Will you be voting on 2 May for a new Police and Crime Commissioner
On 2 May 2024, you can vote for a new Police and Crime Commissioner is this a meaningless section of management policing added to the already overstaffed police management system? Are the Police better run with a Police and Crime Commissioner or is it just pen-pushing jobs for the girls/boys?
PCCs aim to cut crime and deliver an effective and efficient police service within their police force area. They are elected by the public to hold Chief Constables and the police force to account on their behalf.
Is crime getting less or are the public so fed up with trying to report incidents but cannot get through if they do get through there is never enough staff to go immediately to the point of the incident. Go to any Pact meeting and you will understand the PCs and PCSOs are at full stretch they can only do so much it’s all down to money and management.
So what did the South Wales Police Commissioner achieve as he was appointed in 2012? The brand new Aberdare police station, the last remaining facility in the Cynon Valley closed in 2013 the excuse given at the time was described by the then Assistant Chief Constable Julian Kirby who said officers were going out into the community more, seeing people at PACT meetings and visiting them in their homes. Ton Pentre Police Station had over a million-pound refurbishment but also closed in 2013, in total twenty police stations in South Wales closed to the public that year and what did the public get in exchange?
South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner
Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner
Chief Executive & Monitoring Officer
Chief Finance Officer
Head of Community Safety & Violence Prevention
Team Demographics:
Total Staff: 60 (Including inward secondments, excludes external secondments)
Gender: Female – 49, Male – 10
Staff members with a disability: 10
Staff members from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background: 4
Police and Crime Commissioner: Appoints the South Wales Chief Constable a Temporary Chief Constable An Assistant Chief Constable another Assistant Chief Constable another Assistant Chief Constable a Temporary Assistant Chief Constable and another Temporary Assistant Chief Constable.
The South Wales Police Force also serves 63 of the 100 most deprived communities in Wales. The force has almost 3000 police officers and over 2200 police staff, including Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and a team of dedicated volunteers that includes over 200 Special Constables and around 200 Police Youth Volunteers.
A South Wales Police and Crime Panel
Not forgetting the 17 Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Community Wardens.
South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Sets the police budget and make sure it’s spent effectively, is this why they closed 14 police stations to pay for the Police and Crime Commissioner management structure?
With that entire pen-pushing power driving our police force no wonder there is little funding left for extra PCs in our towns and villages or even to open up police stations except Pontypridd will have a presence in the town when the existing police station closes and the station moves to Ty Trevithick, Abercynon, will it have another million-pound refurbishment before it is ready for occupation?
