Vote today for the Police and Crime Commissioner

The whole of our area has an election today for the new post of Police and Crime Commissioner.

The new Commissioner will cover the whole of the Avon and Somerset police area, so it's going to be an important job.

 A lot of people are asking what the PCC will do, so here are a few key points:

What are the objectives for the new Commissioner? 

The PCC is supposed to bring a public voice to policing and hold our police force to account for delivering the kind of policing you want to see. Their aim will be to cut crime and to ensure your police force is effective.

 What will the PCC actually do? 

• engaging with the public and victims of crime to help set police and crime plans 
• ensuring the police force budget is spent where it matters most 
• appointing, and where necessary dismissing, the chief constable. 

So this is a key appointment. If we elect the wrong candidate, we could find our local police services cut drastically. 

What are our choices? 

Lib Dem candidate Pete Levy has served in both the civilian and military police and has been a member of the Police Authority for several years, so he's got lots of relevant experience. He has pledged to keep police services rather than cut them - you can read all about his proposals on his blog. You get two votes, a first and a second preference, so naturally we suggest that you give Pete Levy your first preference vote.

There are three other choices - Conservative, Labour and Independent. You can read about the various candidates here - but there's one key difference between them. The Conservative candidate has a record of cutting funding for police services - in Somerset he chopped the council funding for PCSOs, the Police Community Support Officers who provide much of our local police front line. So please don't even give the Conservatives your second preference.

KEEP OUR LOCAL POLICE SERVICES - VOTE FOR PETE LEVY