I am seeking election as Lincolnshire’s Police Commissioner as it is important that people should be represented by someone who will put the public’s interest first and not those of a political party.
I am also standing with an unashamedly ‘tough on crime’ set of policies.
These policies are necessary because there has been a three-fold increase in people appearing in court with 15 or more convictions in the last 10 years.
Why? Because our politicians have been soft and:
Introduced a system of community service orders where 25 per cent are not complied with;
Written off £60 million worth of fines that people can’t be bothered to pay;
Introduced a tagging system where 55 per cent of those tagged have breached the terms;
Allowed prison sentencing to be determined by the number of places, rather than keeping us safe;
Failed to protect our borders .
The Lincolnshire public are sick and tired of the petty crime and anti-social behaviour often caused by repeat offenders.
Such offenders show contempt for their neighbours, the police and the courts.
Our police may not be perfect but many problems are caused by our failing politicians.
The Police Commissioner has to work with probation, courts and the CPS to ensure an ‘efficient and effective criminal justice system’. I will work hard to reverse the trends of the past 30 years and strengthen successful programmes to prevent crime in the first place.
I will:
• Seek tougher sanctions for repeat offenders
• Introduce locally based community special constables with the power of arrest
• Strengthen support for organisations like Neighbourhood, Business and Farm Watch
• Campaign to give real powers to councils to actually ban street drinking and control alcohol sales
• Seek tough minimum sentences for drug dealing and possession of weapons
• Campaign for tougher border controls
• Rebalance the system to favour the victim
• Make the police, and G4S, their contractor, more accountable to you
But our police are appallingly funded – the worst in the country. It is a myth that this is because the crime rate in Lincolnshire is low, it is not.
Crime rates in the home counties are six per cent lower than in Lincolnshire and yet they have 18 per cent more police per head.
Worse, they have lower council taxes because we subsidise some of the most affluent parts of the country.
Our politicians have done little to redress this but I have started a campaign with other rural forces, with a protest delivered to No 10 and the launch of a national petition.
This is an example of the strong leadership I will give.
Candidates are allowed to spend up to £100k on getting elected.
That fills me with horror. I don’t believe that public posts like Police Commissioner should be bought or sold. I’ve not accepted a penny from anybody.
I’m relying upon like-minded people to support me. Support me at the ballot box and help my campaign.
More information about me and how you can help can be found at www.davidbowles.org.uk
• This website will be featuring one candidate each day between Tuesday and Sunday