Police and Crime Commissioners One Year On

A year after the election of the first Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales, the public is still suspicious of their abilities and reform still has a long way to go

A year ago, policing in England and Wales underwent a monumental change with the first direct elections of police and crime commissioners (PCCs). Yet the establishment of this new post and the roles and responsibilities of these newly elected officials were little understood by voters at the time and turn-out was extremely low. A year on, Margaret Gilmore looks at how the new PCCs fared in their first year and analyses a YouGov poll on how the public’s perceptions hav