Countdown to the new policing chief

BEDFORDSHIRE has come a step closer to choosing its new policing chief, after Labour announced its candidate to be police commissioner and the Conservative Party picked its final shortlist of two.

The new role of Police And Crime Commissioner (PCC), which will be elected in November, will see one person oversee policing across the county.

Chief Constable Alf Hitchcock will answer directly to the new commissioner, who will be elected for a five-year term.

This week Labour announced that Olly Martins will be the party’s candidate for the elections on November 15.

Olly has worked for Victim Support for eight years, working with the victims of crime. He has previously been on the management committee of a Citizens Advice Bureau and ran his own business, and is a member of the Territorial Army.

The Conservative Party will hold hustings shortly, and will announce the party candidate on July 13 after a postal vote.

Party members can choose between Jas Parmar, who is a postmaster and a former deputy leader of the Conservatives at Bedford Borough Council, and Bernard Rix, who lives in Biggleswade and has worked for 22 years as a police advisor across the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East.

Currently police forces across the country are overseen by police authorities, made up of a mixture of councillors and government-appointed members.

According to the Home Office website, they are being phased out as “The government is committed to replacing bureaucratic accountability with democratic accountability”.

PCCs will appoint and be able to dismiss chief constables, will set out a five-year police and crime plan after their election, and will publish an annual report.