fewer than one eligible voter in five will bother to take part. Campaigning has been very low-key and public awareness of the election, and the candidates standing, is somewhat limited.

The performances of PCCs have hardly been an unqualified success in the USA and there was minimal public demand for them to be introduced here.

But in view their forthcoming statutory presence as a consequence of this Tory-led government, we should act to limit, and maybe even prevent, the damage they could cause to the integrity, reputation and effectiveness of the force.

Some areas of the media, who might usually be expected to know better, have urged a boycott of the election. But opting out of the democratic process is unhelpful, and deeply self-indulgent, especially when our taxes are funding troops to fight – and occasionally die – in its defence.

The outcome of the election is of considerable importance to the local constabulary’s workforce of 1300 staff. The three local candidates have expressed radically differing views on how the budget, currently running at an annual figure of around £170 million, should be allocated.

During the hustings that have taken place to date, Tory candidate Sir Clive Loader has shown no inclination to distance himself from his party’s avowed agenda of widespread cuts and privatisation. Meanwhile, although rival Suleman Nagdi is a respected and admired community figure, he has shown little ability to attract support outside the faith group to which he has devoted so much of his previous work.

In contrast, Labour’s Sarah Russell, currently an assistant mayor at Leicester City Council, has gained significant experience in managing a large public organisation, serving in the last three administrations during challenging and often turbulent times.

Leicester Voice therefore has no hesitation in recommending Cllr Russell as the best of the three candidates. She is the one most likely to promote stability within the force – and its senior management in particular – thus protecting the quality of service it currently provides to the community.

Unlike many local and national politicians, Cllr Russell has regularly shown a willingness to engage with the people she serves instead of attempting to dictate to them. In addition, the perspective she would bring as a parent and inner-city resident, together with her specialist knowledge in chairing the inter-agency Safer Leicester Partnership, would play a significant role in determining her (and therefore the force’s) priorities in office.

The various high-level police investigations that are currently ongoing, into such issues as child abuse, phone-hacking, and the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, highlight only too clearly the need for the police to be protected from government interference.

The election of Cllr Russell as commissioner is the best way of ensuring that this happens.

In addition, a heavy national defeat for the coalition parties will also send an effective message of widespread public discontent with the government’s performance in general and this policy in particular.