Overview
The first ever elections for Police and Crime Commissioners were held on 15 November 2012, with the successful election of Adam Simmonds.
Each of the 41 police force areas in England and Wales, outside of London, directly elected a Commissioner.
Commissioners are at the heart of the Government's programme of decentralisation, where power is returned to people and communities.
Instead of bureaucratic, Whitehall-led control of the police we will now see democratic accountability with the public having a real say over how their area is policed.
What will Police and Crime Commissioners do?
Commissioners will be local figures with powerful mandates from the public to drive the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour.
Commissioners will decide policing strategy and the force budget. They will set the local council tax precept. All of this will be done on behalf of the public who elect them.
Police and Crime Commissioners will replace the existing police authorities and have a much larger role.
As their title of Police and Crime Commissioner suggests, they will have a broad remit to ensure community safety, with their own budgets to prevent crime and tackle drugs.
Working with local authorities, community safety partnerships and local criminal justice boards, Commissioners will help bring a strategic coherence to the actions of these organisations across each police force.
The Commissioners will also have responsibility for strategic policing - they will have to address national issues as well as local concerns.
A single and accountable individual
Commissioners will be a single elected individual who will take executive decisions, supported by a highly qualified team.
The principle of one accountable individual, directly responsible for the totality of police force activity is central to the Government's vision of the new policing landscape.
The buck will stop with commissioners, and the public will cast judgement at the ballot box, voting out commissioners who don't cut crime or address local concerns.
But Police and Crime Commissioners don't have day-to-day control over operational policing - they aren't able to tell a sworn officer of the crown who to arrest.
The Conservative Candidate:
Adam Simmonds was selected as the Conservative Party Police and Crime Commissioner Candidate.
Adam at present lives in Farthingstone but expects to move closer to the centre of the county in the near future. He is 35 years old and until recently was working at Northampton County Council as an Assistant Director. Having taken on this job role, Adam had to resign from his position at Northampton County Council.
Prior to our whole selection procedure Adam had already prepared an initial manifesto covering a wide range of topics to be addressed by the Police and Crime Commissioner. This initial manifesto will help considerably in putting together the final manifesto which was used for the election.
We have a very proactive commissioner who received 25% of the vote in the county- the highest turnout across the country.
For more information about Adam log onto www.adamsimmondsoffice.org
