My final blog post as a Police Authority Member

The elections for the incoming Police & Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are now only six weeks away.

On 15 November 2012, UK citizens will be able to vote for their choice of PCC for the first time when each Force's Police Authority of 17 people is replaced by a directly elected individual holding and exercising broadly similar powers.

As the elections draw near, we enter a of period of heightened sensitivity (often referred to as purdah) whereby the Police Authority and the police themselves have to show extra care not to be seen to be supporting any particular PCC candidate or their policies.

This means that I need to stop posting to my blog.  So, after 215 blog posts and 30,000+ hits, this will be my final entry.

Some of the photos from my Police Authority blog

Naturally, I'm very emotional that my involvement in police governance is coming to an end.  I've enjoyed it tremendously and I have the satisfaction of knowing that I've done my best to serve the public of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcester.

It is also satisfying that the two areas where I've taken a lead for West Mercia - the Special Constabulary and Shropshire Policing - are both performing well and have excellent leadership to improve performance even further.

Thank you for reading my blog and for taking an interest in the policing of West Mercia.  It has been a pleasure and honour to be part of a very successful police family.

I urge you all to engage with the PCC elections and to have your say on 15 November.  Good luck and best wishes to the incoming PCC.