This blog is mainly about the governance and future of policing and crime services. (Police & Crime Commissioners feature quite a lot.) But there are also posts about the wider justice system. And because I am town councillor and political activist, local & national issues are covered a little, as well.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Secret Diary of a PCC: Day 50

Wow!

It's all a bit of blur. I have just checked back through my diary and I last made an entry on Day 10. Where has the time gone?! I review my past schedule and I see meeting after meeting with Director of that, officer for this, partnership for whatshername, local partnership bloggins thingy. And every now and then up pops the Acting Chief Constable. Sometimes I just wish he would go away. He keeps asking me questions about this damned priority and when is the budget going to be finished, what colour should the new force logo be and would I like some more help with getting to know what policing is all about. Blah blah blah blah....

Life used to be so simple.

I had my nice neat (& arguably anodyne) set of promises and pledges (I am sure there is difference there somewhere) and I thought all I had to do was pass them over to Winger, my trusty Deputy and go off to play golf. Then he got all Bramshillified, began asking troublesome questions and he had to go. My replacement interim Deputy is not much better. She managed to upset local party members so much they are having a vote of no confidence in her. She seems to be gliding over it though. "They have no power" she say. She is right of course.

And then, back from a brief sojourn in the sun, the ex (at least I thought he was ex) Chief Constable decides to take me to the industrial relations court over some trivial matter. Apparently I did not sign off his last expenses claim. I told him his column in the Daily Mail ought to sort out any darn expenses. I mean the cheek. Here I am sweating in the back Thunderbird One (my chauffeur driven limo), reading paper after paper while he gets to write critical pieces in the national newspapers. I wish I had the time to do that! I will get my (publicly funded) lawyers onto him. There is a principle at stake here!

You know I never knew quite how many people would want to speak with me. Apparently quite a number different people care about the policing and crime. You would never have guessed it from the election turnout. Of course that was before they realised quite how much power I would have. He he he....

Indeed, I always have a bit fun at the beginning of any meeting with a new 'stakeholder' to see if they actually bothered to vote or not. If they didn't it always makes my phrase "so what can I do for you now..." just that bit more fun to say...

And then we come to the policing plan. As I mentioned earlier, I have had to recruit Cllr Pamela Stone as my interim Deputy (I am not making the mistake of appointing anyone permanent again for a while!) She is busily working on the plan but she has gone rather quiet on me. She tells me not to worry my little head about it (well not as such but that is what I think she is really saying) and I am getting worried. She assures me it will match my campaign promises but she is getting rather pally with the Acting Chief Constable. Someone told me they saw them giggling and sharing a single beaker of double-mocha-cappuccino-espresso-oxo at the local Costabucks. I am beginning to fear I am already out of the loop...

But this could all be paranoia of course. Couldn't it?

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