Historic police poll draws near

HISTORY will be made on Thursday, November 15 when voters go to the polls to elect their first Police and Crime Commissioner.

Derbyshire, including Derby, is one of 41 police authority areas in which elections will be held across England and Wales.

Commissioner duties will include:

• Consulting the public to understand law and order priorities
• Determining how policing budgets are spent
• Appointing the Chief Constable and removing the post holder from office – as long as various legal requirements are met.

The Chief Constable will keep control of the police force’s officers and staff while the Commissioner’s performance will be assessed by a police and crime panel.

Formal nomination of candidates can be made between 9am on Monday, October 8 and 12 noon on Friday, October 19 by calling the Police Area Returning Officers office at Amber Valley Borough Council on 01773 841631 or e-mailing elections@ambervalley.gov.uk
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For more information on the elections, click here.

If there are more than two candidates – as seems likely - a single transferrable voting system will invite voters to express a first and second preference which will be used to determine the winner. If there are only two candidates, the old-style first-past-the-post system will apply.

The council will send poll cards to households between Tuesday, October 16 and the following Monday while the Electoral Commission will write to every household next month.

The Home Office will then launch a television advertising campaign.

High Peak Mayor Pat Jenner said: “These historic elections will play a crucial role in shaping the future of policing in Derbyshire. I would urge voters to turn out in force so that the winner has a clear community mandate to make important decisions on issues ranging from CCTV and street lighting to drug dealing and gang violence”.