Weymouth engineer calls for PCCs to be adandoned to give people more information (From Thisisdorset)

Weymouth engineer calls for PCCs to be adandoned to give people more information

12:30pm Wednesday 14th November 2012 in News

VOTING for the PCCs should be abandoned and people given more information.

That’s the view of a retired engineer from Weymouth who considered standing for the job but is instead calling for a debate.

Frederick Leppington gained an insight into police and court procedure when his son was attacked and the case went to trial.

It prompted him to write a manifesto, calling for among other things police officers to be put back on the streets and for victim input to be taken into account when police discuss cases with prosecutors.

But he rethought putting his name forward in the elections, deciding the odds would be stacked against him as an independent candidate.

Mr Leppington, 69, has written to Prime Minister David Cameron with his concerns.

He believes there is confusion because voters don’t know about the role. He also wonders why such a high salary is being paid and suggests there are many unanswered questions about the job.

Mr Leppington said: “No-one had heard about these elections until a few weeks ago.”

His friend William Reeks added: “In New York there is a police commissioner who is a powerful manager but here you would have someone in an advisory role, which seems useless to me.”

In response to concerns raised about the PCC elections, a Home Office spokesman said: “Police and Crime Commissioners will be the most significant democratic reform of policing ever, giving the public a real say in how their communities are policed. Any turnout will confer a better democratic mandate than the current invisible police authorities.”