Notts Police and Crime Commissioner election: Everything you need to know

The winner will hold Nottinghamshire Police to account, control force budgets, set council tax and even have the power to sack the Chief Constable.

And in less than a month voters in Nottinghamshire will get to choose our next Police and Crime Commissioner.

Elected every four years, commissioners were created by the Government to save money and provide a more obvious public face when it comes to cutting and controlling crime in cities and counties across the country.

But four years on some people still struggle to explain the role and commissioners across the country have had to tackle big budget cuts in their first four years in office.

In Nottinghamshire the current commissioner, Paddy Tipping, was elected on a Labour ticket and faces four challengers for Thursday, May 5.

They are Conservative Tony Harper, UKIP’s Fran Loi, independent Tony Bates and Jason Zadrozny, also an independent.

They also need to engage the electorate – last time out the turnout was just 17 per cent or around one in five people.

And each has been laying down their basic priorities for keeping the streets safe as they bid to win your votes.

Paddy Tipping (Labour)

“Making sure that children are safe online as well as on the streets – and tackling cyber crime.

“And I’m particularly concerned about terrorism – if we faced a big Paris-style attack, could we cope? No I don’t think we can and so that’s why I’ve been pushing for more armed police vehicles in the East Midlands and Nottingham.”

Tony Harper (Conservative) 

“I understand what policing means and what it means to the public. Whenever I ask the public what they want from policing they always tell me that they want police officers on the beat, and neighbourhood policing.

“The advantage with that is that you reduce crime and you reduce the fear of crime in vulnerable people who don’t like to come out. The fear of crime is far worse than it actually is.”

Fran Loi (UKIP)

“I’d like to re-build the bridge of trust between the police and Nottinghamshire communities, bring more visible policing to our streets.

“Nottinghamshire Police are also in a poor financial position. There are cuts to the front line – police stations have closed and more are going to close.

“I also want to prioritise the Goddard Inquiry which is coming to Nottingham, for the victims of child sexual abuse.”

Tony Bates (Independent) 

“As an independent candidate I’d have no politics to worry about. I’d get on with the job of looking at the strategic alliances we can form to save money and keep officers on the front line.

“Also I want to look at putting neighbourhood policing back on the map – not just as tokenism – but to get involved with people, find out what they want and give them the policing they deserve.”

Jason Zadrozny (Independent) 

“The first priority is to take the politics out of policing – that’s not what people want. They want a police force that does what it says on the tin they want high visibility policing that makes them feel safe in their communities.

“More people on patrol – less police station closures. In fact I wouldn’t close another police station in the county or city and I’d put more police back on the beat.”