Police and Crime Commissioners ─ The transformation of police accountability

Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are elected representatives whose role is to ensure that police forces in England and Wales are running effectively. Intended to bring a public voice to policing and hold the police to account, this controversial role also controls budgets and strategic planning.

Drawing on unprecedented access to PCCs and their chief officer teams, Bryn Caless and Jane Owens performed confidential interviews with both sides and reveal in this book the innermost workings of PCCs’ relationships with the police, media, partners, and public. The authors also analyze the election process (in which some PCCs have been elected by the lowest voter turnout ever in the United Kingdom) and consider the future of this politically contested role. Amid ongoing international debates over police accountability, this fascinating look at the impact of PCCs on policing will be essential reading for PCCs themselves, chief officers, police officers, and police trainers, as well as academics, students, and researchers in criminology and policing.

Bryn Caless is a senior lecturer in policing at Canterbury Christ Church University and former director of the Kent Police College. He is coauthor, most recently, ofLeading Policing in Europe: An Empirical Study of Strategic Police Leadership, also published by Policy Press.Jane Owens is a lecturer in the School of Law, Criminal Justice and Computing at Canterbury Christ Church University and a former police officer.