The Origins and Aims of Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales

Please join us for tea and biscuits at 2.15pm for a 2.30pm start.

Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) were elected for the second time on the 5th of May 2016 in 40 force areas across England and Wales. As a replacement to the Police Authorities, the role of PCCs is “to be the voice of the people in relation to the safety of their community.  The PCCs hold the Chief Constable to account for meeting their policing needs but the responsibilities of PCCs extend beyond the police and are likely to be expanded yet further in the next few years."

Lord Wasserman was the Prime Minister's Adviser on Policing and Criminal Justice from May 2010 until April 2012 and, as such, played an important role in developing and implementing the PCC idea as well selling it to the Conservative Party in the country before the first set of elections in November 2012. From 1996 to 2007, he lived in the USA where he advised the Police Commissioners of New York and Philadelphia.  Before moving to the States, Lord Wasserman spent 12 years as the senior Home Office official responsible for police science and technology.

In this timely talk given the recent elections, Lord Wasserman will offer his unique insight into the origins of PCCs and what the Government hoped to achieve by introducing them.