Bedfordshire’s police and crime commissioner (PCC) said he’ll be judged on outcomes and not on how many times his picture is taken.
Bedfordshire’s previous PCC was a frequent poster on social media giving updates on both his and the police force’s activities.
But new PCC John Tizard said: “I’m actually about outcomes, not about photographs and tweets, frankly.
“For me, I’ll be judged on what happens in terms of the implementation of the [Police and Crime] Plan and outcomes, not on how often I get my photograph out there.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) asked if no one knows what is going on, how will residents be able to judge how he’s doing?
“Well, they’ll know what is happening and I think I’m doing rather more than you suggest,” he replied.
“Maybe we need to up the communications a bit, but I have deliberately taken the first two months to get to know people within the police service and what the police service does.
“I’ve been to almost every operational unit, I’m sure there’s one small unit I haven’t been to, but I’ve been to the vast majority.
“I’ve been to Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire collaborative police services.
“[This week] I’m going to the Eastern Region Serious Organised Crime Unit, so I am getting that formal knowledge.
“I talk to all our partners, I’ve talked to local authorities, I’ve been out talking to the public, [and a] whole variety of voluntary organisations that work with the police.”
The PCC recently announced that he was ending the regular PCC and chief constable accountability meetings on YouTube.
During these videos, the PCC asked the chief questions from members of the public.
“I suspect if you’re doing something on video it’s not as robust as if you were doing it in a one-to-one appraisal and performance management meeting,” he said.
“But actually, it’s not my role to be asking the chief constable about what happened at a certain incident or some problem that happened in a particular place, that’s operational, not strategic.
“My job is to hold the chief constable to account strategically, not for the operational issues.
“I’m having monthly meetings which will be minuted [and published online],” he said.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
