My Complaint to the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner

Regular readers will know that I complained to Lancashire Police this summer about their active participation in a PRIDE march. Although I respect the right of any group to go marching and sharing their ideas, I do object to police officers being anything other than impartial. A local inspector called me, but it was obvious he had nothing to do with the march, so I indicated that I wanted to hear from those directly responsible for the event. This was achieved, and my views were ‘noted’.

Oddly, I never heard back from the Police and Crime Commissioner, the elected official responsible for funding the local police and representing voters’ views on its conduct and strategy. When I wrote a second time, saying I wished to make a formal complaint, amazingly, a response was received. To be fair, it said my original correspondence had been ‘misfiled’, and an apology was offered. A ‘Project Support Officer’ said

I would highlight that officers taking part in the pride march were there in their own time and not on duty

Then what were they doing in their full uniforms? Were they disciplined for wearing uniform to attend a political event in a private capacity?

No response has been received to this question.

Clive Grunshaw, the current Commissioner is not fit for office if this is the kind of answer he and his staff give. On his website, he boasts

I continually consult with the people of Lancashire

Then why doesn’t he respond to letters and emails, only doing so when he thinks a complaint will be lodged? An apology was offered for the first time, but why did my response not receive a reply?

Grunshaw failed to enter Parliament in 2010, so became a Police Commissioner instead. The Independent Police Complaints Authority, when asked to investigate discrepancies in his expenses claims, concluded in 2017:

‘while errors had been made in expense claims these were due to carelessness rather than any dishonest intent on the part of Mr Grunshaw’.

Grunshaw then had the cheek to complain that the Authority took too long in declaring him careless. We may not have a dishonest commissioner, but we may have a careless one. I hope that someone better fills his £85k role next time around.