Labour’s John Tizard is Bedfordshire’s new Police and Crime Commissioner | News

Takes control from conservative Festus Akinbusoye

Labor’s John Tizard won the election to Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire.

The four candidates to be Bedfordshire PCC, including John Tizard (Labour), were Waheed Akbar (Workers Party), Festus Akinbusoye (Conservative) and Jas Parmar (Liberal Democrats).

Outgoing PCC Festus Akinusoye has held the position since 2021.

While a conservative has held the position since 2016.

Tizard won by a majority of 40,738 votes.

Manifest

The Labor candidate said the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) election is about a safer Bedfordshire, requiring action from central government, the PCC and the police.

John Tizard said his campaign is referring to the “failure of 14 years of Conservative government and eight years of Conservative PCC”.

“I think it is quite legitimate to point out the failures of the conservative government and the conservative candidate, who is my main opponent in these elections,” he said.

“There have been important failures, also at local level, and our brochure points them out.

“In terms of my performance, I will want to be absolutely transparent about what the level of performance is,” he said.

If elected, Tizard said he would undertake a “proper comprehensive objective review” of some of the key performance statistics.

“And then you would expect to report those results quarterly, six months or annually, depending on what the statistics are, and have to be accountable for that,” he said.

“I also said it would be open to scrutiny not only by the Police and the Crime Panel, but also by local authority councillors.

“And I hope to hold public meetings throughout the county that I call Challenge and Accountability Meetings, where I hope that we go and explain what has happened both across the country and locally, and that we are held accountable for it.

“And in the same way, I will hold the police chief accountable for the performance of the police service and against the police and crime plan,” he said.

“I really believe in accountability, transparency and reporting on the performance of both the PCC and the police as something that is absolutely a primary duty for a PCC,” he said.

The PCC is already accountable to the Police and Crime Panel, so what is wrong with the way it has scrutinized the PCC in the past?

“I think the Police and Crime Panel could be stronger,” Tizard said.

“Although they have reported current PCC Festus Akinbusoye on some pretty serious charges regarding the Principles and Nolan’s behavior.”

It was noted that Akinbusoye is yet to respond to the panel’s findings and that the complaints process is only halfway through.

“My understanding is that this took place in March, so there has been plenty of time for the PCC to respond.

“And he has indeed responded, I saw that today, April 25, he refutes the claims, so I consider it an answer.

“The issue has been raised in the House of Commons this morning by Labor MP Sarah Owen for Luton North, so it is gaining some traction.

“I’m surprised that it took from March to now for this to come up, and that the panel hasn’t released it sooner or that the process hasn’t been completed sooner,” he said.

Mr Tizard said if elected he would provide an “excellent” police service for Bedfordshire.

“Throughout this campaign, and increasingly as I talk to people, whether on their doorstep or in other settings, they find strong support for my mission and my policies,” he said.

“And I think there is a feeling that it is time for change, both in Bedfordshire and nationally.”

The role of a police and crime commissioner

According to the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, their role is: “to be the voice of the people and hold the police to account. They are responsible for the entirety of policing.”

“PCCs aim to reduce crime and provide an effective and efficient police service within their police force area. They are elected by the public to hold police chiefs and the force to account, holding the police to account. communities it serves.

“PCCs ensure that community needs are met as effectively as possible and improve local relationships by building and rebuilding trust. They work in partnership with a range of agencies at local and national level to ensure there is a unified approach to preventing and reducing crime.”

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