Police

The Police Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall

Posted by Andrew Wallis on 15:58 Saturday, November 17, 2012
Posted in: Elections, Police, Police and Crime Commissioner. 2 comments

After a marathon count, that lasted a good twelve hours or more, Devon and Cornwall’s Police Commissioner was duly elected.  The winner to this lofty position is Tony Hogg; ex-RN man and Conservative. So congratulations to Commissioner Hogg for being elected

The numbers behind the election are pretty poor, with only 196,987 (15%) of voters taking part in the election. The two candidates with the most first round votes having to face off with each other because not one candidate got 51% of the first round votes. There numbers are:

Candidate                First preferences   Second preferences  Total

Tony Hogg              55257                         14162                             69419

Brian Greenslade  24719                         12524                             37243

As for the other candidates, this is how they faired in the first round:

Nichola Jane Williams, Labour – 24196; Brian Samuel Blake, Liberal Democrats  - 23948; Robert Lee Smith, UK Independence Party – 16433; Ivan James Jordan, Independent – 12382; William Morris, Independent – 10586; John Noel Smith, Independent – 10171; Graham David Calderwood, Independent  - 8667; Thomas Macpherson, Independent – 4306

The low turnout is worrying, but also is the number of rejected ballot papers. In the first round this was 6339, and in the second it was a staggering 17897. Of course some could just be down to people making a mistake filling in the boxes, but I really believe many spoilt papers were done on purpose as a some sort of protest vote.

There is one thing that has concerned me on the Police Commissioner elections is the number of ‘so-called’ Independent candidates who could hardly be called Independent as they actively belong to political parties. In some cases they are sitting Councillors under a party banner! That is not Independent.

The next 100 days are going to be interesting to see how these new commissioners take command of their various police authority areas. Let’s hope the first 100 days are not just fancy headlines and token gestures. But really can justify the £100 million spent on this process.

Police Commissioner Elections and the Turnout

Posted by Andrew Wallis on 10:24 Friday, November 16, 2012
Posted in: Elections, Police, Police and Crime Commissioner. 5 comments

It is hardly going to surprise anyone, but the turnout for the Police Commissioner was low. Better than was expected after some Polling Stations had indicated less than 10% turnout.

So how did Cornwall do? Well including postal votes and those who turned up at the Polling Stations it was 15.2%. With 63,678 people voting out of a possible 418,656 electors.

Plymouth turnout was 13.03%; East Devon 16.35%; Exeter 15.44%; Mid Devon 16.18%; North Devon 15.20%. The Isle of Scily and South Hams’ turnout percentages are not yet available. So I cannot give a accurate turnout percentage for the Police Authority area.

It is though a low turnout, and just goes to show the way in which the Government implemented this process has left the principle of a Police Commissioner in taters.

Furthermore, it will be interesting to see how many spoilt ballot papers there were. As this could further lower the percentage of people actually voting for someone.

Cornwall and Devon Police Commissioner Elections

Posted by Andrew Wallis on 17:46 Thursday, October 25, 2012
Posted in: Elections, Police, Police and Crime Commissioner. 1 comment

With twenty days to go until polling day for the Police and Crime Commissioner you would think considering the fundamental change to how the Police Service is run there would be more about it, after all it for the first time, forty-one Police Authorities are going to have a directly elected head. And it has been said this is one of the biggest changes to how the Police is run since 1829.

These elections are taking place on the 15th November (many people still do not know this) and I am staggered at the lack of information available to the public unless you Google it. It seems the Government has decided not to put any real resources into the process; apart from the odd advert on TV. Residents have asked me about it as they have no information. Many are saying why bother to vote, when there is not any real detail out there.

Even experts in elections are predicting a very low turn-out, which is hardly surprising because of  the low-key way this election is being handled. If it is as predicted a low turn-out, how does that impact on the democratic process? Not well I fear, or the democratic mandate for the new Commissioner.

So who is standing as a candidate in Cornwall and Devon? What are they promising to solve? There is a fully functioning  and official website for the Police Commissioner candidates HERE. But who is standing for Cornwall and Devon? You might be amazed, but there are ten candidates all wanting our vote. These are in alphabetical order:

Brian Blake – Liberal Democrat – Info

Graham Calderwood – Independent – Info

Brian Greenslade – Independent – Info

Cdre Tony Hogg – Conservative – Info

Ivan Jorden – Independent – Info

Tam Macpherson – Independent – Info

William Morris – Independent – Info

Bob Smith – UKIP – Info

John Smith – Independent – Info

Nicky Williams – Labour – Info

I have linked the various candidates websites so you can have a look for yourself and make your mind up who you think can do the job. Let’s hope for the sake of democracy people actually turn out and vote on the day. For something that is a fundamental change to policing, and the Governments pet project, you would think they would have put in more effort in the whole thing.  I guess not.

Old Police non-emergency number to be switched off

Posted by Andrew Wallis on 7:20 Thursday, August 30, 2012
Posted in: Police. Leave a Comment

In this weeks Helston Packet, there an article on a very important change to the Police non-emergency number. Currently, you can contact the police for non-emergency reasons on either, 08452 777444, or a more easy to remember number of 101.

Now, from Sunday 2nd September, the 08452 number will be switched-off as a means of contacting the Police. If you do happen to call the this number, you will just hear an answering machine message asking to use 101. Furthermore, and I personally did not know this, you can email the Police with non-emergency crime. The e-mail address for this is 101@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk.

It is a pity people who contact the 101 number will have to pay 15p for each call. At least this is a standard rate no mater what time you call.

Just remember 101 for non-emergency and 999 for emergency.

Danger at Porthleven Cliffs

Posted by Andrew Wallis on 9:49 Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Posted in: Beaches, Police, Porthleven. 5 comments

Several months ago there was a massive cliff fall along Porthleven beach. This event took place at night, so there was limited danger to the public. With such a large part of the cliff coming away, this has weakened other parts of the cliff face.

It is impossible to predict when another part of the cliffs will collapse, but as a layman looking at it, I would guess it is more likely to come away sooner rather than later. The landowner of the ground above (Donkey Field) has erected additional signs at the field, and below on the cliff face to warn people of the danger.

I have also informed the National Trust and Cornwall Council of this danger and they are actively monitoring this area. The Police Inspector of the area has also been informed.

The simple message is please don’t stand near a cliff face, especially when ‘Danger’ is written all over it!

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Devon and Cornwall Police Commissioner Candidates: Any Cornish Ones?

Posted by Andrew Wallis on 6:03 Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Posted in: Elections, Police. Tagged: . Leave a Comment

On November 15th,  much of the UK will be going to the polls to vote for a Police Commissioner. Up to this point I have not given this subject a lot of though, but after seeing a display at a conference, I thought I should. So, what will the Police Commissioner (sorry, but every time I see Police Commissioner I think of Batman) do, and be responsible for?

At the Home Office website it explains simply the roles and responsibilities. In essence, the role will provide stronger and more transparent accountability of the police, PCCs will be elected by the public to hold chief constables and the force to account; effectively making the police answerable to the communities they serve (if you believe that).

So, who has thrown their names into the bag for this role? The Labour Party, have been quick of the mark and have already selected their candidate Nicky Williams, a Councillor from Plymouth. The Liberal Democrats have yet to confirm any candidates, even though a party member from Devon is ‘thinking’ of standing, but as an Independent. As for any other standalone Independent it is hard to tell if there will be many. This is party due to the cost to stand as a candidate. The initial deposit is £5,000, and then on top of that is the election costs. These won’t be cheap either.

For the Conservatives, they have at least five to choose from. This should be whittled down in the coming months by means of open primaries in Exeter, Plymouth, and West Cornwall. This list includes: Suzie Colley, Paul Biddle MBE, Alison Hernandez who are all from Devon. These are two candidates from Cornwall, these are former Royal Navy man Tony Hogg, and Cornwall Council’s one and only Lance Kennedy (though the rumour is he has not been selected in the run-off).

Out of all the ‘thinking’ or declared candidates only two live in Cornwall. It might be an interesting dilemma for the Cornish to find any interest in voting for a candidate who has no real connection or understanding of Cornwall. Could the remaining two parties who have yet to select a candidate, take the steps to select a Cornish based candidate to give them that edge? The Cornish connection is important to many in Cornwall. Then again. Devon does have nearly double the population of Cornwall and those in Devon might not feel happy with having a Commissioner who is from, or even based in Cornwall.

No doubt whoever is standing, we will be seeing the election campaign ramp-up in the coming months with the prize of political control of a police force. This is what scares me the most from the whole concept of an elected Police Commissioner. I have never thought politics and police mix well.

Want to Organise a Public Event?

Posted by Andrew Wallis on 8:18 Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Posted in: Cornwall Council, Licensing, Police. Leave a Comment

If you are thinking of holding a small or medium scale events, such as a local carnival, fete or music festival or a charity fund-raiser that is open to the public and you are worried about the different permission you might need, then an up coming half-day course run by Cornwall Council might be the salvation you need.

This half day training is offered free by a team of professionals from Cornwall Council’s Environmental Health, Licensing, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, and from Devon & Cornwall Police. These professionals will be able to give you the right advice you need to hold your event. Which will no doubt save anyone thinking of holding an event from undue stress, or looking at an application form and wondering where to start.

It is great that Helston has been selected to hold one of these events. This will take place on Thursday 15 March 2012 at The Guild Hall, Helston. The start time for this event is 9 am-1 pm with (free) refreshments available from 8:30 am.

The other two locations for this event are: St Minver Holiday Park, St Minver, Wadebridge on Tuesday 13 March (9am-1pm) and Newquay Sports Centre, Newquay on Wednesday 14 March (9am-1pm).