Coventry to quiz Commissioner candidates
Women in Coventry to hold Question Time for Police and Crime Commissioner candidates.
Coventry Women’s Voices (CWV) is hosting a Question Time event at which the candidates for West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) will be expected to answer questions about their policies in tackling crime against women.
The new post is one of 41 created by the government, and on 15 November 2012 the general public will be able to vote for the candidates in their area.
The elected PCCs will be the physical representation of the government’s crime and policing reforms, and their mission, according to the Home Office, will be to ‘represent communities, understand regional crime and anti-social behaviour priorities and hold the force’s chief constable to account for achieving them.’
Scheduled for 31October, CWV has already received applications from over 40 Coventry people -mostly women – to attend, and they have been asked to put forward questions that will be tabled at the event.
One area which CWV is hoping that the elected PCC can influence is the reluctance of West Midlands Police to refer victims to a local sexual assault and referral centre (SARC).
Coventry City Council donated thousands of pounds towards the centre, which is to be built in Nuneaton, less than ten miles from Coventry. However, because of existing police boundaries Coventry victims will continue to be referred to a centre in Walsall, over 30 miles away.
Mary-Ann Stephenson, the founder of CWV said: ‘This seems a ridiculous state of affairs – to send traumatised sexual assault victims all the way to Walsall when there will be a perfectly good centre just down the road is surely compounding the distress of the victims.
This is a question that we will be asking the candidates for the new Police and Crime Commissioner role at our Women’s Question Time event on 31 October.
It seems to us that the new PCC, when he or she is elected on 15 November, is in the perfect position to make a common sense decision that will support Coventry’s victims of sexual assault.’
If you live in Coventry and would like to attend the Women’s Question Time event, please email pccscoventry@gmail.com
If you wish to find out who your PCC candidates are, please go to the Police Federation website.
If you are holding a similar event, please contact us and we will update this article.
