Katy Bourne re-selected as Conservatives’ Sussex PCC candidate

Sussex’s incumbent Police and Crime Commissioner is ‘delighted’ to be re-selected as the Conservatives’ candidate to fight next year’s election.
Katy Bourne Sussex Police and Crime CommissionerKaty Bourne Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner
Katy Bourne Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner

Katy Bourne was first elected in November 2012 when the new roles were created by Government to replace the abolished police authorities.

The PCCs hold chief constables to account, and are responsible for setting the strategic direction and priorities of police forces.

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Mrs Bourne said: “There’s much more work to be done and that’s why I’m delighted to be standing again and hope that I can get the support of the public for a second term.”

She explained that although the PCC role had a difficult start ‘for various reasons’, now that it had a chance to bed in, she saw it as a ‘huge opportunity’ for residents to influence policing priorities.

In particular she was pleased to see new services for victims of crime she has been able to commission, two examples being a smartphone app to report hate crime, and a support service for victims of stalking.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Sussex Police would be making £56m cuts over the next five years and while Mrs Bourne felt that it was a ‘difficult time for policing’, she described them as a ‘great force to work with’, and wanted to ‘keep challenging them and inspiring them to deliver even more’.

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She added: “It’s about dealing with 21st-century crime and a police force that is able to adapt to that and deal with that effectively.”

Mrs Bourne also highlighted two areas where they have been engaging residents, through both the Youth Commission, and the Elders’ Commission.

The former has made a number of recommendations which has influenced policing, including suggestions on stop and search and the night-time economy, while the latter is producing a report due to be published in February that will be presented to Parliament.

Voter turnout was just 15.82 per cent in the first PCC elections in Sussex.

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Mrs Bourne finished head of Labour’s Godrey Daniel in the second round by almost 25,000 votes.

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