Civilian oversight of the police in England and Wales

Abstract

The creation of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales in November 2012 by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition government, replacing the former police authorities, introduced a new mechanism for civilian oversight of the police. However, the new structure has been heavily criticised, both for the election process and for the ways in which newly elected PCCs have operated. Despite these criticisms, PCCs were retained by the new Conservative government, and the scheduled round of new elections took place in May 2016. This article assesses these elections and compares them with those 2012, in terms of the election process and the attributes of the candidates and those successfully elected.

Assessing police social media practices through a democratic policing lens

“…PCCs are democratically elected politicians in England and Wales and are part of the tripartite system of police governance including the Chief Constable and Home Secretary. PCCs have the remit to oversee the strategic direction of their local police force with a particular focus on setting the force budget (Brain, 2014;Rogers, 2013), responsibility for locally managed victim services (Lister, 2013;RI Mawby, 2016), and contentiously having the legal authority to hire and fire the Chief Constable (Davies and Johnson, 2016;RI Mawby and Smith, 2017). Most pertinently to this article, PCCs are required to engage with citizens in formulating their Police and Crime Plans (Gravelle and Rogers, 2011;McDaniel, 2018).…”