News / Politics
PCC ‘will protect police from politics’
Sue Mountstevens has defended her record as police commissioner as she announced she will be running for reelection on a platform of keeping politics out of policing.
Mountstevens confirmed she would be aiming to keep her role, despite a tricky three years which has seen three chief constables at the helm and two officers sacked over the way they dealt with a high-profile vigilante murder.
“They are going to absolutely go for my record,” she told Bristol24/7, referring to the opposition candidates – only one of whom have been named so far.
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“Regarding Mr Gargan, information came to me, it was investigated, he was found guilty, he lost the confidence of the police and the public and I asked him to resign.
“I made this all very public because one of the aims is to make the police more transparent.”
Mounstevens was forced to make a public apology in 2014 after she mistakenly released the names to Gargan of the people who had made complaints against him.
Gargan was found guilty of misconduct which included using his work phone to send intimate images to a colleague.
His dismissal came while four members of the force were being investigated for misconduct in public office for ignoring the pleas for help of Bijan Ebrahimi, who was beaten to death and burned in Brislington in 2013.
Asked about the time it took to sanction the officers, Mounstevens said: “The investigations were by the IPCC and nothing to do with the police.
“Yes it was extremely long winded and I’m extremely frustrated. I hope changes to the IPCC will mean in the future things like this can move forward more quickly.”
She added that she will be focusing on her independence from political parties when campaigning for reelection.
“Policing is a very complex business already,” she said. “The last thing we want is having a Tory or Labour politician running things and being dictated to from London.”
She said she would also be continuing to focus on victims of crime, if reelected. “There’s a lot of work that’s unfinished. I have worked hard in getting a better service for victims of crime, supporting 25,000 of the most vulnerable.”
Mountstevens faces Conservative Party candidate Mark Weston, a councillor for Henbury in Bristol.
The Labour Party are yet to announce their candidates, but it is understood they are working with a shortlist of Easton councillor Afzal Shah, Kerry Barker, a Bristol barrister who unsuccessfully put his name forward to stand for mayor and Ronald Laden, a retired army colonel and current chairman of Bath Labour Party.
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