Less 'Police' and perhaps more 'Crime' for the new Commissioners?

The following article that I have written here originally appeared in an edited form in the July/August 2011 edition of Politics First Magazine.

Much of the debate on Police and Crime Commissioners is about the pros and cons of having them, whether it is the Government's argument for reconnecting the Police with the communities it serves on one side, or the fear of political interference in the Police or the alleged £136 million cost, on the other.

However the reality is that It was explicitly mentioned in the coalition agreement and is Clause 1 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, so even if it, like Health reform, is somehow phased with pilots over a period, it is very likely that at least some Police and Crime Commissioners will be up for election in the next year.

Indeed, with critical mass, in a few years we could see them as a more significant group: The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners could well be an organisation seen as important for its view on crime and policing as much as some of the professional Police associations.

This leads on to two, perhaps more interesting, issues than the principle currently being debated: what will the elections be like and what will this new type of elected official do?

The elections

Just as elected Mayors were not popular with existing elected local politicians, no doubt we will see significant hostility to them - especially from those already serving on Police Authorities. Interestingly the one elected person who might be seen as the template for the new role is Middlesbrough's elected 'Robocop' Mayor: Ray Mallon.

Some fear the elections will all be about candidates who can ratchet up public demands for being "tough on crime". However maybe the problem in the past has been that the strong emotional issues for some people around crime have not been addressed? Perhaps those conducting rational and objective public policy too often forget that, as the author David Brooks has recently described, we are mainly 'social animals' vastly impacted by our emotions and unconscious needs? Perhaps the way politicians communicate with bland and safe soundbites will be challenged in this specific field?

But those emotive issues work in many ways. The evidence of London mayoral elections where Policing along with transport is the main issue, has not so far seen an unreasonable debate on Policing. Though to be fair this may reflect the unique challenges of London and because it holds much more liberal minded values than the rest of the country at least out as far as Transport for London's Zone 3.

Will Independents or perhaps the populist far-right be more competitive in these elections? We have already seen an English Democrat mayor elected in Doncaster; could we see a UKIP Police Commissioner, though the current electoral collapse of the BNP means they are now less likely to electorally benefit from the post.

However the challenge for all the smaller parties and independents is the sheer size of the areas to be contested. At the same time the boundaries do not easily fit with the areas covered by regional television. Boris Johnson and Lynton Crosby's successful suburban "doughnut strategy" to defeat Ken Livingstone is something sophisticated that only the two main parties, in terms of finance and volunteers, could actually deliver.

The role

Significantly the aspect of the role that has received less thought is the 'Crime' side of role compared to the 'Police' side. The reality is that Chief Constable in each area will have full daily operational control of their command. Apart from the the Commissioner 'going nuclear' and seeking to remove the Police Constable, much of the role will be much more of setting the tone for what priorities are being locally tackled.

Thus a range of issues may fall much more under the role of commissioner: local victim support, neighbourhood watch development and engagement with the public. All these are important and will in the end prove a lot more fruitful in terms of communicating with many people with a degree of local influence, to what will be elected officials, no doubt thinking of future re-election across very large geographical areas. At the same time, there are also issues such as the level of local Police precept, which may also be a way in which Commissioners are judged.

In other words, people will relate to the commissioner in many different ways. From whether they perceive them to deliver value for money, whether they demonstrate emotional sensitivity to a terrible tragedy, through being seen to take action - possibly much more important than toughness - in a deprived community suffering from anti-social behaviour.

Thus those who think this will simply be a debate about who can simply sound the toughest at election time may well be proved wrong and perhaps what the people looking at future arrangements, or even considering standing for it; should be doing is defining the wide person specification required for this challenging new role.

Charlie Mansell, was a Councillor for 20 years, serving on a Police Consultative Committee and plays a key role on Research and Development of new products and services for the Campaign Company.

Motivating People to Vote....and to Participate in Civil Society

The following article that I have written here originally appeared in an edited form in the December 2010 edition of Total Politics Magazine.

Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Turnout, Donald Green, Alan Gerber, Brookings Institution Press

Whilst many campaign books cover the whole gamut of campaigning activity, I would recommend this book for its specific focus on a fundamental part of the campaign: increasing voter turnout. Whilst many are committed to vote, how do we motivate others to change their behaviour to either walk to a polling station or even fill in a postal vote form?

Fifty years ago social norms, perhaps supported by, I suspect, much more family reinforcement, meant this was a much easier task. But we live in much more distracted, consumerist and complex times, where the stakes are perceived as lower, political divides are weaker and many things compete in our own "economics of attention".

This book draws from over 100 studies and, having thrown out red herrings about simply reminding voters through materials or increasing the level of partisanship, distills them down to three key hypotheses:

• Make people feel wanted down the polling station - voting should feel like a social occasion with a personal invitation. This is why Barack Obama's campaign was all about inviting your neighbour to vote. Phone conversations should also be a conversation not a script.
  
• Build on existing motivations - calling people back who have already said they might vote has a significant impact. A key insight is that this does not need to be partisan, so perhaps the UK needs an activist and local non-partisan "League of Women Voters"? It's also very relevant to the forthcoming AV referendum campaign. I would argue the softer, less widely motivated Yes Campaign, in order to get a mandate, needs to get a wide general commitment to "vote on my vote" as well as then focusing on various pro-Yes issues.
  
• Many people will vote if they feel others are watching - perhaps instead of compulsory voting like Australia, the real lesson is that it should be made much more publicly clear that all the parties hold "marked registers" and know not how but whether you voted. We all know the public are woefully ignorant of this simple piece of information and yet we do not tell them straight! Perhaps the parties fear the perception of "Big Brother" too much and would lack even more confidence to express this after the expenses scandal?
  

Anyone reading the above, who has studied any social psychology will see elements of Professor Robert Cialdini's studies into "commitment and consistency". Perhaps additional lessons are to gain insight into the needs, motivations and values of voters, segment the audience and communicate in the right way to them?

Finally, as well as its specific political role, I also think this book is very relevant to those working on Civil (Big) Society initiatives. It's no good simply offering up an activity and expect the busy public to take on running it. You need to make them feel wanted, get them to commit to it and demonstrate that others are taking part too. "Get out the vote" is perhaps also a very good pointer to ways one might "Get out the people"?