15th November 2012
University criminologist Professor Peter Squires writes of his fears that the new police commissioners will lead to populist “tough justice”.
The Police Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections are to be held today (November 15) but despite the late smattering of advertisements on TV and elsewhere, there is still substantial uncertainty about what these new commissioners are for; there are ambiguities about their role; and, in the light of these uncertainties, there is a degree of trepidation about just how many people will actually bother to go out and vote for them.