Julian Sandham, Independent Profile + Q&A

(Other candidate profiles + Q&A’s: Arfon Jones, Julian Sandham, David Taylor, Simon Wall, Matt Wright)

Wrexham.com has asked every Police and Crime Commissioner candidate for a profile, plus answers to 15 questions we submitted to them. Below is what we have had in return for this candidate.

Links: https://twitter.com/sandham4pcc , http://www.sandham4pcc.org.uk/

Q & A

Q1. Many people are still unsure over the role of PCC, what do you see
the role of PCC being, and what would you change from the work of the
first holder of the post? 

Well, there are three questions in one here.
The role of the PCC is defined by legislation – the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.  It is to ensure that there is an efficient and effective police force, to reduce crime, to hold the Chief Constable to account, to issue a Police and Crime Plan, to set the
precept and to engage with people and communities.

PCCs are the voice of the public and are tasked with championing their interests, making sure they feel safe in their communities and are protected. Research shows that more people are now aware of what the role involves but I recognise that some are still unsure.

In my time as Deputy Commissioner, I had the opportunity of meeting lots of local people and finding out exactly what would make their lives happier and safer. If elected, I intend to build on that and devote time to finding out the concerns of different communities, businesses and age groups.

As I set out to students at Glyndwr University recently, there are many  aspects to community engagement.  I have set out my ten principles of community engagement thus I am clear on what my approach will be.  I think professional curiosity is important and that, to me, means focusing on meeting people at events such as farmers’ marts, town council meetings, business clubs etc. In my experience, you find that the bigger issues tend to come to you – it’s the other issues you have to go in search of. I want to engage with the people who don’t have time to fill in policing surveys, who don’t visit the policing stand at their local fete and who don’t write to their local PCC. This means going out to where they work or socialise and finding out what I can do to make their community better.

Q2. Wrexham will see a change in the fabric of policing with a new town
centre station, and a larger HQ in Llay. What are your views on this
change? 

I don’t agree that there will be a change to the fabric of policing.  It is the operating bases which will change – not the policing style. These decisions are made to utilise our resources in the best possible way and ensure those who need protection receive it with a robust and effective policing response.

Q3. Car arson has sadly been a high profile problem around Wrexham, is
this type of issue something a PCC can have specific intervention on,
and if so, how? 

This is a priority. From a planning angle, the current Police and Crime Plan highlights the importance of partnership working in order to put sustainable solutions in place.  From a financial angle, the Commissioner is able to allocate grant funding and has.

Q4. The PCC role covers North Wales, what practical thing(s) will you do
to represent the concerns and interests of the people of Wrexham and the
surrounding area specifically?

Before you can deliver practical and positive change, you have to find out exactly what the public’s concerns and interests are. The process of community engagement is one of the most important tasks for the PCC and will shape and guide decision-making. Any emerging concerns and threats to public safety will be reviewed and steps taken to ensure we have the right resources in place to tackle these issues. The Police and Crime Plan will be revised annually to take account of any new risks to public safety and public priorities and the budget set accordingly.

It’s important to bear in mind the success North Wales has achieved. Despite massive budget cuts, we’ve seen a 17% reduction in recorded crime between 2010 and 2015, and a drop of 9.3% in victim-based crime while the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads of North Wales has fallen by 14% over the past four years. Meanwhile, the number of arrests of perpetrators of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) has increased from 10 last year to 107 this year thanks to the launch of a specialist team of officers to investigate CSE. This demonstrates that PCCs listen to the public and act.

My extensive policing experience leaves me in a strong position to understand the challenges facing modern policing and able to identify the ways in which we can solve them. I am also clear that if elected, I will represent people independent of party politics.

Q5. At the last election we asked if there would be a decrease in transparency following the abolition of the police authority which had its public meetings and published papers. At the time of writing the last public meeting minutes on the PCC website are from June 2015, the last minutes in the Scrutiny section are from September 2015. The most updated section on the site is the ‘news’ with lots of press releases. How will you increase transparency? 

It is vital PCCs promote openness and transparency to build trust in the position and the positive work we are undertaking. Ensuring our communication processes stand up to robust scrutiny is vital and this is an area I will prioritise, if elected. Currently, the Joint Audit Committee documentation is published and up to date; the decision notices are up to date;  and the Police and Crime Panel minutes are published elsewhere (by the host Authority – Conwy County Borough Council nwpcp.org.uk)

Q6. Do you have a view on the current police precept level, and what you would intend to do? 

It is a balance. The process which leads up to the setting of the precept has a number of important components. Consideration has to be given to the amount of Home Office grant, the results of public consultation i.e what people want from policing and theChief Constable’s views. It is important that every year, the planning activity is done on a detailed and thorough basis. That then gives you a view on what the precept should look like.

Q7. Are you able to publish on your campaign website (or social media etc) all the campaign donations you have received from individuals and organisations, your membership of any associations, clubs or societies, and your sources of income? If not, why? 

I have not received any donations. I have published memberships on my campaign website (I am a member of the North Wales Golf Club, Llandudno – president from 2014-17 – and I am a member of the Presbyterian Church of Wales in Penrhyn Bay. I am a retired police officer in receipt of a police pension.

Q8. The PCC role is mooted to expand to include taking on strategic direction of the fire service, and perhaps become a blue light commissioner with responsibility for all the emergency services. What are your views on this and do you think there are savings to be made by for example asking fire or police officers to act as paramedics, or for paramedics and fire officers to deal with the policing aspects of road incidents? 

The expansion of role you refer to is being considered in England only. Certainly, there is much that can be achieved with collaboration. Consider for instance the alcohol treatment centre which has been established in Wrexham. Where we can use taxpayers’ money more effectively and improve services for local people by working closely with partners, this has a positive benefit for everybody. The top priority in every situation, however, has to be what is safest for the public.

The launch of the Victim Help Centre has been an example of the improvements that can be made working together with partners. Thousands of vulnerable people have already accessed help through the service and are receiving support from a host of specialist agencies all working towards the same goal – a successful recovery.

Q9. What scope do you think the “and crime” element of the role provides? What influence do you expect to exert on justice policy beyond policing, with prisons, probation and the courts for example?  The Act states that the Commissioner and criminal justice bodies must make arrangements to provide an effective criminal justice system for the area. 

Partnership working is key to delivering an effective justice system. It’s important to work alongside a number of agencies to ensure offenders not only receive swift justice but are also given the right help needed to overcome the problems that are leading them to offend. Every justice agency in North Wales is keen to learn from the experience and skills of each other to deliver effective justice. This is primarily achieved through the North Wales Criminal Justice Board.

Q.10. Have you ever committed a crime? What Happened?

No.

Q11. Do we currently have any laws you disagree with that you do, or would be prepared to, break? 

No. I do think that the situation with the level of the drink drive limit is interesting. There has been considerable debate on this. My approach generally is to consider the evidence base – if convincing evidence emerges from say Scotland that the number of fatal and serious road casualties is reduced as a result of having a lower limit, you’ve got to consider seriously whether doing the same in England and Wales would produce the same outcome.

Q12. Have you ever taken recreational drugs, and do you think we should
treat recreational drug addiction as a criminal or a health problem?

(a)  No.
(b)  Controlled drugs are both a criminal and a health problem.

Q13. Will you publish the police incident log online, after appropriate redactions?
I am not entirely sure what the question refers to, but if it’s referring to the command and control event logs maintained by the Force in the Joint Communications Centre, then I am not in favour of publishing them.  Redaction is not that simple a task since it is still possible to identify someone via a mosaic approach.  There would be an enormous amount of work involved in redaction at a time when the priority is frontline resources and redaction at times would be so extensive that it wouldn’t be worth publishing the document.  It is important to remember that there is existing provision for the disclosure of individual event logs e.g for prosecution files, freedom of information requests, subject access requests.

Q14. Do you think the UK leaving the EU would make North Wales more, or less, safe?

I don’t think there would be any discernable difference.

Q15.  Can you commit to maintain the current number of police constables
per thousand of the population?

I have been clear from the outset that I will campaign against the risk of further cuts I did this last November by issuing a statement publicly before the CSR about not making cuts to policing which would affect neighbourhood policing.

Profile

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(Other candidate profiles + Q&A’s: Arfon Jones, Julian Sandham, David Taylor, Simon Wall, Matt Wright)