PCC candidate pledges to set up business crime forum in Avon and Somerset
INDEPENDENT Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) candidate Sue Mountstevens has pledged to set up a special forum to tackle business-related crime in Avon and Somerset if she wins the election.
The Business Crime Forum would look at offending and its remedies and would be chaired by the PCC, with the Chief Constable or Deputy Chief Constable in attendance, she told a conference in London.
Ms Mountstevens was speaking at the British Retail Consortium's Retail Crime Conference.
"I am determined to make the voice of business heard," she said. "We need to recognise that business crime hurts our community and that offenders are frequently the same people who are causing crime in our homes and streets, as well as funding drug habits. It also has a major overlap with organised crime.
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"I will particularly focus on bringing together intelligence from business and the police to pinpoint hotspots and then deal with them. The wise use of technology will make this a particularly effective partnership."
Andy Sharman, of Somerset West Businesses Against Crime, added: "Business crime is not a victimless crime. It has an impact on all companies, staff, employees and the wider community. We need to get our voice heard and I would welcome this forum."
Ms Mountstevens is up against Pete Levy (Lib Dem), John Savage (Labour) and Ken Maddock (Cons) in the election on November 15.
The new commissioner will replace the police authority in managing the constabulary's budget, holding the constabulary to account and will have the power to appoint or remove future chief constables.
Comments
by FromMendip
Friday, October 26 2012, 5:23PM
“It will be an unusual commissioner who doesn't try to interfere in the day-to-day running of their police force but that is not to say it is right that they should.
I am completely against the idea of one person having so much potential power - police committees are not perfect but at least they are a group numbering around 17 people which is more democratic than having one person.
I don't believe in the commissioner idea at all but if we must have one, and Big Dave tells us we must, then at least the person elected should not be the representative of a political party.
Most chief constables now are little more than senior civil servants in uniform who bow to every government whim (of whichever party is in power) - unlike the independently-minded chiefs of the past - and will acquiesce to the wishes of the commissioner, now matter how daft, just to keep their jobs.
We now have a police service with greater gender and enthicity spread than ever before but, sadly, it has lost the confidence of much of the public: not all the police's fault because they often have to work with the government holding one arm up behind their back. Party political commissioners will exacerbate this situation.”
by malky1935
Friday, October 26 2012, 4:12PM
“Is this how the PCC appointment is to be made, each candidate airing their own pet topics in the BEP every day? I think it's pathetic. In my view the PCC should not be involved in day to day police activities. Surely their role is overseeing the broader picture, ensuring strategic & tactical obligations are met for the benefit of everyone in the Avon & Somerset region. Not seeking to gain preference for their friends be they in politics, the business sector or wherever.
So far, all I know about Peter Levy (Lib-Dem candidadte, Seriously, they think people will vote for them!) is that, according to yesterday's Post, he wants to look into mutilated female genitals. Sue Mountstevens at least sounds as though she has some sort of grip on reality.”