Bill Longmore fires off angry letter to council

11:54am Monday 14th January 2013 in News By Tom Edwards

Police and crime commissioner Bill Longmore Police and crime commissioner Bill Longmore

THE region's new police and crime commissioner has penned a letter to Worcestershire County Council in a bid to get a 'no confidence' motion rejected.

Bill Longmore has sent chief executive Trish Haines a two-page letter insisting it is "wrong" to call his deputy his friend.

Mr Longmore, West Mercia Police's first ever elected boss, has come under fire after appointing his former election agent Barrie Sheldon as his £50,000 deputy.

The duo are former work colleagues at Staffordshire Police, and Mr Longmore went ahead with the appointment against advice from the watchdog-style Police and Crime Panel.

On Thursday, the county council's Labour group will press for a vote on a 'no confidence' motion on the duo.

The letter from Mr Longmore states: "Under the legislation introducing Commissioners, specific provision was made for PCCs to appoint their deputies by personal selection, rather like the way the Prime Minister selects a cabinet or for that matter how some local authorities allocate portfolios to councillor colleagues.

"Of the commissioners who have so far made deputy or assistant appointments the overwhelming majority have done so as I have done, by personal selection.

"The process I followed was both lawful and proper, albeit the Police and Crime Panel would have preferred that I had held an open process.

"West Mercia is a large area and the work of the commissioner extensive - I consider I need a deputy to help me carry out my tasks which are even more extensive than those performed by the former 17-member Police Authority.

"The body charged with scrutinising my actions, the Police and Crime Panel, which has been critical also of my choice of deputy, actually supported the view that a deputy was necessary.

"I totally refute the allegation which some have made that my choice of Mr Sheldon was because of long held friendship and not based on merit.

"As a university lecturer in policing studies Mr Sheldon has a wealth of knowledge and skills of great use in this role.

"It was because of those skills I asked him to assist in my election campaign.

"I had no association with Mr Sheldon before that time save that some 28 years ago he was a junior officer in the same Police Force, I hardly knew him then and had no contact with him whatsoever since that time until I sought his assistance with my election.

"To say that I have simply appointed a friend or someone without merit is simply misleading and wrong."

The panel has labelled the appointment "cronyism" and is still urging him to go back to the drawing board.

It called for an "open, transparent" process of selection and was also concerned the deputy's exact role was not made clear.

Another criticism has been over Mr Longmore not making it clear of his intentions before the election in November.

Councillor Richard Udall, from the Labour group, said: "He has shown a remarkable lack of judgement, and I have seen nothing so far for me to change my mind.

"We think he followed the wrong process in appointing his deputy, it's that simple."

Comments(13)

induby says...
12:43pm Mon 14 Jan 13

WOW!! , he really does not get it , I find it scary how stupid this man is! and the fact that he now holds a job with such responsibility....fr
ightening!

Mr Longmore, it may be "lawful" but it is inappropriate, you assumed that Mr Sheldon was the best candidate,on your "personal" knowledge and opinion having not actually given anyone else the option or opportunity to apply...... it is common sense that there is more than one viable candidate for that job in the whole of the country and what would have been appropriate was to open the position to application/ interview and then make the decision. Had Mr Sheldon still had been the best candidate then fine, but you have appointed Mr Sheldon on your own feelings, not because he was the best or most experienced but because you wanted him because of your personal feelings.... "cronyism" .

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brooksider says...
1:07pm Mon 14 Jan 13

Well said Bill.
It's the politicians that don't get it.

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More Tea Vicar says...
1:10pm Mon 14 Jan 13

The politicians do seem to be milking this.

But there is a bad smell about the whole process.

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Niko80 says...
1:57pm Mon 14 Jan 13

But Bill, if he wasn't a 'friend' when you asked him to help you in your campaign he probably became one during it, your process, however you make it out to be, is still flawed, your post is untenable, the politicians are corrupt and the Council ineffective. You will have your way, you will close Police Stations, reduce force numbers and still get your Salaries. Well done for keeping your name in the spotlight......I applaud you and your 'friend' and hope that the first area you reduce to minus policing is your own area and not mine......

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Peter Huntington says...
2:17pm Mon 14 Jan 13

Longmore is an ex policemen and so is his deputy. It is not necessary for a PCC to have a police background, in fact it`s probably undesirable. PCCs are appointed to hold the Police to account on behalf ogf the public and to ensure policing follows local priorities. If Longmore can`t see that it`s undesirable to have TWO ex policemen in these posts then questions need to be asked about his judgement. I welcome the call for a vote of no confidence. Longmore should get out and about rather than fire off petulant letters to the Council. The fact that his deputy was his campaign manager makes matters worse.

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mayall8808 says...
2:56pm Mon 14 Jan 13

What an arrogant ******e Longmore is, it seems he knows best and that's it, lets see his results if he last's that long.

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mayall8808 says...
3:13pm Mon 14 Jan 13

Longmore should be spending his time doing what he is supposed to do not send letters rejecting his no confidence vote; Which planet is he from again?

Where are the Police on the beat?
( oh forgot they been made redundant) when my neighbour who died a week ago and his house got burgled a few days ago and all that was sent was a young community officer who had no idea which area she was in to investigate?
No finger print guys,
Then next day two more community support officers turned up walking the street, an insult to the taxpayer.

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TDH123 says...
5:39pm Mon 14 Jan 13

Sadly Mr Longmore appears to have few people who retain any confidence in him. The electorate deserve a commissioner who has sound judgement and is empathetic to the public. To embark upon the appointment of, at the very least, an acquaintance as your deputy, in the absence of any transparent and proper process is foolish. To vehmently ignore the concerns and criticism following that appointment is wholly arrogant.
For the sake of the appointment, unless it is to become nothing more than a mockery, surely Mr Longmore or, at the very least, Mr Sheldon should reconsider their positions.

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grumpy woman says...
10:21pm Mon 14 Jan 13

As Norman Tebbett once said.....on your bike.

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®og says...
9:38am Tue 15 Jan 13

No amount of commenting is going to change the fact that we have a commissioner and deputy - like them or not.

However, Bill has published his "Draft Policing and Crime Plan 2013-2017 on his website for 'consultation' - its worth a read - there are no empiric measurables all that the plan says it will do is increase, decrease and monitor the various items.
This means that all of the objectives can be met by doing nothing other than collecting and manipulating figures - so no change in policing other than more statistics.
I urge anyone reading this to fill in a response to the consultation demanding hard figures as targets for all of the proposed deliverables.
I have spent many years with statistics and if the plan goes ahead as it is currently drafted then I could write an annual report for each of the years of the plan today showing how all of the criteria have been met.

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sugarlump says...
12:26pm Tue 15 Jan 13

what an incredibly arrogant man.

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Stuart UKIP Henley says...
9:32am Thu 17 Jan 13

The Following is What I Posted To FaceBook.
Cant believe the councillors of Worcestershire are ganging up on Bill Longmore with a vote of no confidence for the deputy he brought in. Both were in the police force so they are the best people for the job. Just because the councillors lost the battle to get the job and appoint someone they know they are upset. Shame they did not and do not think like that when they put in all their claims for expenses!! Leave Bill and his deputy alone to do the job they HAVE BEEN ELECTED FOR. You should not throw stones in a glass house, as we the voters may/will start looking in to how you do your job or NOT!

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Stuart UKIP Henley says...
9:39am Thu 17 Jan 13

Bill you took on someone you knew (like every other PCC, you took on someone you know, who know's the police process so you have saved money from not doing interviews. No other PCC has interviewed. you are just being targeted by the councillors and those members of political party because you are an independent they do dont like it as their party is not represented. Fight on Bill you got the position by election and you are doing the job you were elected for, shame we can not get the party's out of parliament who were elected but they have their term.

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