Lib Dems Select Popular Local Campaigner to fight Police Commissioner Election

Press Release

Lib Dems Select Popular Local Campaigner
to fight Police Commissioner Election

The Liberal Democrats have selected Dr Sarah Hill to stand as their candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioner election. Standing a platform of reduced central office costs and creating a more visible presence of police on the streets, Sarah intends to challenge the status quo with new ideas to maximise the effect of local policing while handling a tight budget.

"The biggest complaint I get from local residents is that they don't see as many police officers as often as they used to. It can feel like the police have retreated and are too overstretched to deal with low level problems such as anti-social behaviour."

"The last Police Commissioner spent over £1 million per year on their office. By minimising the costs of the central office, I want to spend more money on operations, putting more resources into the frontline where the public needs them."

Dr Hill's other policies include better working with partner organisations to tackle the causes crime, such as mental health, an introduction of new management methods to reduce bureaucracy and increase the effectiveness of frontline staff and use of volunteers to increase intelligence gathering and visibility.

She hopes that bringing these ideas to the contest will bring life to what otherwise threatens to be a very dull debate.

"The Tories appear to be treating this as a coronation rather than a contest, that because they won last time they can simply expect to win again. That's not acceptable."

"We've had four years of a Tory PCC with a poor record on partnership working, wasting large sums of public money on a pointless judicial review and running an office that costs over £1 million a year. If they want to be given a second chance, they need to prove to the public that they're competent enough to do the job."

"Leicestershire needs someone with fresh ideas in order to make sure the service delivers for them and that's why I'm running."

Notes to editor:

Sarah has served as District Councillor fourteen years and County Councillor for twelve.

At Harborough District Council she has held the portfolio for housing and community safety. On the County Council she has served as opposition spokes for Adult Social Care and is now the chair of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

She served as a member on the Police Authority for a number of years where she built a reputation for a strong grasp of the issues and diligent work and was appointed to the role of Vice Chair for a year.