There will be no sell-off of services at the heart of fighting crime on my watch, vowed Ruth Potter, Labour’s Police and Crime Commissioner candidate for York and North Yorkshire, as she gave her backing to a police anti-privatisation pledge.
On Thursday, 15 November 2012 voters in England and Wales, excluding London, will head to the polls to elect 41 new Police and Crime Commissioners.
Policing unions Unite, GMB and PCS have asked police commissioner candidates to sign a pledge vowing to keep policing public as unease grows over plans to privatise local police services in some parts of the country, including the West Midlands and Surrey.
Ruth Potter said she was happy to sign a pledge which recognises that ‘the core duties of our police force extend beyond the power of arrest and include neighbourhood policing, 999 call answering and response, victim handling, forensics and more’
She said these were the services which cash-strapped chief constables look to outsource to private companies such as G4S and Serco.
Ruth said:
I am totally opposed to the privatisation of core police functions in York and North Yorkshire and will do my utmost to protect our local police services from sell-off.
From the bobby on the beat to forensics and handling 999 calls, our police force is stronger working together as one – not broken up and run by companies which put profits first.
This would not only jeopardise accountability and transparency in York and North Yorkshire, but also put at risk the integrity of our police force. I won’t stand for it.
The police anti-privatisation pledge reads: I recognise that the core duties of our Police Force extend beyond the power of arrest – it includes neighbourhood policing, 999 call answering and response, victim handling, forensics, custody, investigation and the wider breadth of services that support these roles in delivering policing to our communities. I oppose private companies carrying out duties and services for profit to my local community, because it would jeopardise the accountability, transparency and integrity of our Police Force.
