The police, fire and crime commissioner candidates say why you should vote for them
Interviews with the candidates who want to become the new police, fire and crime commissioner. (Apart from the Tory candidate who did not want to talk to us.)
By Sarah Ward
It’s just nine days until Northamptonshire residents can choose a new police, fire and crime commissioner. The current commissioner Stephen Mold removed himself from re-election, following our expose of the misogynistic language he used to describe the new female fire chief, and so for the first time since the post was created in 2012, the county may elect someone from another party other than the Conservatives.
With Labour running high in the polls, its candidate Danielle Stone, may be the party’s best chance of election for many a year. However Liberal Democrat candidate Ana Savage Gunn, has been making a profile for herself, having stood in the Wellingborough byelection and having her say publicly on the various public scandals that have blighted the police and fire service in recent months.
We spoke to the candidates earlier this month, apart from Conservative candidate Martyn Emberson. NN Journal had been due to speak to him, but he cancelled on the day due to an ‘emergency issue’ and since then we have not been able to rearrange anything with him.
We also understand he has refused other local hustings and interviews so it may not just be NN Journal.
Danielle Stone, a long serving Labour councillor from Northampton, says people should vote for her because she is in touch with the local communities and knows what the issues are.
She said:
“The role is supposed to represent the views of the people to both the forces and to help them improve their service in line with what people want from them. Because I am a community activist and have been a local authority public servant and a councillor for many years I know a lot of the communities and therefore I'm in a really good position to represent them.
“I make it my business to talk to people, I always have done. Prior to my selection I was holding a number of community safety events for residents to hear what their concerns were and what they wanted to happen.”
If she is elected, she says her first role will be to try and lift staff morale.
“I think both forces have had a battering because of all the things that have gone on, so I think raising staff morale is going to be really, really important. I will want to meet staff and talk to them about what their immediate needs are. I know with the newest recruits their needs are about further training and proper mentoring support and so it is about looking at the capacity for doing that. I’m a bit anxious about the back room staff and so I want to make sure we have enough of those so the police officers don't have to fill the gap.
“But the big thing I want to do is get a meeting of all the chief executive officers across the county and talk to them about how we all plan together to keep the communities safe because that hasn't been happening. And I will want to have those meetings in public so the public can come and represent their views to the chief execs.
“I’m saying that because I'm really aware that with the collapse of public services, mental health services, youth services, the police are often the stop gap and I don't think that is right. So I think we all need to be working together to make sure we have a multi agency approach to prevention. And so we free the police up to do their substantive job which is investigating crime.”
She is keen to give the police in each area a visible base where members of the community can access officers. This is unlikely though to see a reopening of the stations that have closed down in the past decade.
She said:
“All over the county we have police stations that are closed. They are either fully closed, like in Corby, or they are closed to the public, such as in Oundle. People don't have access to the police. The Labour government that will be coming in, will support the commissioners to open neighbourhood policing hubs. They will be multi agency hubs, so for example if there is a mental health crisis, that hub will send out a mental health worker.”
She wants to see the capacity of the fire service strengthened.
She says:
“I’m really worried about the firefighters. They are operating with too few crew. The received wisdom is when they take out a pump [fire engine] they should have a crew of four to six and they are going out with crews of three - that’s just not safe. And because of crewing numbers, out of the 28 vehicles we have, it’s often only 11 or 12 that can be used. The safety number is 14.
“According to my own freedom of information request, in the last 18 months there were 250 odd occasions where the fire service was operating with fewer than 14 vehicles available.
The current commissioner has an office of staff and spends several million a year on his own projects. Danielle Stone says any projects she undertakes will be outcomes focused.
She said:
“I want to draw people together so we can examine issues and then come up with a grand plan. And then decide how and who is going to deliver it. I shall want outcomes. Are we reducing crime and the vulnerability of young people to gang culture and crime?
“The other thing I’m really excited about is problem solving courts. These are courts where the issue is not ‘This person is really bad, let's send them to prison’, it’s ‘What has life done to make this young person’s behaviour so problematic and what can we do to help them out of that hole?’ The courts are combating the criminalisation of young people and women. There is an understanding there that society has failed them and so its society’s job to help them get back on their feet. I find that approach really sympathetic and really exciting.”
Her plans will only be fully realised if she has a government run by her own Labour party.
“I am aware a lot of things I want to see happen, I won’t be able to do on my own. I need a Labour government to be in place to do it with me.”
Ana Savage Gunn, insists it is her own policing background that makes her the best choice of candidate. After reaching the rank of inspector in Northants police, she worked in Atlanta during the mid 1990s and became a law enforcement consultant in the USA.
This is the Liberal Democrat’s second attempt to get elected. She stood against Stephen Mold in 2021 and won 15 per cent of the vote.
She says:
“I have the experience and the expertise for the role because I was an international law enforcement consultant so I’ve seen policing, not only here when I was a police officer but internationally and that brings a massive overview, that I don’t think any of the other candidates can bring at all.”
Her assessment of the current situation is scathing.
“It is an unholy mess at the moment, because the commissioner has stood down and you have a police chief that has just recently been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service and a fire chief that is unable to take up their place deriving out of something from their previous role as a police officer, so the top level of police and fire is in total disarray at the moment and that needs to be sorted as a matter of priority for whoever wins the election.
“I had noticed the Labour and Conservative candidates have a very big laundry list of what they want to do, it's like a shopping list, but I will be putting the fire out first before I start filling my trolley up.”
She is quite clear that Commissioner Mold choice of candidate Nikki Watson would not start in post if she wins the election. Watson has been given the job but cannot start until the current Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation into her is over.
She said:
“She does not have fire experience and so I would not be honouring that because I think every fire officer needs to be able to know that their fire chief knows exactly what they’re doing and if we have a horrifying incident where there is a massive fire or rescue needed, they will be gold control and so they will need to make operational decisions and that can't happen at the moment if it is somebody who has no experience.”
Her first job would be steadying the ship, leading by example and bringing back integrity.
“It’s a mammoth job trying to get the public to have belief back in us and have the officers themselves believe in the command structure. So I don’t have any crazy innovations yet, I'm just going to be steadying the ship and that will take a good while.”
She will however be looking to shrink back what the commissioner’s officer has been doing and handing more money back to the chiefs of fire and police so they can invest in staff and equipment.
She said:
“The two biggest sections of spending are for youth and victim support and for victim support services there are about 49 people employed and youth services about 40. And I don’t see any measurements of a great deal of performance and I’m not sure we are getting value for money.
“Instead of reinventing the wheel we should be looking to invest in the communities that already have existing youth services and encourage those. Because those are the ones that have the integrity of the community. Instead of doing a grassroots up approach we are doing a top down approach. I would try and do a grassroots approach, but first off see what value for money we are getting, because every million we spend is 44 officers not on the street, so I better be getting value for money for it.
“At the moment they are doing fire brigade policing because basically there are not enough officers front end. We have less officers per 1,000 than we used to have. I am hoping by freeing up some money I can put it back into the hands of the chief constable and the fire service. The fire service has equipment needs. By giving more money to the chiefs, they can spend it and put more staff on the ground. From what I hear the fire service is having police hand me downs and cutting the labels out, and they don't like it and I totally understand that as they are a totally different service.”
The reason why she wants the job is partly to clean up the culture.
She said:
“[In my past career] I dealt with corruption, nepotism, racism, colourism, sexism and would recommend ways to combat all of those things, never dreaming for one minute I’d come back to Northamptonshire and find that here. It was quite shocking - enough to make me want to try and do something about it.”
The election takes place on Thursday, May 2. NN Journal will be reporting from the election count. (Remember photo id is required to vote).
Mr Emberson won't talk to NN Journal?
That speaks volumes about his lack of understanding of so many aspects.
P.R. is the name of the game and if any political party needed good P.R. right now it's the Conservatives.
Who advised him to not talk?
Was this a P.R. hiccup or just total arrogance, indifference, or just bloody mindedness?
Maybe he doesn't really want the job having seen the track record of his 2 predecessors?
Danielle Stone is out of the running for me. She admits to knowing nothing about either the Police or the Fire Service.
Sorry, but a serious candidate must have an inkling about the role.
Too much to take on board from square one.
Also, being a staunch well travelled politician, why only now go for the job?
A salary to top up the pension?
My vote goes here...Ana Savage-Gunn has been a Police Inspector, dealt with senior officers and seems to have a very concise and interesting C.V. and a grip on Police issues.
It's a great shame that she has had to tag onto the LibDems as there would be no hope in hell of her being noticed for the candidacy without the political agenda.
LibDems don't spring to mind for most folks, me neither, but I can see only one person who truly will do the job properly without fear or favour.
As an ex volunteer Independent member of the Northamptonshire, Police, Fire and Crime panel for the past eight years this is my views. The candidates do not need to be an ex Police or Fire officer. The role of the Commissioner is to ensure that the budget and funding received from Council tax and grants fulfilled the Crime Plan. I.e the action plan to deliver what the residents wishes to have. Commissioner cannot interfere with the operational side of the Police and Fire. They have to work together. However, the Commissioner has to scrutinise the delivery for both services. If they do not, the Commissioner can sack them. The Panel is there like I was to scrutinise and ask pertinent questions to the Commissioner as to their performance. Was the outcomes good or poor for the residents? If not, Councillors have the power to dismissed him. However, as you have seen, if Councillors are ineffective, you get what you voted for. I.e Mold