The current Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent will not by standing for re-election.
Ian Johnston, who was elected as Gwent’s first ever PCC in November 2012, will officially announce his decision to members of the Gwent Police and Crime Panel at their meeting in Usk on Friday, March 18.
Mr Johnston, who was elected as an independent candidate, told Caerphilly Observer that his upcoming 64th birthday was a factor in his decision to stand down.
He said: “In June this year I’ll be able to sing one famous Beatles song, and that’s the reason. I’m going to spend some time with my wife and family.
“I’ve been associated with the police, in one capacity or another, for 47 years. This is an extremely demanding job and in terms of age, I think it is time to step aside and give someone else a turn.
“If you look at where we were three-and-a-half years ago, we are in a far, far better place that where we were.”
During his time in office, Mr Johnston has been involved in several controversies.
In May 2013 he claimed that statistics for the force did not accurately reflect crime levels and claimed that crimes were not being recorded properly.
The bombshell eventually led to the “retirement” of Chief Constable Carmel Napier with Mr Johnston later admitting that he forced her out.
An internal review by Gwent Police into how it reported crime, published in December 2013, found that the force had been under-reporting.
Mr Johnston said it had been a huge privilege and an honour to serve as Commissioner.
He said: “It is essential that the police deploy their limited resources where they are most needed and frontline officers must have the information they need to prevent crime and bring criminals to justice.
“This is why I have overseen a complete shift away from numerical targets in Gwent and focussed instead on the quality of service provided. Gwent Police led the way nationally in this respect and the [current] Chief Constable has shown great commitment in the way he has dealt with the issue. It is interesting to note that 39 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales are now showing an increase in recorded crime.”
• The Police and Crime Commissioner elections are taking place on May 5 this year. Candidates so far include Labour’s Jeff Cuthbert, the Conservative’s Dr Louise Brown, and Plaid Cymru’s Darren Jones.
Sensible man, time to move over for a younger person and enjoy retirement. The Labour candidate for this post will be 68 years of age this year – says it all.
I dont agree that a younger man or women would be better equiped to do the job, compared to the former Assembly Member Jeff Cuthbert, what will matter is that any new person seeking election to this position HAS to undestand who he or she represents, ie, the people of Gwent. This man forgot that and as a result it was highly unlikely he would have been re-elected.
Incidently, whilst writing this blog, I have been holding on the line of the
Gwent Police 101 crime reporting line, I want to report a current crime taking place in Caerphilly Town I have been holding on that line for 37 minutes so far. This was another area of local policing this outgoing Commissioner tried to improve but failed catistrophically. Ending this blog I have now been holding on for 46 minutes, the recorded message tells me this is a new improved computor system intended to IMPROVE the process.
I agree with you about the 101 system, it has failed to serve the people and needs to be improved or abandoned. It is not acceptable for people to be on hold for more than a few minutes.
It means of course that a huge queue of other callers were holding on for the same length of time I was, I was told my
“call was in a queue” and would be answered by the next available call handler, so, it appears anyone phoning 101 last evening were forced to wait at least 47 minutes to get a response. and as you say that is not acceptable
That is absolutely shocking. Reading comments like these makes me wonder whether I should throw my hat in for this position. I simply cannot believe how badly coordinated our public services are. It is as if nobody really gives a damn about making the South Wales Valleys a better place to live.
I hope you do Ian, the candidates on offer do not inspire me. If you stand you will have my vote.
Go on Ian I’ll second that vote.
Overseen the complete dismantling of Police Stations, reduced the numbers of qualified Police Constables on the street, or anywhere else for that matter. Reduced the number of Community Support Officers, on the street, reduced the levels of control and command structures ever over he unqualified CSO`s on our streets, leaving them largely to thier own devices, leading to a redefining of what is a law breaking offence and what is not, resulting in some people not being prosecuted for criminal offences. The law is the Law. break it and be prosecuted.
In fact it was Chief Constable Carmel Napier that closed the police station in Caerffili. Johnson sacked her.
Back up a bit Rich, I agree the `rot` set in at that time, But, When the original police station was closed at least it was replaced by a town police office, i.e. as a place of face to face contact between the Residents and Gwent Police, as you know that facility has now been removed.
A town with seven schools, a footfall of thousands of people every day, a very large residential settlement, and a reasonably large commercial quarter, one of the biggest attractions in Wales for tourists, The Castle, three public parks, a disprortionate number of licenced premises for police and supervise, etc etc, but NO POINT OF CONTACT WITH THE GWENT POLICE OR A DEDICATED, QUALIFIED, WARRANT CARD CARRYING POLICE CONSTABLE.
This outgoing Commissioner has overseen this Crime and Disorder situation in the town of Caerphilly
I’m with you, we need a police station in the Town and at the last council meeting I asked the police representative, a CSO, to ask senior officers to clarify if and when we are to get one. The answer should be available at the next meeting, Monday 21st March.
I have no strong views on Ian Johnson, save for he made the right decision to retire. I voted for Chris Wright in the first ever ballot to elect a PCC. The choice of candidates this time around is set to be small, according the the PCC office when I phoned them this morning. So far we have a Plaid, Labour and Conservative candidate. None of the current candidates inspire me to vote for them so far. I will be keeping a keen watch on their election literature to see what, if any, policy they have on policing in this town.
To update people on the police station Inspector Jones told the meeting last night that he does not have any new information. This makes it crucial that the people of this town vote carefully in the forthcoming election, a new commissioner may not want a new police station.
At last ……… after three years finally a good day for Gwent Police.