Sussex Conservatives Chooses its PCC Candidate

Peter Jones

Sussex Conservatives will select their candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner on 14th July at the special general meeting at Burgess Hill.

As a losing candidate I think that puts me in a unique position in regard to judging who would be the best candidate for the job as I have studied them all in depth.

I believe that Peter Jones will make the best PCC Candidate and I am swinging my support behind him.  The reasons for this is that he has a successful record of turning round East Sussex County Council building up the reserves to be £200M and helping launch a £500M capital spending programme.  He is also one of Sussex’s big political animals and has the statue and gravitas to hold this position.

Peter has a plan (rather than aspirations); this would be to take out £10m of admin costs to give a boost to the front line, so the force can hire more police officers to protect our local communities.  Also to use some of the admin savings to strengthen the specialist support teams to help the force as a whole to catch more criminals and charge them.

Also one of the big issues I have highlighted is the CPS and its effectiveness in prosecuting cases. If elected Peter wants to use his mandate to introduce performance targets for police and the Crown Prosecution Service to hold them to account publicly for catching and prosecuting more criminals. 

Based on the above, I think Peter is the best Candidate, he has a credible plan and because of this I will support his campaign.

 I hope all members can attend on the 14^th of July at the Triangle in Burgess Hill to make the decision and give whoever is the Conservative Candidate their support for victory at the election on the 15^th of November.

Thank you

I failed in my bid to become the Sussex Conservative PCC Candidate and I wanted to write to say thanks to all those who have sent commiseration messages (you know who you are), also I want to say thanks to all those people who have helped in my campaign, and in particular in briefing me and helping me prepare.
Irrespective of the fact that I lost, I still do not think that this invalidates some of the arguments I was making, I just hope that the remaining candidates take on some of these ideas and would be happy to help with their campaigns and in anyway in the mission to reform policing to the betterment of our society.        

Lessons to be learned from the US

US Sheriff

I have reading an interesting pamphlet published by the Centre for Justice Innovation, it details the experiences of the Crime and Justice system in the USA, particularly New York. Link to it  It's only 11 pages but it's eye opening stuff.
Starting under Commissioner Bill Bratton, the New York Police Department made a substantial investment in technology and data analysis as a management tool to increase the accountability of local precinct commanders (COMPSTAT).
One of the benefits of the COMPSTAT approach was that it helped break down the cities crime problems into more manageable smaller units of analysis; instead of a citywide maze of information, police could focus on distinct precincts and individual neighbourhoods with specific problems.
In the city Minneapolis  50% of the crime came from 3.5% of the cities address's.  This led them to develop Hot Spot Policing to bear down on Crime. They concentrated resource in tackling drugs parks,  as you know when this has been suggested in the UK the argument followed that you would simply displace crime to adjacent areas, the data didn't corroborate this, in fact they found that adjacent areas actually benefited from Hop Spot Policing.
In the USA they have elected District Attorneys, and this gives scope for small scale innovation by individual DA's on a District by District basis. One of these innovations that started in the 1990's was community justice through Community courts,  particularly Drugs Courts and Youth Courts, these are run by the community for the benefit of the community and even have many ex offenders involved in the process, they achieve a 94% approval rating from communities.  This seems such a commonsense idea to reduce the cost of our Justice system and to make it much more relevant to the people passing through the system.

The CPS in the UK  prosecutes on behalf of the Crown, but I can see situations where the Elected PCC can challenge the CPS in how they run things and also encourage them to introduce new ways of processing cases and prosecutions.  Drugs are a driver of crime and rehabilitation is the way to break the cycle of crime and reform lives.

Time for Police Change - Why I believe I am the best Candidate

Time for Police Change

I am now through to the final 6 and go forward to the short-list meeting to be decided by Sussex Conservative MP’s and representatives of the 16 Conservative associations in Sussex on the 23^rd of June.

Nick Herbert the Police Minister conceived and pushed through the legislation for the new Police and Crime Commissioners in the Police Reform act in November 2011.  He saw that what was needed was a new way of thinking and managing our Police forces and he saw that you would need a unique individual who was a hybrid, a successful Business person and a Politician rolled into one.

I believe I am that person, in my business career I have built up and sold several companies in Aviation, Information technology, Travel Data marketing and Property.  In politics I have been a Councillor for 9 years and for 6 of those years I have been a Cabinet Member.  As Cabinet member I have successfully shrank the councils administrative buildings from 8 to 5, I have increased Customer contact over the web from just 15% to 60%, I have championed Green energy through the installation of PV Panels which is giving the council 50kw’s of green energy and a cash return of 19% per annum. Also I have been a strong advocate of lean systems thinking, leaning the Councils systems to make them more efficient and effective.

As many Police officers remind me, Sussex Police is not a business, but a service, but it has many areas that would certainly benefit from a businesslike approach.  The PCC position is not an operational role, but any elected Commissioner will have to set the Priorities of the Force and the budget.  Whilst these are not operational, the effects of them will impact operationally on the Police. 

I passionately believe that Sussex Police should introduce lean systems thinking, this reform empowers staff at the grassroots giving them the ability to help reform their role and give back the discretion that has been removed over the last 30 years.  It is basically commonsense, but it gives a focus and impetus to front line staff to take control and manage their patch to the betterment of the force as a whole.   This is not an airy fairy concept either; Cheshire Police has successfully introduced Lean system thinking which is already improving performance and allowing resource to be concentrated on the front line.  But to introduce this type of reform you will have to have the agreement and “buy in” of the Chief Constable.

That is why the successful PCC will have to build a strong relationship with the Chief Constable to manage and navigate his or her priorities through; the relationship will have to be built on mutual respect with any disagreements being hammered out in private.

I believe I have the proven ability, I believe I am at the right age to take on this position, old enough to know what’s right and young enough to have the energy to give this role the 60 hour weeks that it needs.

My Priorities are

Anti Social Behaviour

Anti Social Behaviour linked to the night time economy

To build up Community Policing

To introduce Systems thinking to increase front line policing resource.

If you are coming to the selection meeting on the 23^rd of June or the Hustings on the 14^th of July, then I hope you will have confidence to give me your vote.

Out Sourcing Police Services - is it right or wrong?

Surrey's Police badge

There is a great debate and discussion regarding Out Sourcing of Police Services by some Police Authorities and some PCC Candidates.

Firstly I believe that any Police Authority that attempts to outsource before the Police and Crime Commissioner elections in November is at the best trying to circumnavigate the Police & Reform act 2011 and landing any prospective Candidate with a fait accompli as far as any reform agenda, at worst it is a blatant challenge to the will of the Police Minister Nick Herbert, Government and Parliament.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not against Outsourcing pur se. I believe that until you reform and lean the systems and the way Police work you cannot outsource as you lock in existing inefficiencies for the length of the contract to the detriment of the Public Purse.

Security Guard, a vision for Surrey?

The Current proposals between Surrey and West Midlands Police Forces are misconceived and wrong.   You have to start with leaning your systems and talking to the Police at the sharp end.  Once you have established the best way of working then there is scope to outsource noncore services, but until you really discover what is needed you cannot lock any force in to long term financial commitments  I do have some detailed proposals on how I would change Policing which I will map out in a later blog, so watch this space!!

Decision time to choose the Sussex Conservative Candidate on the 14th July

Decision time for Sussex Conservatives on the 14th July

Many of my friends and colleagues have been asking me regarding my campaign and the selection process.

I have now passed stage one of the selection process with my interview at CCHQ (Conservative Campaign Headquarters), the next stage is to be decided when a shortlist of candidates for interview will be drawn up on Friday 18^th May by the elected eligible members of the Area Management Executive along with Nicholas Soames MP the Lead Member of Parliament for the selection  in Sussex. Applicants will be advised soon afterwards.  

Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview to be held on Saturday 23^rd June.  Those attending will comprise the Area Management  Executive for Sussex plus up to three representatives from each Conservative Association in Sussex together with Sussex Members of Parliament. From this meeting 2-4 applicants will go forward to interview at a Final meeting open to any member of the Party in Sussex to be held on Saturday 14^th July in Burgess Hill during the afternoon; and, votes will then be counted at the conclusion of this meeting.    Please place the date of 14th of July in your diary and please attend.

I have launched a new domain for this blog www.dendle4pcc.com 

16th November the day after the PCC election - Hard Choices

I have been thinking about the scenario after a PCC election and if I am lucky enough to get the Conservative nomination and win the election.

The biggest priority will be the budget, and as this will have to be put in place fairly quickly; expectations will be high, but it is inevitable that the newly elected PCC will inherit much of the Police Authority's budget and will have to control those expectations.  The wise candidate will have to balance raising hopes in the election with the realistic expectations of what can be achieved in the first 90 days.

Jam tomorrow would be the flavour of the day and I would (If Successful) announce in the first week,  reviews of Force Procurement, Human Resources and Asset Management with reports coming back by March 2013, this will give some momentum.   Also the Successful PCC will have to think of Deputy Commissioners and the team around them, hopefully the successful candidate will have firm ideas of who they want.

A lot of these issues should be aired in the campaign debates, the electorate in Sussex are a sophisticated lot and there are plenty of retired businessmen and woman in Sussex that will hold the Candidates feet to the fire, if successful in the nomination I will relish the challenge.

What future for the Local Crime Reduction Strategic partnerships under an elected PCC

In the 1998 Crime & Disorder act there was provision in Section 5 & 6 to set up Crime reduction partnerships with Local Government, Police, Fire Service and other interested parties.  In my own area we have the Safer Arun Partnership.

Community Policing

But under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011  the role of elected PCC's was created and the money that goes to pay for the Local Strategic Crime Reduction Partnerships will go the the elected Police & Crime Commissioner rather than the local District, Borough or Unitary Council, so what future is there for these partnerships under an elected PCC. It's a legitimate question to ask of any candidate standing, whether they will continue to fund these partnerships.

My view is that there is scope for reform, at the moment every District or Borough Council have their own partnership, crime does not respect borders and it seems wholly sensible to consolidate partnerships over greater areas of say 3 or 4 District Council area's, this would reduce the partnerships in Sussex from 13 to about 4 or 5. This would save money and allow the PCC to support these valuable partnerships with money from the PCC budget.

We could also include such items as rough sleeper initiatives into the responsibilities of the partnerships, so the answer to the question I posed earlier in this article is yes if I was elected as Sussex's PCC I would support the Crime Reduction Partnerships, but not in their present form.

Will there be conflict between the Crown Prosecution Service and elected PCC’s

I have been giving much thought to how an elected Police & Crime Commissioner will work with the CPS.  Of course operational matters are with the Chief Constable, but the way the police work and the systems they use will be affected and the way the CPS works with the Police will by logic be affected as well.

I have lawyer friends and police friends, lawyers complain at the low level of educational attainment of some police and the quality of their paper work, Police friends and various Police blogs bear witness to the Police constables poor opinion of the CPS and the lawyers employed.

Any conflict up and till now has either been hidden or fudged, but when you get an elected PCC I think his or her reputation will stand on the performance of the Police and the number of successful prosecutions.  Second best will not suffice, so I think there will be real tensions in the relationship.  Also the fact that the PCC has an elected mandate will strengthen his/her hand to act.

How will a successful PCC cope with these tensions and manage any crisis, well I believe that systems will reduce friction and drive up quality, so breaking down inefficient systems and re-working them to cut failure will play an important part of minimising tension.  But personal relationships based on trust and even handedness will be the back bone of dealing with disputes and problems.

If the PCC is to be successful, then they have to be aware of these problems from the start and plan how to deal with them, this is ultimately good management and something I am aware of and very willing to confront  

Sussex Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's) do not work after midnight, why?

PCSO uniform

 PCSO’s in Sussex are prevented as a matter of policy of working after midnight, when I have enquired why this was the case, the reason given was that it was Sussex Police’s policy and this was due to budgetary issues. 
 PCSO’s earn just under £20,000, Sussex has approximately 390 PCSO’s and their basic salary is within SPA 7 grade (£18,093 to £19,770). They do not have the power of arrest; PCSO’s are not replacements for Full Constables but are the eyes and ears for the Full Constables and do prevent crime.   I believe that PCSO’s have an important role and the role gives a career path to becoming Full Constables.  I also believe that they should be allowed to work after midnight, and it’s ridiculous that they are prevented from doing so. 


  If I was elected as PCC I would insist on this change. It would be very useful operationally  for them to be available on Friday & Saturday nights to allow them to police the Night Time Economy and work up to 0300hrs, but why have any restrictions at all?  If you remember back to the riots in August 2011, manpower was stretched to the limit, so I would support lifting all restrictions on PCSO working.    

Special Constable Advertising

But in addition there are also Special Constables, Specials are a valuable community resource and are a useful tool to re-enforce Full Constables and PCSO’s.  There should and if elected there will be a concerted effort to reach out to communities and recruit many more volunteers to be Sussex Specials.  This is and would be the Big Society in operation  

Police levy for the Night Time economy?

Familiar Scene

Currently the government are consulting regarding introducing a night time levy for Policing in areas where there is a high volume of alcohol related trouble. This would involve business’s that sold alcohol being levied money to pay for the additional Policing required in their area. In a recent Survey I conducted on my blog Anti-Social behaviour came top with alcohol related crime coming an equal second.

I think as always there are issues with the way the draft legislation is currently drafted, the civil service does need the grafting of the common sense gene, but leaving this aside, I do think there are merits to having a night levy and shifting the burden of paying for Policing from the Tax payer to the user.

The issue though for Sussex is the lack of Unitary Councils, Brighton would be an obvious case for introduction, but where there are District, Borough and County government structures you have issues of Rural and Urban mix, the current draft of the legislation says that it has to be District or Borough wide, this would penalise Rural Pubs when you want to keep them going as they are useful social hubs for communities.

I believe there is scope to introduce them to urban centres based on parish borders, but until the civil service looks at this with common sense then it will be an experiment without much practical value.  But any elected PCC should be working with government to craft legislation that works for the Resident, Customer and Proprietor.

Systems Thinking-how it could help reform Policing in Sussex

Taiichi Ohno WorkplaceManagement

In my business and my political career I have used Systems thinking as a way of managing and incentivising  staff, The world can thank a pioneering Japanese man for systems thinking.  Taiichi Ohno, former executive vice president of the Toyota Motor Company, pioneered ideas that later became coined as Lean by American's.

It all came about because levels of demand for cars in the post war economy of Japan were low and over production in the factories had to be avoided.

Having visited and seen supermarkets in the USA, Taiichi Ohno recognised the scheduling of work should not be driven by sales or production targets but by actual sales.Toyota still uses Lean to this day – some 50 years after Mr Ohno started the revolution

What is Systems thinking and what relevance is there to modern day Policing?

Well rather than being some over complicated academic theory it’s based on common sense, it empowers staff and creates a culture of continuous improvement. 

The concept of unnecessary and avoidable process’s being built into jobs and then taken for granted was noticed by motion efficiency expert  and former bricklayer Frank Gilbreth who saw that masons bent over to pick up bricks from the ground.  The bricklayer was therefore lowering and raising his entire upper body to pick up 2.3kg brick, and inefficiency had been built into the job through long practice.

To any Police Officer reading this blog will immediately realise why Systems Thinking can help the Police, the same habit of building in efficeny into their work practices have plagued the Police for years.

Frank Gilbreth introduced a non-stooping scaffold which delivered the bricks at waist level and allowed masons to work about three times as quickly and with less effort.

Small commonsense changes suggested from the grassroots at the sharp-end improves effiency and increases staff morale

For example, I remember when at the Council we were discussing a target, should we target to answer our phone calls within 5 rings or 6 rings, (this was the type of Top down Micro management we had to implement under the last government). 

 Systems’ thinking approaches the question from a different angle, rather than ask how many phone rings you should have, it asks the question why are we having so many telephone calls in the first place?

Systems Thinkingin Public Sector
John Seddon

 When an organisation does not do something properly it generates negative demand, People phone up to complain about something that has not been done, Systems Thinking deals with the negative demand by leaning systems to be simpler, so to get it right first time.  Nobody rings up their council to say things have gone right, they just expect it to be so. 

large organisations over the years have built up over complicated process’s or moved manual process’s on to Computers without any thought of reform, this sometimes involves up to 30 different actions from start to finish to complete one function or outcome, if you study what needs to be done from start to finish and reduce the number of actions you get a more efficient and workable process (Not complicated), yet over decades organisations, many in the Public Sector have done this. Leaving us inefficient top down structures.

Control & Command
 John Seddon

How do you “get buy-in” from staff and middle management, well you walk the floor and talk to them, most staff at the sharp end know what needs to be done, but they are compelled in working a certain way by the Control and Command management style.  Once you start to trust your grassroots staff to make decision and redesign process your efficiency and staff morale rises and you have a much more dynamic organisation,

This would be one of the changes I would implement to Sussex Policing if I am given the chance.

If you want to know more about systems thinking there are several links to follow :-  Wikepdia Systems Thinking   &  John Seddon (Advocate & Consultant) 

The Guardians 10 questions for potential police and crime commissioners - Paul Dendle's Answers

 This is an article in the Guardian link  I have answered the questions and my answers are in blue


Directly-elected PCCs are intended to hold the police to account. As candidates emerge, here are some questions for them

Guardian photo

Before long, selection processes will begin in earnest and political parties will choose their candidates for the elected positions of police and crime commissioners (PCCs). As the names of people putting themselves forward begin to emerge, here are a few questions that any candidate worth their salt should be able to answer:

1.This year, a number of police authorities have taken a one-off grant from the government in order to reduce their precept and the impact of the cuts. There is no guarantee that this money will continue which means that next year, the new PCCs may have to make even bigger cuts or seek higher precepts. If you had been elected last year, what would you have done and why? Would you have chosen to take the one-off grant or not?

Yes I would have taken the grant and yes I would take the grant in future years if offered, the grant is conditional on holding any increase to less than 2.5%, I don’t see any issue in achieving this.

2.The new Act gives PCCs the power to "commission policing services from the chief constable (or other Providers)". How do you envisage using this power and what risks do you foresee? 

I think you have to consider using third party providers of services, but the key to making this work is in the procurement and contract management, Benchmarking and KPI’s (key performance Indicators) must be included in any tender document and if providers didn’t  achieve the KPI’s then provision must be made in any tender/contract to deal with this.

3.How do you plan to forge a constructive relationship with the chief constable, and what will you be doing to avoid or handle conflicting views and priorities? 

Any relationship should be based on mutual respect, The Chief Constable has a tough job to do as well as the PCC, any disagreements can be handled behind closed doors  and  the wise Chief Constable can use the PCC to take some of the political pressure off himself so he can operate more effectively

4.On the basis that limited police resources need to be deployed in proportion to where and when there is greatest risk of harm to members of the public, as PCC what action will you take to ensure your police force is doing this optimally?

Operationally this is the Chief Constable’s job, but within the Policing Plan there will be priorities which the PCC will direct the CC to concentrate on.  The key though is to create the conditions for the CC to do this most effectively, The Budget discussions will be a key plank of achieving this

5. Given the focus on the relationship between the police and the news media, what would you hope to achieve in your first 100 days of office in this respect?  

Expectations will be high for immediate change, in the first 100 days there will be little noticeable change in what is happening on the ground, 

6. How much do you worry that a large proportion of police resources spent on devising partnership protocols, emergency plans and interagency strategies etc are broadly equivalent to all the effort that went into Year 2000 compatibility?

A root and branch review of all interagency Strategies, Partnerships and Emergency plans will be one of the first things I would do, but it is already clear to me that there are considerable savings to be made in consolidating the LSP’s  (Local Strategic Partnerships) into more manageable groupings as well as including issues like rough sleepers and as well as this, I would give LSP's a four year term with annual reviews rather than extending on a year by year basis

7. It would seem that the fear of crime continues to rise despite the reductions in actual crime. What electoral promises will you make regarding this worrying trend?  

The fear of crime rises because there is a disconnect between local Communalities and their Police, if this is re-established in a real way then fear of Crime will subside.

8. As PCC you will be elected by the people of your area. However the police often work in other force areas (as happened with the riots last year) and maintain resources to tackle national (often organised) crime. What tensions do you foresee there and how will you resolve them?

Mutual Aid is always an important part of Policing, the balance in the goodwill account between forces has to always be kept in a relative equilibrium, if this starts to break down then there has to be a robust exchange of views behind closed doors.

9. Is policing a complex business or a complicated one?

It’s both, its complex in the many different problems and different groups within society, a sophisticated local strategy can deal with this, complications are the problems that arise, these can be minimised by making Policing more receptive and by empowering Constables to show discretion and common sense where this is required.

10. Police authorities have been criticised for being too invisible. How will you visibly connect with all the diverse communities of your area and bring democratic accountability to life?

Firstly the Police Forces should reflect the makeup of the societies that they police, In Sussex the issue is more about East European immigration and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender)than BME’s so LGBT recruits and Russian, Polish and Lithuanian speakers should be encouraged to join.  But Sir Robert Peel’s principles of Policing number nine states “The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.”  But before you get to that ideal position you have to reduce crime and disorder.

A Policing Vision for the future

The first thing I want to say is that I support and value our police forces. I believefor too long they have been victims of political interference and political correctness and they have not been allowed to get on with the job. The worst thing that ever happened in policing was the advent of the Panda car in the 1960’s; the Police became cocooned in their cars and lost touch with the public, meaningful Communication ceased.

The Police have to engage again with our communities, and I don’t mean the phony type of Public relations engagement which is just a veneer, I mean real visible engagement, the hard grind of pounding the beat and  engaging with ordinary members of the public and picking up intelligence and trends. 

Having real conversations with Parish, District and Borough Councillors, not just the obligatory visit every few months to a scrutiny meeting at the local council.  The Local Strategic Partnerships are worthwhile and valued, but they need to be re-focussed, they should be outcome based and should be consolidated into more cohesive areas grouping 3 or 4 District Councils together which would save money.  Also rather than having to bid for money one year at a time they should be given a 4 year contract with annual reviews, this 4 year contract would last for the period of the Police Crime Commissioners tenure.

 Our police forces are old legacy type organisations with plenty of baggage and working practices that need to be reformed,  procedures, and working practices have to be completely reviewed the accepted norms should be questioned.  Technology has to be a central plank to reform, linking the Police officer on the beat with handheld access to the network.

Top heavy self serving administrative structures feed themselves with continuing bureaucratic demands, high flying candidates play the careers game, they don’t want to rock the boat which undermines any type of change agenda.

The Police Commissioner role gives an opportunity for a candidate to institute real change, I believe any candidate should not think of a second term, they should concentrate on reforming  agenda for the full four years, the last thing the Commissioner should be doing is thinking how to be re-elected, they should concentrate on reform. Setting out a vision is the first step,

I believe we should make Policing the centre of our communities, if I quote Sir Robert Peel   “The police are the public and the public are the police”   In the age of localism this one quote encapsulates what should be happening.

Ordinary Police officers know what has to be done, they observe these grandiose hierarchies where talented officers fast track themselves up the career ladder passing the ordinary officer by , we should start by empowering the local officers, engage them in the change agenda and take on board their commonsense solutions to Policing

Policing - A vision from the past - Sir Robert Peel's Policing Principles

Sir Robert Peel

 I was recently reading a book on current Policing and mentioned in the book were the Principles of Policing as set out by Sir Robert Peel, I was struck by their relevance to Policing today and how these Principles could refocus our Police forces back to the Customer. I believe our modern Police forces have lost their way, they are top heavy with admin staff and are so concerned with managing the paperwork and all the demands of politicians that they have forgotten the real objectives, a re-balancing of the Policing priorities back to the Communities that they serve would be welcomed.  If elected this is what I would work for.

Sir Robert Peels Principles of policing

1.    The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.

2.    The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon the public approval of police actions.

3.    Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observation of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.

4.    The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force.

5.    Police seek and preserve public favour not by catering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.

6.    Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice, and warning is found to be insufficient.

7.    Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent upon every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

8.    Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions, and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary.

9.    The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.