This statement from Nigel Bonson on the impossible to keep promises, being made by other candidates:
“I would urge voters to be cautious when considering the many promises being made by candidates who do not understand policing. Let me give you some examples:
Robert Teal now says he wants to increase ‘bobbies on the beat’ to 90% of the police staff rather than the current target of 70%. Putting to one side the fact that this may be crossing the boundary into the Chief Constable’s operational control; what he does NOT say is where he proposes to make cuts in order to achieve this. At a time when some forces are increasing resources to deal with child grooming, for instance, it would appear that Mr Teal intends to significantly reduce specialist departments.
Shaun Wright says he would ensure all complainants of anti-social behaviour get a response within twenty four hours. What’s the point of visiting someone at 4pm who has phoned to report an isolated incident of drunken behaviour outside their house at 2am? What a total waste of an officer’s valuable time. Likewise, it would be pointless people phoning the police about a burglary the day after bonfire night or Halloween – hard-pressed officers will all be spending the day meeting Mr Wright’s meaningless and rigid target!
Jonathan Arnott says he’ll have police stations open 24 hours a day. Well, as a resident I can assure voters that I would not wish to see valuable police or civilian staff sitting in an empty police station at four in the morning. If I need the police at that time I want them to come to me.
Another concern is this. Whose ideas are these? Have candidates already fully consulted or are they, even now, before having been elected, pursuing their own ill-thought-through whims? Of course it could just be shallow and meaningless rhetoric to win votes.
When you hear any of these promises, I would ask that you please just carefully think about them.
Policing is a serious and complex business. You are appointing someone who will affect lives.
I am standing as your PCC because I want to play my role in making South Yorkshire safer. I have an abundance of knowledge and experience of what works and can therefore, with credibility, pursue the type of policing the public wants. I will not be entering any competition of attractive (and potentially dangerous) ideas.”
Nigel Bonson
Rotherham Politics 
Exactly the the questions Police Officers are asking. Too many wild promises by some Candidates being made. And as for response times, they had to be done away with by the Tories because they impossible to meet and what you got was officers rushing to deal with jobs and getting the logs closed within the time limit. That gave the impression to the Public they were not getting quality time with the Police, rather rushed, impersonal time.
Bobbies on the Beat, nice spin but everyone that knows anything about Policing understand it has already moved to Response Policing. No going back now.
Policing will always have difficult issues surrounding it’s delivery. That is because the Public difficult issues. If a Candidate is promising a “Crime Free Utopia” they are lying!
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Mr Bonson, It is the party that you are standing for that are implementing 20% cutson police budgets, what do you think about this??????
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Totally agree with He_who_see’s_all,
Mr Bonson is suffering from a giddy fit, in all his excitement about being the Chief Constables ‘yes man’ forgot that it was his party the conservatives, working hand in glove with the Lib Dem’s have just manufactured the closure of police stations across the country with their sweeping 20% Police cuts.
Maybe he could tell us all why the Con-dems have slashed the police budget and reduced the coppers on the beat, now he asking us all to vote for him, just like Shaun da sheep who keeps dodging the child grooming issue in Rotherham.
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Hear Hear to ‘you must be joking’, totally agree sir
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It is obvious to anyone with half a brain that the cuts had to be across the board in the public sector. Who caused the cuts, certainly not the Con-dems as you call them, it was those 2 idiots, Blair and Brown, particularly Brown who should be serving time in prison for what he did to the finances of this Country. Wake up you lot, if Wright gets the PCC job there will be no crime detected, the uniformed police will just be running about like headless chickens trying to keep up with the idiotic response times promised by him.
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In any other galaxy and in a different time warp I could even begin to believe in Mr Bonson.
His tactical and strategic experience of operational policing are unparalleled among the SY Police-n-Clown Commishna candidates.
But … and it’s the biggest B-U-T this side of the Mississippi … is that he’s representing the Tory Party.
Yup, those nasty people who have single-handedly set about shattering the industries that we had plenty of in South Yorkshire and which provided income upon which many generations built towns and families.
How in the world of rational thinking can this man hang his hat on the Tory coat stand. This is the party of the toffs, bankers, dukes, earls, knobs, accountants, aristocrats, estate owners, landed gentry, company directors, and money managers who have caused so much financial misery for the ordinary men, women and children in this country.
Sorry, Mr Bonson, I acknowledge your expertise in policing, but I abhor and utterly detest your politics and what they stand for. And as Duncan Bannatyne may no doubt say: “And for that reason I won’t be investing in you. I’m out”.
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Sorry graldhunter but he had to hang his hat on one of the main parties coat stands or he would never have been able to put up for election. You know the cost would have been far too much for any private individual to afford so why not the Tory party? I think in this case the party politics are irrelevant it is the individual who counts and Wright is certainly not the man for the job.
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Jim, you make a very important point!
The holder of this elected office must act in a non-partisan way, so party dogma should play no part in the election either!
I can live with that, I would urge readers to put aside their own prejudices and consider all the candidates on their merits!
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Totally agree with Rothpol
Put the personal stuff aside and keep
This is a good debate
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Graldhunter, I always criticise the Tories, and personally I don’t think we should of had party candidates but now that we have, their policies are the most important so on that basis, my family and I are going to vote for either Nigel or Robert Teal, preferably the former.
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Graldhunter describes the Conservatives as “…those nasty people who have single-handedly set about shattering the industries that we had plenty of in South Yorkshire…”
What he fails to appreciate is that the industries to which he refers failed because they did not supply products and services their customers wanted at prices they were willing to pay. It is as simple as that. Just imagine that there is a green grocer whose prices are higher than every other supplier and he is often out of stock – would Graldhunter buy from him or go elsewhere?
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It is a shame that some are seeing this as a battle between political parties. I jumped up to support Nigel Bonson because he is the most appropriately qualified of the candidates and apart from that is one of the nicest blokes I’ve met. It is unfair to discredit his many achievements and his expertise because he is standing under the Conservative name. He very firmly believes that this is not a political role. Nigel is a Conservative but this position is not. Nigel said the following,…..
“‘The cuts make it all the more important for the public to have a strong and credible voice at the table in order to ensure resources are efficiently used in the way they would wish. Clearly some will always choose to vote with their party of choice, whatever the likely outcome – albeit of course whoever is elected in this case is obliged to perform without bias. Whilst others may choose to make this election a party political affair, I am firm in my belief that this role must be non-political and I honestly believe that most members of the public would prefer that. I trust you will respect my decison not to debate politics. The issues are too serious.”
For much of his policing career Nigel worked in traditional Labour heartland areas. His policing experience and his compassion are firmly linked.
This is an issue of competence, not politics. If you can prove the competency of the other candidates in policing and police management then they are worth voting for. I don’t see any evidence of that.
Also,on the issue of privilege, Nigel raised the deposit with some difficulty. He has instructed me not to seek or accept any large donations as he would not want to be accused of lacking autonomy when decisions need to be taken. Shaun Wright, in contrast is able to flood the County with literature probably paid for mostly by Union funds.
Nigel Bonson has integrity alongside his vast experience of all issues of policing and police management. He will act in the best interests of the people of South Yorkshire.
Many thanks again,
Vonny.
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Dear Vonny, if you think that the Police-n-Clown Commishna elections aren’t about politics then I fear you are inhabiting another galaxy and time warp.
Everyday life is about politics. Life is about politics. It’s all about choices, or lack of them.
And that’s where politics comes in. Whoever gets the PCC job will have to bend with the political wind, make no doubt about that. They will not be the independent voice and force that they claim they can be. The piper will have to be paid.
As an example, let’s imagine that a certain part of a staunch Red Laybah district or ward feel that they have a particular problem, and they lean on Da Corn Fed Grunters, Muppets and Clowns to “get summat dun” … if you imagine that a Red Laybah Police-n-Clown Commishna wouldn’t buckle under the “friendly weight” of a Sewshalist Bruvvaz’ whisper in their shell, then I don’t think you understand the nature of South Yorkshire politics, and more particularly the incestuous, nepotistic, junketing-mad situation that we have here in Dear Old Rovrum.
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That may be how Labour work. Nigel has integrity and honesty. He won’t let anyone tell him what to think or do. His commitment to Policing this County properly and with accountability to the public he serves is something I do not doubt. Nigel would not allow me to seek or take large funds for that very reason. There is no piper to be paid for him. He has his own tune as anyone who listens to him will instantly tell, Whilst the others spout Party rhetoric Nigel’s answers come from the heart.
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Vonny, completely agree. I can’t really see any of the other candidates doing a better job than Nigel.
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Or is he just after political role, I believe he stood for the general election in 2010 and for the city council elections this year?
Just asking.
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Well said Jim and Vonny. Whoever gets elected will have to deal with the reduction in budget. At least Nigel Bonson has put forward ways of dealing with it, based upon years of experience in policing.
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This is a great thread where people are actually discussing the different policies advocated by the various candidates. I think its crucial we look closely at what each of the candidates have to offer and indeed its imperitive that we look at the political pedigree of the parties that each represent.
Its bodering on the ridiculous that an individual chosen by the respective party is not going to adere to the said party’s policies. I am sure one of the questions asked of them when they put themselves forward is a commitment to sign up to the party policies.
To suggest otherwise means either they told the party a set of pokies or someone is telling them to us on thier behalf ( Vonny’s assertion that he is ‘ Conservative but this poisition is not ” ) .
There aren’t many families in South Yorkshire who can forget how the Tories destroyed our once proud minning and steel industries.
I would rather eat a molten ingot than vote for a Tory.
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And I’d rather waste my franchise than vote for Shaun Da Sheep who was Cabinet Member for C&YP Services while the sexual exploitation and grooming scandal was happening here in Rovrum, whose C&YP portfolio came in over budget by over £4 Million, who held up the infamous A4 piece of paper with “Loser” writ large in a full Council Meeting and was observed by me, and who was Deputy Chair of Da Police Authority, etc. etc.
Has-been, Has-been, Has-been.
That man has been an unmitigated disaster as a very highly-paid public servant, and now he’s been put up for the Police-n-Clown Commishna gravy train junket jaunt by Da Dodger.
Of course Shaun Da Sheep will give particular attention to bleatings from Laybah Corn Fed Grunters, Muppets and Clowns once he’s elected. He’ll pander to the narrow, partisan, Laybah political patronage machine that Dodger’s developed here in Rovrum, and which has spawned him into the position he now occupies.
I just can’t wait to see him squirm from cheek-2-cheek at next week’s gladitorial event in dear old Rovrum.
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One on it’s way with vinegar
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I work in the steel industry. I saw manufacturing brought to it’s knees in Sheffield by a reckless Labour government who under invested in our superb manufacturing base, neglecting infrastructure in favour of bloating public services and a welfare system beyond all reason and recognition. I am now seeing that sector of South Yorkshire economy shake free of the Labour imposed recession. We are storming back to health. We don’t seem to be getting that message across somehow. Our small family firm has just taken on it’s first apprentice. I’m proud of that.
This has zero to do with this position.
Party politics and policing will not be mixed in this post. The government wants to reduce crime. It has invested in the position of Police and Crime Commissioner for that reason alone. Beyond that, each selected individual will be accountable to government in meeting that aim. Whatever party they stand for.
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Dear “Anonymous”,
Having read your views, I can but reflect on the words of the brilliant, temperamental petulant champion US tennis player John McEnroe: “YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS”.
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From the Twitter exchanges it look as if someone has hit a very raw nerve by asking Cllr Shaun who is he protecting regarding child grooming?
This has caused some individuals to use their Twitter accounts to mount a counter attack on his opponents, I wonder why and what is being covered up?
Interesting Jules will not vote for a Tory, however in the midst of the Rotherham Labour group is political turncoat Darren Hughes, once a fully paid up and active member of the Tory party and now sitting in the wings ready to be dropped into the next vacant ward.
As always double standards from Labour in Rotherham, the likes of Hughes have no role to play in South Yorkshire politics, once a Tory always a Tory!
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