Elected police commissioners

I think these are going to be a bad thing. But to answer the questions first.

The elections take place in November. Candidate lists should come out in November when the nominations close. At the moment those candidates that there are have kept quite a low profile.

As for why it is a bad thing, these people have a very different role to county sheriffs. To explain them I have to explain what currently happens.

At the moment Police forces answer to the Home Secretary, a senior minister in the Cabinet. However their budgets are set by the Local Police Authorities, which are comprised of representatives of various local councils. The budget is funded by a mixture of central government grants and the local council tax. These Authorities have some variety depending on which part of the country they are in. In my current county the Local government structure consists entirely of the County Council, with subordinate district and city councils. In my home county, there is the county council with its subordinate district authorities, but the city councils are so called unitary authorities that are entirely divorced from the county council. However, the Police Authority covers two county councils, and two city councils, all independent of each other. This means that currently they are reconciling 5 different authorities funding (2 city, 2 county, and central government) to agree a budget. In the county I currently live in, they only have to reconcile County and central, so it is a bit simpler.

The Police commissionor takes over the role of the Police Authority and the Home Secretary. The Chief constable has to answer to them, and they have to set the budget. They also have the power to dismiss the chief constable. However, they are not given the power to direct day to day operations of the police force, that power remains with the chief constable. They will be able to set directions for the police in the budget, and can influence to extent with the threat of a firing. However, they are bound by statutory duties so such decisions can be reviewed by the courts.

Ultimately, these positions are a bad idea for the following reasons;

-No one really cares. Low participation rates in elections will allow fringe candidates too much chance of getting in. I cannot even discover a candidate list for my county, and no one has told me how to register (major issue as I have just moved house). They are expecting 20% turnout in this county, and no-one high profile is considering running. In places were you can find lists it consists of former police officers, former chairs of police authorities, and fringe cranks. So there isn't really going to be a change for the better if change happens at all.

-The job will be impossible without recreating the existing power structure. My home police force (Hampshire constabulary) will effectively need 4 councils to agree a budget with the Commissioner. What is the actual difference between that and the Police Authority that existed before?

-What is popular locally isn't necessarily good for policing nationally. We already have a problem that the huge public demand for neighborhood policing (otherwise known as bobbies on the beat). This has led to an increase in neighborhood officers...at the expense of the response teams that are operating at 50% numbers. This is significant because the response teams (the ones who come running when someone calls for help) are the ones who can catch people red handed. Neighborhood officers may reassure people, but they don't help cutting crime. Now imagine when national policing priorities start taking a back seat to this. Counter terrorism, organised crime, serious fraud are all national problems but will not impact on local re-election priorities. There is no equivalent to the US FBI, this is all handled by co-operation between forces. It will not be a vote winner locally, but is vital nationally.

Finally, on the cleaning up of forces, this is a non issue in most UK forces. People do trust the police and are not concerned by corruption. The only police force with an ongoing corruption scandle is the Metropolitan Police in London...ironically this is the only English Police force not included in the new reforms as the Mayor has held this equivalent role for the last ten years.