Police Authority withhold performance papers

Prospective Police Commissioner for Gloucestershire Martin Surl has been told he cannot attend police authority performance meetings. I’ll do it another way then, says Surl.

The authority has also said it won’t send him the papers giving information of what’s to be discussed.

“I’m rather surprised by the authority’s stance on its performance meeting because most of its meetings and papers are open to the public and it must be in the public interest”, said Mr Surl, a former superintendant with Gloucestershire Police.

“I fully understand some things have to be discussed in private, particularly where security or personnel issues are involved, but the question of police performance should not be talked about behind closed doors because it affects us all”.

Budget cuts

The meeting in question on 29th February, Martin Surl suspects, would have received a report from Gloucestershire’s Chief Constable, Tony Melville, on the current state of the constabulary. Both the chief constable and the police authority have been at loggerheads over budget cuts and the possible impact on policing levels, so perhaps this is why the papers have been refused?

“I e-mailed the authority introducing myself and asking if I could attend and was told these meeting were held in private so could not, that’s their choice for now; I then asked for the papers, but was again refused; that was a shock.

“I really don’t see what’s to be gained by refusing these papers; even my FOI request has been declined. In fact, given that its days are numbered, I would have thought the Police Authority would have been keen to work with all candidates to try and make the succession, when it happens, as smooth and efficient as possible”.

Father of two Mr Surl, 54, is the first person to officially declare as a candidate to become Gloucestershire’s Police Commissioner when elections are held in November. If chosen by the public, he says one of his main aims will be to re-invigorate the relationship between the public and the police.

Founding principles

“I propose using one of the founding principles of the police by Robert Peel, as the test of Gloucestershire Police’s efficiency; that is ‘The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it’, which seems to resonate with people I have spoken to so far”, he said.

‘We hear lots about crime figures but I know enough about police performance to know the figures are just one part of the picture; it’s the outcome that really matters.

“Why is it that police and crime TV shows often top the ratings, but there seems little interest in real life policing on our doorstep?

“What people want to know is how well are our police doing? Are they any good at their job? How do they investigate major crimes? How much did that traffic car cost? What goes on in that building? These are the sort of questions I want answered, but not in a dull performance meeting that present numbers and percentages, I want to bring it to life and make it mean something.

“If I’m elected, there’ll be a series of public events focussing on key areas of police work like major crime; road safety & deaths; forensics; 24 hour response; what happens when you make that 999 call.

‘People like watching police drama - I want them to get a better picture of the real thing."

News release from Martin Surl, March 2012