Please visit the team at :

PCC Website

PCC Twitter

PCC Facebook

Thanks Martyn

Streetwise in Bournemouth, and in the afternoon I took the PCC oath, and I

was officially sworn in at the Civic Office, Poole.

I went from that to a meeting with the Chief Constable, Debbie Simpson,

where we talked about my manifesto, and how we can make it happen. It was

a useful and positive meeting.

I look forward to working with her.

Today, I delivered a talk to some Year 11 students at St Aldhelms Academy, before

slotting into “consultancy mode” closing down two contracts I was working on

before I got elected.

My first PCC official day will be 9am Thursday, the same day as the launch of the PCC Website.

You can now contact me at pcc@dorset.pnn.police.uk

Contact via the website and an external method for staff will follow shortly.

Kind regards

Martyn

continue to update this website, so that you know what is going on.

On Monday, I am being sworn in as the inaugural Dorset

Police and Crime Commissioner at the Civic Centre, Poole.

Then I start work on Thursday morning.

Between now and then, please continue to contact me with your issues,

and your kind offers to sit on the local PCC Forums.

Kind regards

Martyn

in every part of Dorset. We won in every voting area.

That is truly humbling.

Many of you have already asked to help me by joining the new PCC Forums, and I

will be in contact with you regarding this.

Now the hard work begins, on Thursday my new PCC Website will be launched,

and I will keep you updated regarding all of the work being undertaken on

there.

Thanks for believing

Martyn

whole of Dorset are all at the  Lighthouse in Poole.

Counting starts at 9.30am.

First count should be in around lunchtime.

If we go to the second count, then it should come in mid afternoon!

Martyn

It is a truly great blog. Please read

Today, you can make me wrong.

Not just a little wrong but very wrong.

My post yesterday listed predicted baselines against which we can assess the election results. It has largely been supported by Jon Collins of the Police Foundation (check the comments section and you’ll see). Some folk at The Guardian tell me they hope to use it in their election day paper. It’s certainly had plenty of views, perhaps because more sensible people have backed away from making anything that looks like a prediction in one of the most unpredictable elections in recent British political history. (Not all though – see Mike Smithson and John Curtice)

But I wrote it with a heavy heart.

You see, I don’t want people to vote for their favourite colour. I want them to vote for the best candidate.

That’s why I’ve run this site for the past 9 months – so that you would have as much information as you could to help you decide. The fact that you are reading these words suggests that you are one of those people who doesn’t have to wait for a slice of dead tree to come through your door in order for you to be informed. Right now you are just clicks away from finding out how best to cast your vote, so resist the temptation to winge about overworked candidates not getting to your door among a million others. The people who fought and died for your vote never had as much information as close to hand in any of their elections as you have right now.

Neither did they, or you, or I, ever have the chance to have such a direct say in how we will be policed or in how crime will be dealt with where we live. Yes, the government may have fluffed some elements of this election, but more importantly they have done what no other government has done – they have given us a choice. It is up to us now to use it.

So read a little, think a little, make up your mind, and go and vote.

I’ve been fortunate to meet many of the candidates in these elections. I’ve spoken with them, corresponded with hem, and got a feel for what they are really like, and plenty of them are quite good. This leaves me with a real sense of pity if people decide on tribal loyalties, whether that be the traditional party tribes, or the new anti-party tribe, for there are good and bad in all. That party label is an important shortcut to key political views, and I’m glad voters have that information to help them decide, but it isn’t everything.

So I would like to be wrong.

I would like no candidate to feel ‘safe’ because of where they are standing, and no good candidate to be wasted because of where they live. I would like some Independents, the right ones, to win. I would like it not to be predictable.

Today you have two votes. Use them wisely. Use them both.

Make me wrong.

It’s been a long campaign.

I’ve driven over  20,000 miles in 6 months. I’ve met scores of organisations,

met thousands of people, and now it is down to the public to do what they

think is right.

I stood because I believe the public deserved a choice.

A choice away from a party politician.

An Independent who knows how the police works, an Independent who

believes in Dorset Solutions for Dorset People.

An Independent who is prepared to lobby the Government nationally, and

lobby the Local Government and other agencies  as well, to achieve what YOU

the people of Dorset want.

You don’t have to be a party politician to make Dorset safer.

Please make sure you use your vote tomorrow.

Please help me to Keep Party Politics Out of Policing

Thanks

Martyn

emails from your opposition concern you and not your policies!

The fact is that a lot of my voters ARE Conservative voters in normal

elections. I know that for two reasons:

1.

Some are my supporters are normally loyal Conservatives

(just as some of my supporters belong to other political parties)

who will return to the fold for the May 2013 elections.

2.

In the past few weeks I have met people who have told me “I normally

vote for the Conservatives, but on this election I am with you, I don’t

want party politics to interfere with the role”

So, just for all of you worried about your party allegiance,

it is OKAY to vote for an Independent when it comes to the

PCC role. This is about your police, and it’s okay to feel that

a party label shouldn’t be attached to policing.

You can go back to your party politics for a party political

election next May. 

The latest emails coming from the Conservative Associations state that I am trying to

be all things to all people, in that:

1. I am allegedly saying I am pro Countryside Alliance and pro hunting,

yet I support anti hunt campaigners.

2. I am saying I am pro Labour and pro Conservative at the same time

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

THE HUNTING ISSUE

I am pro rural and pro countryside. I am also pro wildlife. I am not a member of

the Countryside Alliance, although I have signed the Countryside Alliance

PCC Pledge, which relates to rural policing and rural crime. It makes no mention of

hunting or shooting or the numerous other issues the Countryside Alliance

campaign on. I have met the Countryside Alliance, as any responsible

prospective PCC would do.

I have also signed the International Fund for Animal Welfare pledge, which

pledges to make wildlife crime a priority. Interestingly, so have over 60 other

PCC candidates, or prospective candidates, some of whom are Conservative.

Neither are at a juxtaposition to each other. Neither conflict.

Hunting is an emotional issue. Feelings run high.

I know from being a policeman that the police often have a difficult job, enforcing

the law between different groups where emotions can take over. I saw it policing

the Miners Strike in the 1980′s.

The Police Officers’ personal view cannot be allowed to interfere with them doing

their job – keeping the peace and upholding the law.

And it’s the same here. I am not pro fox  hunting. Personally I am against fox hunting.

Whatever my personal opinion, I will support the Chief Constable to enforce/police

the law set by Parliament, whatever that is.

That’s what is expected of the police, and the new role of the PCC is no different.

I do not belong to an anti hunt campaign group or support an anti hunt campaign

group.

MY POLITICAL VIEW

I have been a member of both the Labour and Conservative Parties in my 20′s

and 30′s. Margaret Thatcher was the Governor of my school, we grew up in the

same town. I policed her constituency in North London.

As I matured, I left my Party Political beliefs behind me nearly 20 years ago.

I became disillusioned with the scandals, the U turns and the untruths.

And I still am disillusioned.

I am A-Political.

Thanks for reading this, and remember, it is OKAY to leave your party for

this election.

Martyn

The G4S scandal, plus the Home Secretary’s constant referrals to

privatising parts of the Police and of the Probation Service have

clearly hit a nerve with a lot of Dorset residents.

Nick King, Conservative PCC Candidate, states he is against privatisation.

Worryingly, his Home Secretary clearly isn’t!

So here is my position. I have used the three commonly asked

questions to outline my view:

Can I promise not to privatise Dorset police services?

I write to you whether you are a family member, a loved one, or a friend

of a Police Officer, a Special Constable, Police Staff or a PCSO.

I know that Dorset Police is more than a job, it is all embracing.

I know your loved ones  cannot do the job without the support of y0u.

And that’s why I am writing to you all.

On Thursday you have the choice to decide your first Police and Crime

Commissioner.

I know a lot of you are worried about all that. But we are where we are. I stood to

give you a choice –  a choice away from Westminster.

What makes me different? Well, apart from being an Independent, I have a

knowledge of the business.

If  pressure is bought to bear to change  shifts again, I’ve worked them, I know how

hard it is for you all professionally and socially, to change the shift. I see the human side.

I know what it is like to work in poor out of date buildings and with poor equipment.

This isn’t just about police numbers, it’s about improving the infrastructure. Let’s

explore a new hub in  North Dorset, and let’s explore giving staff encrypted tablets,

so that we can keep Police on the streets longer.

That makes policing sense, not just for the public, but for your loved ones.

Let me fight the unfair budget allocation, let me fight the cuts, because I am Independent,

and because I can.

There will be things I say, or have said,  that you disagree with. That’s life.

But believe me when I say I have not only the public in mind.

I have you in my mind too. That’s because your loved one’s  morale, your morale

and your loved one’s ability to do their job impacts on the standard of policing in Dorset.

I will meet the police staff. I will listen to them, face to face. Sometimes it’s not always

about Unison and the Police Federation, it’s about your loved one and you.

And finally, a thank you. No-one can do this wonderful work without you. You live eat

and breathe the job too.

I thank you for your devotion to your loved ones, the Christmas Dinners put on

hold and the birthdays snatched away.

Police Commissioners are here. Please make sure you choose the right one.

Thank you for reading this

Martyn

The truth is that it is not the issue raised by the public as much as the items I have

listed in my manifesto.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t important.

It is.

The Police have a role to help protect and preserve life.

And lives are lost or ruined on our roads all the time.

I embrace the No Excuses campaign, Dorset Police’s road safety initiative.

My inbox often features emails from people who feel that targeting the motoring

public is the wrong use of police resources.

The truth is that speeding or driving whilst using a mobile phone can ruin lives,

including yours.

I do accept that many of you feel the targeting is excessive, and many of you also

raise that the police always seem to be enforcing in urban areas, and not rurally.

If elected, I will examine both of these issues, so that I can report back to you.

I also keen to extend the 20 mph limit that is in place  in some villages of Dorset.

The PCC doesn’t have the power to change speed limits!

But the PCC could work with other agencies, such as the Parish Councils,

to help make it happen.

It is for the community itself to push for a reduction in it’s own speed limits,

but I am more than happy if elected to help move the process on.

20 mph limits can save lives.

Thanks for reading this

Martyn

their position is at risk, if I am elected.

So I will just explain my position.

I consider the PCSO role are a crucial part of the policing family.

They are public facing, provide community engagement and reassurance

to the public.

I have NEVER said that PCSOs will be abolished in Dorset. Indeed, I will

do everything in my power to sustain the current levels that, if I am

elected, I will inherit.

Earlier this year, I did raise the issue of Police Officer -v- PCSO cuts in the

Bournemouth Echo. However, the context in which I was quoted was that

I felt then, and still feel now, that any cuts to the “thin blue line” should be

equally split between Police Officer and PCSO.

I have already petitioned No. 10 Downing Street about funding arrangements

for Dorset.  If elected, I will continue to do so in order that, hopefully, I

can increase both Police Officer and PCSO posts in this County.

PCSOs are an integral part of policing in Dorset and will never be abolished

on my watch.

Thanks for reading this.

Martyn