Policing & Politics

Professor Dylan Jones Evans makes a point on his blog that many have made before about the controversial subjects on which Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom has commented over the years. The point that whatever the validity of his views the Chief Constable's job is to catch criminals, not to comment on political matters. Or as the Prof puts it legislation is the job of the lawmakers in Parliament and not that of a civil servant such as himself.

I find this attitude difficult to understand, and if it is extended to other publicly funded occupations it starts to sound ridiculous at best and dangerous at worst.

If there are problems in health care provisions I want to hear from doctors and nurses on the matter, so that I can inform my view on the subject. Would the Prof say their job is to administer to the sick, not to comment on health policy; health policy is the job of policy makers in parliament?

Likewise would the Prof say that it is a teacher's job to teach and that teachers are wrong if they raise educational issues of political concern? Would he say that teachers shouldn't inform debate on an area of their expertise because they are not elected to Parliament?

When there are problems facing the Welsh economy do we expect to hear the opinions of leading experts in the field, such as Professor Dylan Jones Evans? Or do we tell him to shut up and go back to the job he's paid to do, lecturing students, and to leave the job of solving Welsh economic problems to the elected members in Cardiff Bay?

If there are serious issues facing policing and the application of law and order I want to hear what the experts in the subject who work in the field on a daily basis have to say about them, because that is the only way that the ordinary members of the public can be informed enough to make a judgment about how good a job the lawmakers in Parliament are doing in drafting the legislation that the police have to implement.