Not a PCC to vote for in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall

Following on from my questions to Dorset and Devon & Cornwall PCC candidates, based on the shocking behaviour of existing PCCs Martyn Underhill and Alison Hernandez, I can now present the conclusions, which are on the whole of course rather disappointing. My questions included for example (putting aside the vast quantity of corruption and coverup detailed here ) the recent example of lies from the OPCC Chief exec Simon Bullock (ex home office) and / or fraudulent "lost income claim" by Dorset Council / Police. An FOI request about this, naturally, resulted in yet another abuse of FOI and coverup

Any genuine PCC looking to fulfil the primary objective, to make the police accountable to the public, would have fallen over themselves to use this information to take a side with the public, make it clear they understood these failures and that they would sort it out, bringing a vast improvement in police efficiency and performance. But the response has been to say the least, rather pathetic, at the best "I will look at these points when and if I have been voted in". No you won't.

Any future PCC has to hit police corruption, waste and incompetence HEAD ON, the moment there is any softness, any hint of "I'm just going to make things better from now", they will just become like Underhill and Hernandez. They might have good intentions, but they will quickly find that in order not to stir up the system too much, they will have to turn a blind eye, ignore, and once this has started they will quickly find themselves protecting and lying, and will enter into a downwards spiral, just like Underhill and Hernandez.

My prediction is that Dan Hardy will win in Dorset - purely based on the fact that Underhill, (and therefore CC Vaughan, and all the corrupt leaders of Dorset Council) has announced him as favourite. The only reason Underhill would have a preference would be if he felt his shocking legacy in which so many others are implicated would be protected by it. So we will end up with the ultimate lunacy again, the police being policed by an "ex" policeman and not only that, an "ex" Met policemen - and just look up operation Midland if you want to know what they get up to.

Could things really be as bad as I say in good old England? The ultimate responsibility lies with the government, so the simple answer is yes! Sleaze, lobbying, bullying, cronyism, public money spent for private purposes, £2.6 million on a "press room", Dyson, covid contracts to buddies, strange credit card bills, etc etc etc and that is just in the last few months! Will anyone end up in court? Will anyone be held accountable? Will anyone go to jail? No. These parasites are bound to protect each other, if one goes, all will go.

So sadly what I am reporting hangs together, I wish it didn't.

Anyway, briefly, the most positive response I got was from Patrick Canavan for Dorset. He expressed the best understanding of how bad policing has become but wanted to "just move forward from where we are" so he won't last 5 minutes before getting sucked into the realities.

The only reachable conclusion is that anyone who actually stands up and tells the public they will do what needs doing BEFORE the election will find that they will get fewer votes than they might otherwise have expected.

But please, whatever you do, don't vote for Dan Hardy, who has already adopted the Martyn Underhill policy of ignoring and deleting anything "inconvenient" to the police in total disregard to the spirit of the job. And also, do not vote for Alison Hernandez in Devon and Cornwall, I have not come across a lady with lower integrity or interest in public duty.

Actually, probably best to do what I will do, not bother voting at all.

Ian Belchamber