West Mercia Police Authority was the governing body of the West Mercia Police force in the English counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Shropshire until November 2012. Police authorities were replaced by directly elected police and crime commissioners. [1] The current police and crime commissioner for West Mercia is Bill Longmore.
Police Authorities were usually a board of members consisting of local councillors and independent members appointed directly to serve in that role.
In West Mercia, the Police Authority had a membership of 17 people drawn from across the force area:
The Police Authority also had two co-opted Independent Members appointed to the Standards Committee. [2]
West Mercia Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire in England. The force area covers 2,868 square miles (7,430 km2) making it the fourth largest police area in England and Wales. The resident population of the area is 1.19 million Its name comes from the ancient kingdom of Mercia.
A police authority in the United Kingdom is a public authority that is responsible for overseeing the operations of a police force. The nature and composition of police authorities has varied over time, and there are now just four dedicated "police authorities" in the United Kingdom, although the term can refer to various similar successor bodies.
Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of Halton and Borough of Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an area of 946 square miles (2,450 km2) with a population of approximately 1 million.
West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England.
A police board is an appointed form of local government charged with the responsibility of overseeing a local police force.
Warwickshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Warwickshire in England. It is the second smallest territorial police force in England and Wales after the City of London Police, with only 823 regular officers as of September 2017. The resident population of the force area is 554,002.
North Wales Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing North Wales. Its headquarters are in Colwyn Bay. As of March 2020, the force has 1,510 police officers, 170 special constables, 182 police community support officers (PCSO), 71 police support volunteers (PSV), and 984 staff.
Sussex Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing in the whole of Sussex. Its jurisdiction covers the ceremonial counties of East Sussex and West Sussex. The force is headquartered in Malling House, Lewes, East Sussex.
Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authorities within Staffordshire.
Luton, England, is a unitary authority, and remains part of the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire. Luton is currently represented on three different tiers of Government.
The 2012 police and crime commissioner elections were polls held in most police areas in England and Wales on Thursday 15 November. The direct election of police and crime commissioners (PCCs) was originally scheduled for May 2012 but was postponed in order to secure the passage of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 through the House of Lords. The government considers the elected commissioners to have a stronger mandate than the "unelected and invisible police authorities that they replace". The elections took place alongside by-elections for the House of Commons in Cardiff South and Penarth, Corby and Manchester Central, and a mayoral election in Bristol.
A police and crime commissioner is an elected official in England and Wales responsible for generally overseeing police forces. A police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) is an elected official in England responsible for generally overseeing both police forces and fire services. Commissioners replaced now-abolished police authorities. The first incumbents were elected on 15 November 2012.
Mark Burns-Williamson, is a British Labour Party politician who served as the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012 to 2021. He was the chair of the West Yorkshire Police Authority from 2003 to 2012 He was also the Wakefield District Councillor for Castleford Central and Glasshoughton Ward from 1998 to 2012.
Robert Moelwyn Jones, CBE was a British Labour politician who served as a member of Wolverhampton City Council from 1980 to 2013 and as the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner in England from 2013-14.
Ronald William Ball is a former Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), and the first person to hold the post. At the time of his election he was the only independent PCC not to have a background in policing. After a four-decade long career in aviation as an airline pilot on both commercial and cargo flights he was elected to the newly created office of Police and Crime Commissioner on 15 November 2012. One of his first acts in the post was to endorse an alliance with a neighbouring police force aimed at pooling resources and reducing overall costs. Although his role was a non-operational one, he requested a review of a police investigation into a motoring accident that left several people injured, citing public concerns over the incident. After it emerged that police officers who held a meeting with former Conservative Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell following his involvement in the Plebgate affair had not given a proper account of their conversation, Ball became caught up in the affair after criticising the findings of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which recommended the officers be disciplined. Ball did not contest the 2016 election for the post, and was succeeded by Philip Seccombe of the Conservative Party.
William Morgan Longmore, more publicly known as Bill Longmore was the Independent West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner. He was the first person to hold the post and was elected on 15 November 2012. A former police officer with Staffordshire Police, Longmore was a businessman prior to his election. He attracted controversy shortly after taking office for appointing his former campaign manager as his Deputy.
Torbay Council is the local authority of Torbay in Devon, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. The council appoints members to Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority and the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel. Torbay is divided into 16 wards, electing 36 councillors. The whole council is elected every four years with the last election taking place on 2 May 2019 and the next election scheduled for 2023. The council was created by the Local Government Act 1972 and replaced the Torbay Borough Council of the County Borough of Torbay. Since 1974 Torbay has held borough status which entitles the council to be known as Torbay Borough Council, although it has not used this name since becoming a unitary authority. The council no longer has a directly elected mayor of Torbay; the post was abolished in 2019, after a referendum held in May 2016.
Elections of police and crime commissioners in England and Wales were held on 5 May 2016.
The West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner (PCC), an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by West Mercia Police in the English counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. The post was created in November 2012, following an election held on 15 November 2012, and replaced the West Mercia Police Authority. The current incumbent is John Campion, who represents the Conservative Party.
The Mayor of West Yorkshire is a directly elected mayor responsible for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire in England. The Mayor chairs and leads the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and assumes the office and powers of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner.