Originally written and intended for publication on the 15th of November
Police Commissioner Elections & Why We Should All Spoil Our Ballot Papers
Tomorrow, November the 15th, poll booths will open across the country to register your vote on who will be the new Police Commissioner for your constituency. There has been a lot of noise from Parliament regarding tomorrow's elections, with the PM speaking out in October encouraging the populace to attend for their own good:
'These are big, important elections coming up. It's the first time they are being held. People are going to be voting in their own law and order champion: one person who sets the budgets, sets the priorities; hires and fires the chief constable; bangs heads together to get things done.
'If you want more tough policing, you can get it. If you want coppers who are on the beat, on your street, cracking down on antisocial behaviour, focusing on the things you care about, then don't just talk about it, get out on 15 November and vote for it.' - David Cameron,
*WARNING: SARCASM AFOOT* This sounds like another promising enterprise from the same government who are bringing us the privatisation of the NHS, along with heavy benefits cuts (which contribute to the increased death rate amongst those who literally need it most), and who completely failed at doing the simple task of auctioning off a trainline, to name but a few of their personal failings.
The P.C.C. elections echo the sentiment and structure of Mayoral elections which took place across 5 Yorkshire cities in May. The PM voiced encouragement and praise in the system, promising it would put more authority back into the hands of the electorate, have accountability easier to place on shortcomings, and cut costs to the taxpayer [then quickly slashed the housing benefits budget to the W. Yorkshire area]. The reality appears to be that this gave the illusion of inclusivity and acountability, when in reality all the power for the things that matter is still in the hands of a London-based government.
Personally I fail to see how any individual could handle the broad responsibility of looking after the police force for all of West Yorkshire, whilst also taking the electorate's concerns to heart, as often the two clash. This is evident by the claims that the role of the Police Commissoner is to help reduce expenditure of the police force whilst simultaneously improving services, yet being paid £100,000 a year. Also, claims that the role of the Police Commissoner is a non-political party affiliated role feels moot when three out of four of the applicants for the role are from political parties. Therefore, to me, the enthusiasm from the PM can only be greeted with suspicion.
I could explore the system we currently have, though this is quickly lacking in significance as this reform is happening regardless of whether the public want it. Therefore it seems to be another attempt from government bodies to give the illusion of choice after the decision has already been made for us. It doesn't matter who gets the job, as they will either succeed or fail regardless of their skill or history, there will be disputes and media scandals, then elections, and in four years time life will move on as the cycle continues. All we'd be voting for is who would play the puppet master of our local police forces for the next four years, as we do with government.
Speaking of puppet masters, lets take a brief look who has applied themselves for the position that we are being encouraged to legitimise by voting tomorrow, information courtesy of the BBC website and choosemyPCC:
Mark Burns-Williamson - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-19548700
Geraldine Carter - http://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/candidates/geraldine-carter/
Andrew Marchington - http://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/candidates/andrew-marchington/
Police Commissioner Elections & Why We Should All Spoil Our Ballot Papers
Tomorrow, November the 15th, poll booths will open across the country to register your vote on who will be the new Police Commissioner for your constituency. There has been a lot of noise from Parliament regarding tomorrow's elections, with the PM speaking out in October encouraging the populace to attend for their own good:
'These are big, important elections coming up. It's the first time they are being held. People are going to be voting in their own law and order champion: one person who sets the budgets, sets the priorities; hires and fires the chief constable; bangs heads together to get things done.
'If you want more tough policing, you can get it. If you want coppers who are on the beat, on your street, cracking down on antisocial behaviour, focusing on the things you care about, then don't just talk about it, get out on 15 November and vote for it.' - David Cameron,
*WARNING: SARCASM AFOOT* This sounds like another promising enterprise from the same government who are bringing us the privatisation of the NHS, along with heavy benefits cuts (which contribute to the increased death rate amongst those who literally need it most), and who completely failed at doing the simple task of auctioning off a trainline, to name but a few of their personal failings.
The P.C.C. elections echo the sentiment and structure of Mayoral elections which took place across 5 Yorkshire cities in May. The PM voiced encouragement and praise in the system, promising it would put more authority back into the hands of the electorate, have accountability easier to place on shortcomings, and cut costs to the taxpayer [then quickly slashed the housing benefits budget to the W. Yorkshire area]. The reality appears to be that this gave the illusion of inclusivity and acountability, when in reality all the power for the things that matter is still in the hands of a London-based government.
Personally I fail to see how any individual could handle the broad responsibility of looking after the police force for all of West Yorkshire, whilst also taking the electorate's concerns to heart, as often the two clash. This is evident by the claims that the role of the Police Commissoner is to help reduce expenditure of the police force whilst simultaneously improving services, yet being paid £100,000 a year. Also, claims that the role of the Police Commissoner is a non-political party affiliated role feels moot when three out of four of the applicants for the role are from political parties. Therefore, to me, the enthusiasm from the PM can only be greeted with suspicion.
I could explore the system we currently have, though this is quickly lacking in significance as this reform is happening regardless of whether the public want it. Therefore it seems to be another attempt from government bodies to give the illusion of choice after the decision has already been made for us. It doesn't matter who gets the job, as they will either succeed or fail regardless of their skill or history, there will be disputes and media scandals, then elections, and in four years time life will move on as the cycle continues. All we'd be voting for is who would play the puppet master of our local police forces for the next four years, as we do with government.
Speaking of puppet masters, lets take a brief look who has applied themselves for the position that we are being encouraged to legitimise by voting tomorrow, information courtesy of the BBC website and choosemyPCC:
Mark Burns-Williamson - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-19548700
Geraldine Carter - http://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/candidates/geraldine-carter/
Andrew Marchington - http://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/candidates/andrew-marchington/
Cedric
Christie -
http://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/candidates/cedric-christie/
And honestly, that is about as much information as you are going to get about each of these applicants. I have spent four hours researching this topic only to come across the same problem in any place I've looked [from the West Yorkshire Police to the 'choosemypcc' websites]. There is little to no information as to how this role is better than the current standing system, nor on what they will ACTUALLY do when they get into power [even if they did list how they'd implement their promises, they have no idea how the structure of their new position would affect their ability to implement such changes, or what unseen factors need to be considered. In short, all promises are empty until they know what they are doing].
Keen eyed readers will notice that Mark Burns-Williamson and Geraldine Carter have had a seat on the now dead West Yorkshire Police Authority Board. Whilst this can be seen as those who are qualified for the new job stepping forward it can also be seen as a move for career politicians to scramble over each other for the grander prize of staying in a job [and £100,000 a year of course].
And honestly, that is about as much information as you are going to get about each of these applicants. I have spent four hours researching this topic only to come across the same problem in any place I've looked [from the West Yorkshire Police to the 'choosemypcc' websites]. There is little to no information as to how this role is better than the current standing system, nor on what they will ACTUALLY do when they get into power [even if they did list how they'd implement their promises, they have no idea how the structure of their new position would affect their ability to implement such changes, or what unseen factors need to be considered. In short, all promises are empty until they know what they are doing].
Keen eyed readers will notice that Mark Burns-Williamson and Geraldine Carter have had a seat on the now dead West Yorkshire Police Authority Board. Whilst this can be seen as those who are qualified for the new job stepping forward it can also be seen as a move for career politicians to scramble over each other for the grander prize of staying in a job [and £100,000 a year of course].
On
an individual level each of the applicants seem as damnable as each
other, spouting popular rhetoric about coming down hard on antisocial
behaviour, cutting costs whilst simultanously keeping the number of
police on the beat, and removing various forms of red tape from the
police process etc. Some of them offer up-front answers about how to
do this, whilst ignoring the likelihood of those plans succeeding
[you try telling the government/treasury you want more money and see
what happens].
I feel I must mention this gem: Geraldine Carter attempts to generate interest by adopting the tag line "Get Carter" ("It’s time to 'Get Carter' fighting crime on your street"). I think she missed the part of the film where Carter was a member of organised crime, unless for her this is a moment of genuine sincerity about her criminal nature . . .
Cedric Christie is an interesting odd-one-out of this police line-up of smug mug shots, in that he is the only applicant who is not already a politician or hails from such a background. As such he probably has the greatest experience of being a policeman on the ground level and speaks from a position of admirable, unrelenting chastity against corruption within the system. I personally find this exceptionally creepy, like a doll with a drawstring which is imitating human speech.
I find it a difficult sell to believe that this system will provide anything other than an over-worked straw-man figure, whose responsibilities will be over-stretched for an individual, who will take the blame for failures inherent in the system, turfed out, then replaced by another grinning clone. But then again, even if I was presented with evidence that proves the efficiency of this new system, I'd still find it hard to trust given the completely untrustable nature of the Tory party who instigated this scheme. Their history screams of corruption and self-interest louder than my objections ever could.
Whilst I don't believe in legitimising the flawed voting process by participating in it, I would encourage those who do participate to spoil your ballet paper tomorrow by marking down all the candidates as your second choice. This is a more legitimate form of protest than a boycott, as it demonstrates that you have the passion to attend and vote, but not the desire to vote for any of the candidates. Should that not be to your tastes then I can only encourage you to vote for an independent candidate over a career driven politician.
And . . . that's it. There is nothing more to say. Until tomorrow . . .
I feel I must mention this gem: Geraldine Carter attempts to generate interest by adopting the tag line "Get Carter" ("It’s time to 'Get Carter' fighting crime on your street"). I think she missed the part of the film where Carter was a member of organised crime, unless for her this is a moment of genuine sincerity about her criminal nature . . .
Cedric Christie is an interesting odd-one-out of this police line-up of smug mug shots, in that he is the only applicant who is not already a politician or hails from such a background. As such he probably has the greatest experience of being a policeman on the ground level and speaks from a position of admirable, unrelenting chastity against corruption within the system. I personally find this exceptionally creepy, like a doll with a drawstring which is imitating human speech.
I find it a difficult sell to believe that this system will provide anything other than an over-worked straw-man figure, whose responsibilities will be over-stretched for an individual, who will take the blame for failures inherent in the system, turfed out, then replaced by another grinning clone. But then again, even if I was presented with evidence that proves the efficiency of this new system, I'd still find it hard to trust given the completely untrustable nature of the Tory party who instigated this scheme. Their history screams of corruption and self-interest louder than my objections ever could.
Whilst I don't believe in legitimising the flawed voting process by participating in it, I would encourage those who do participate to spoil your ballet paper tomorrow by marking down all the candidates as your second choice. This is a more legitimate form of protest than a boycott, as it demonstrates that you have the passion to attend and vote, but not the desire to vote for any of the candidates. Should that not be to your tastes then I can only encourage you to vote for an independent candidate over a career driven politician.
And . . . that's it. There is nothing more to say. Until tomorrow . . .
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