A document explaining the restrictions placed on officers and staff of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office and Leicestershire Police during the run up to this year’s PCC elections in May has been published today (Wednesday 6 January).
The document covers the period known as “purdah”, when convention dictates that neither the OPCC’s office nor the Force will make major policy announcements or publish or act in a way that could be construed to be favouring one candidate over another.
The purdah period will begin on Wednesday 30 March, when candidates can start registering their intention to stand with the Police Area Returning Officer, and will end when polling stations close on the day of PCC elections – Thursday 5 May.
The document sets out in detail the “rules “ by which both the OPCC’s office and the Force must abide to ensure impartiality in the election process. It includes sections about whether officers and staff can be photographed with candidates, what they can and cannot say on social media accounts about the election, and about how each candidate will be treated equally.
It also includes a section on how the OPCC and the Force will respond to requests for information from candidates.
To read the document, click here.
A detailed briefing document about the role of the PCC was published last month for the benefit of candidates and which, we hope, will be of interest to all residents in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, and can be read here [LINK].
Formal information sessions about the OPCC and about Leicestershire Police for prospective candidates are to be held in the coming weeks at Force Headquarters, together with the opportunity for candidates to spend time out and about observing various policing units.
Posted on Monday 9th May 2016