Police and Crime Commissioners – developing and sustaining a new model of police governance in England and Wales

This article considers the progress of the new system of police governance in England and Wales. It assesses the responsibilities and powers of Police and Crime Commissioners and also examines local initiatives undertaken by some PCCs which have proved to have national ramifications. It evaluates the accountability of PCCs between elections and highlights the limited powers of Police and Crime Panels. It considers the convention of police operational independence, in the light of two controversial police investigations, and the potential need for PCC oversight of future publically high profile investigations. It provides an initial assessment of an important and recent Appeal Court ruling [R –v- South Yorkshire PCC, QBD 2017]
which by making the PCC responsible for all police operational activity questions the tradition of constabulary operational independence. It is argued that enabling the PCC to bring a chief officer to account for all police operations could mean that potentially challenging and fruitless investigations can in the future, be avoided.