[MovedGoalPosts]

Speed cameras are just one issue though. I don't disagree that traffic crime needs a level of enforcement. The human and monetary cost of road accidents is just as real as many other law and order issues. But there needs to be a balance and unfortunately the police are loosing the battle over cameras with public opinion new seeing them as revenue generating, not law enforcement.

But we digress.

It is also worth noting that the majority of paperwork that keeps officers tied to desks rather than out on the streets, is due to our legal systems and rights of the accused. Untill the judicicial system is altered, whatever might be said about paperwork cutting is doomed to failure.

Essentially defence lawyers are now looking first, not at what the strength of the evidence is, but whether all the techinicalities of proceedures have been followed. That is one whole set of paperwork needed to demonstrate compliance. Then there is the hunt for any documentation that might discredit the evidence. Another tier of paperwork. So it goes on and on. And it's not just the police that suffer, it happens to day in all walks of life due to our ever increasing compensation and human rights cultures.

But we digress.

A police commissioner, I'm sure will not work. Too much power in the hands of a single individual with no-one to excercise restraint is not a good idea. A more accountable police authority may not solve the ills of excessive paperwork, and the like but might have their ear closer to the people, and so influence the policing priorities closer to the wishes of the people.

It should be remembered that a fundamental principle of policing in this country is one of "policing by consent" of the public. Surely elected authorities is a logical extension and implementation of that consent.