Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner Ian Johnston has been in post for just four months and it seems he is in no mood to play politics in the newly created role.
In a refreshingly honest interview, Caerphilly Observer editor Richard Gurner spoke to the man now in charge of a £120m budget and who sets the direction of policing in Gwent.
A former policeman with 33 years service and a holder of the Queen’s Police Medal means Ian Johnston knows life at the sharp end. He’s also got a fair bit of experience in the political arena as a former president of the Police Superintendents Association of England and Wales.
It’s no wonder then that Mr Johnston describes himself as “a pretty straight forward person”.
Joining the police force as a cadet in 1969, he rose through the ranks of Gwent and was eventually appointed head of CID in 1995. In between these events, Mr Johnston had stints lecturing officers, a secondment to the Home Office, and senior management roles including divisional chief inspector at Pontypool.
In 1999 he became a divisional commander and after 33 years service with Gwent Police in 2004, he became vice president of the Police Superintendents Association of England and Wales. From 2007 and 2010 he was president of the association, which represents officers in the rank of Superintendent and Chief Superintendent, and had first-hand experience of dealing with Government.
After retiring in 2010, Mr Johnston set up a security consulting business before deciding to stand as an independent candidate for the newly created role of Police and Crime Commissioner.
Four months in and he knows there is still a lot of work to be done.
He said: “It is the first time we’ve had a PCC and you’ll find I’m a pretty straight forward person but I’m conscious that a lot of people didn’t agree with the concept and still don’t.
“I have got a lot of people out there who I need to convince I’m doing a good job – and I’m conscious of that every week.
“When I opened the folder, there was nothing in there. If you speak to the Home Office minister and say ‘I could do with some guidance with this particular issue’ he would give you a funny look.
“The rule is it’s very much down to each PCC to do the job – there is no job description.
“It can have its advantages and disadvantages, but there is an inherent danger as well if you like.
“Across England and Wales we are already seeing the disadvantages of not having a handbook with some of the more bizarre decisions being made by the new PCC.
“In some ways that’s good – it gives people free reign to enact some ideas – but one or two have surprised me somewhat.”
Mr Johnston quotes a statistic which states that only 11% of people know who their PCC is. In the Gwent force area, he jokes, it might be more after controversy surrounding the appointment of ex-colleague Paul Harris as his deputy.
Critics came out and accused him of cronyism.
“I got more publicity for appointing a deputy than I did for the election result,” he said. “People can make of that what they want. People are perfectly entitled to a view. If they see it as a gravy train then that’s their view.
“The legislation is quite clear that because of the political nature of elections that newly elected PCCs could appoint deputies.
“We have now got 29 deputies appointed in England and Wales and there’s no great shock
“Because I’m ex-police and Paul’s ex-police we have attracted a lot of criticism.”
And he doesn’t pussyfoot around when pointing the finger at his aggressors.
He said: “Labour Party supporters in the Gwent Police force area are still smarting over the result, when you consider the bookies weren’t taking bets on it and it was described as a Labour certainty. A number of my critics are Labour die-hards and they really cannot come to terms with the fact they’ve lost.”
It is clear that Mr Johnston is fiercely proud to be elected on a platform of independence with strong local links, but given that he had to get elected in the first place can he really believe his own mantra of “keeping politics out of policing”?
He replies: “With the benefit of hindsight, and none of us are too old to learn, my election message should have been keep party politics out of policing. The very nature of it is being elected to the job, but it’s the party politics I want to keep out.
“I don’t owe anyone in Westminster or Cardiff Bay any favours, or for that matter funding money and I will judge Government policies on their merits on what they get for the people of Gwent regardless of which political party they are from.”
Mr Johnston also seems to be ruffling feathers in Gwent Police itself and he proudly tells Caerphilly Observer how he has personally stopped the closure of Blackwood and Bargoed police stations.
He said: “I hold responsibility for estates and I’ve had some meaningful discussions concerning how we manage the estates. I have called a halt to some of the further planned closures – such as Blackwood and Bargoed.
“I know the community of Gwent and I’m aware of the history and the amount of public feeling concerning proposed police station closures.”
Here, Mr Johnston is keen to show he serves the people. During the interview he opens his hardback diary (the force-issue Blackberry hasn’t replaced it) and shows the number of community meetings he’s been to.
One such community meeting is PACT – which stands for Police and Community Together. The meetings are for officers to meet with the public and find out exactly what the local crime issues are.
It is fair to say the strategy of community policing has been at the heart of Gwent Police’s strategy in recent years – indeed, it was one of the justifications for closing police stations that officers will meet with the public more.
However, Mr Johnston, while out and about meeting members of the community – and he is happy to receive invites – sees PACT differently. He has promised to review the scheme after receiving complaints the process is not working.
But with crime down in Gwent, Mr Johnston sees another challenge on the horizon.
He said: “The crime statistics certainly are very positive compared to other areas. The problem is that lots of people don’t believe them.
“Let’s celebrate – against other forces we are showing a big reduction and that’s important. But how victims are treated is also important and my message to officers is I want to move to a place where everything we do is about quality of service and what it says about policing to somebody in the street.
“I want people to have high confidence in the police – that’s my aim.”
Gwent Commissioner and Chief Constable recruiting lay members for Joint Audit Committee
The Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable are looking for two people with a good understanding and experience of public sector legislation and guidance who are politically neutral, to sit as independent members of the Joint Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable Audit Committee.
The Audit Committee will review and scrutinise the affairs of both organisations, looking at issues such as risk management, internal control and corporate governance as well as overseeing audit arrangements and reviewing financial statements.
The appointments will be for a period to September 2017.
If you are interested in becoming a lay member of the Joint Audit Committee, please submit your CV with a covering letter to commissioner@gwent.pnn.police.uk or by post to:
Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent
Police Headquarters
Croesyceiliog
Cwmbran
NP44 2XJ
For further information please visit www.gwent.pcc.police.uk or contact the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner on 01633 642200.