05 October 2006

Elected Sheriffs - Nuts & Bolts


I like elected sheriffs and more importantly so does David Davis. What about the nuts and bolts?

How often should elections take place?
How many candidates should be put to the public?
Are there any minimum requirements (e.g. seniority in Police Service) before candidates can stand?
Will this mean an end to national pay bargaining? It should.
How should their campaigns be funded?
Crime stats will become even more politically important. Who will monitor the accuracy of them?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

So do I, if anything is going to get me to change a lifetimes voting habits its this ishoo.

A three year stint should make a difference.

Who ever wants to stand can stand.

No min requirements other than not having a criminal record (bit difficult this one as a speeding ticket gives you a criminal record as I found out after renewing my shotgun licence)

Absolutely, pay scales to be set according to local need.

Cap of £10 000, anybody can back a candidate as long as it is recorded.

Who monitors them now ? Nulabour say that crime is going down, not in our neck of the woods it isn't !

Praguetory said...

Sounds like you've been thinking about this, guthrum. All good as far as I'm concerned. Without meaning to be rude, at conference I found at lot in common with your generation and older because they place law and order high on their agenda and it is number one on mine. It is shocking how widespread are tales of improperly policed or punished crime.

Anonymous said...

Damn cheek, my generation !!! I will have you know that in my head I am still 17, and I have no idea who that old git is looking back at me in the mirror ! But seriously, you can pass as many laws as you want but if they are ignored or worse still unenforced they are de facto bad laws ( Nu labour have exasperated people by thinking that passing N amount of legistlation will solve any problem)I always said I would rather chops my hands off than vote Conservative, but this current set of wasters in power have caused a rethink, not a huge fan of the States but elected Police chiefs work and if they are crap they get voted out.

Praguetory said...

Agree agree agree. All legislation no enforcement is my mantra to explain this gov'ts failure. I'm a "lifelong Tory". Would you mind doing/referring me to a piece on your site explaining how you got to the position of "saying that you would rather chop my hands off than vote Conservative".

Anonymous said...

Family History really,my grandfather who was one of the most intelligent men I ever met, I have still got his school medals and Bible school prizes, in the depression of 1931/32, got on his bike (heard that somewhere before)and through the winter of 1931, rode from Northampton to Wolverton daily a 60 mile round trip. He was so badly affect by the cold he ended up crippled with twisted fingers and toes and never worked again from the age of 28.He was means tested and humiliated.He never got to Grammar School because of the cost, and consequently never got to Univerisity. A huge waste of human potential. I was called a Yuppie in the eighties, but thought Thatcherism threw a lot of the baby out with the bath water,and I lost everything under the incompetant Major Government and had to start again, whilst they were all shagging each other. So for me to even consider voting Tory it is going to take an aweful lot (This useless, prying Government was the first step on the road)

CityUnslicker said...

I am againstelected Sherrifs.

Just don't think it will excite people and will lead to populist nonsense that won't reduce crime.It is not the police who are PC (sorry for the pun), I mean have you met any recently and asked their views on things?Its the Government and Cherie's associtiates who are 'at it' at the bar. Let's change them.

My granfather is Eric Barnes, but I have been Tory all my life. Lefties hate theat when I tell them!

Praguetory said...

Interestingly Stephen Hockman who is chairman of the Bar Council was on the panel nodding when Davis was presenting the case for elected sheriffs. He did a speech about recognising the need for change - I think he is sick of the contempt with which him and his people are held. The other key element of Davis' stance was reducing the days from offence to trial (which stands at 150 something days and has risen under Labour) because justice especially for the young needs to be swift to be effective.

We have a record number of police. I am satisfied that if elected sheriffs come they will shift police off speed camera/pen-pushing tasks and duties and the number of arrests will rise from the derisory 10 per year per officer - and that is a good thing. Done in the right way, I think that the policy is exciting and can enthuse the electorate.