Police Tag

One of the advantages of having a Police and Crime Commissioner over the old system is that when an opportunity arises, decisions can be made more quickly. For example, in 2015 when I heard that the well-known photographic film company Kodak was about to put a three storey building on the Waterwells estate on the market, I was able to move quickly and snap it up as a new home for the Constabulary’s investigations teams.

How could they have got it so wrong? Last week the Health Secretary dashed the hopes of frontline officers when he decided they would get no priority in vaccine rollout. Worse than that, they wouldn’t even be getting the left overs! Damaging for moral The Chair of the Police...

My role is not really about direct power, it's about how I, and my office, can influence and set the agenda. The last decade has been tough on the police, as it has been for many areas of society.  However, I do believe there is light around the corner. It will take time but things WILL get better.

After a decade of cuts, its nice today to have my budget of hope given the green light by councillors from all the main parties and some independents as well.

My plan will see £1m put towards improving how the police and the public talk to each other and its great it won unanimous backing of Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Panel.

It’s not every day you arrest a Bishop’. Those were words as a young detective constable in Gloucester that I remember Detective Inspector Wayne Murdoch saying back in 1993. 

He was of course referring to the arrest of Bishop Peter Ball who was the subject of the BBC 2 documentary ‘Exposed, The Church’s Darkest Secret’ which was aired last week.

‘Empire building’ and an "ego thing". These are just a couple of the venomous accusations directed at me since I've challenged the current governance of Gloucestershire’s Fire & Rescue Service (GFRS). I will say it again, here, just to make it clear: When I was elected as Police and Crime Commissioner, I never had any intention of overseeing the fire service as well.