Open letter to Police and Crime Commissioner
27th September 2013
Dear Mr Surl,
At the time of your election we supported your
candidacy as an independent and the following statement appeared on our website
soon after your election:
Gloucestershire Police
The Green Party did not stand a candidate in the
November 2012 election of a Police & Crime Commissioner for
Gloucestershire. We believed it was a distraction from the serious reduction in
the police authority's budget at a time when serious questions are being asked
of many forces' performance and integrity.
We hope that our support for the winning
independent candidate will not be a matter of regret as we look forward to his
efforts to minimise the impact of cuts, improve the image of the force as
impartial and implement a non-party political strategy.
We write an open letter to you now on two matters:
1. We are concerned to hear that you are in favour
of further intrusions into private electronic communications. We do not believe
that the essential work of the security services and police in protecting us
from terrorism will be sufficiently advanced by this measure to justify the
infringement in privacy entailed.
2. We wish to know what you intend to do about the
Chief Constable who could face criminal charges for her role in witness
handling while at Staffordshire police in a conviction for murder which had to
be overturned. We appreciate that she should be considered innocent until
proven guilty, but cannot see how the circumstances of this particular case
allow her to enjoy the confidence of the force or the public while her
prosecution is under consideration.
Yours sincerely
Martin Whiteside and Carol Kambites
Joint external coordinators - Stroud Green Party
No comments:
Post a Comment