While this blog covers England and Wales, I don’t want to neglect my own area, especially when something maddening takes place – so in the spirit of cross party working, I have sent the following message to the 3 shortlisted Labour candidates in Lancashire, and will be sending it to any other confirmed candidates I know about. I have focussed on the Labour candidates as I expect them to have more ‘pull’ with the Labour administration in Preston, and to test their mettle – they are all seeking Labour party members votes across Lancashire – which of them will dare to put the safety of Lancashire people first?
This is a message to all 3 Labour candidates for Lancashire PCC, and any other PCC candidates in Lancashire.
Today’s The LEP has this story – http://www.lep.co.uk/community/from-cctv-to-no-see-tv-1-4456434 concerning the decision of Preston City Council to reduce live monitoring of CCTV in Preston city centre to save 10 grand. I have commented on the article and sent the below letter to the Editor. I am calling on each of you to express whether you are opposed to this decision, and hope you will ask the Council’s Labour group to reconsider.
Your responses to this point will be on the record.
I look forward to your support in opposing this, and to your replies.
Sam
Hi,
I have put the below comment on the online story about CCTV today, but please treat this as a letter to the editor. I will keep you posted on the candidates responses.
Sam Chapman
As Preston City Council’s former Community Safety Manager I am in shock at this crazy decision to stop live monitoring of CCTV in the early hours twice a week in Preston. Not only will it restrict the capacity of the police to respond to events as they happen, but it also undermines the deterrent effect of cctv which depends on people knowing that it is always on and being monitored. The details of when it is or is not being monitored do not stay in the minds of the criminal population, and so Preston has been made less safe at all times by undermining this valuable crimefighting tool. And all to save a paltry £10,000.
This is the kind of thing that CCTV captures in the early hours in Preston city centre, and which the Appeal Courts need to treat more seriously – http://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/outrage-as-sentence-cut-1-3885333
There are 3 Labour politicians currently fighting to get the Labour nomination for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections later this year. Will any have the courage to hold Preston’s Labour Councillors to account for this madness – I will contact each of them through my TopOfTheCops.com website and ask them to oppose this decision, as I am doing.
Sam Chapman – County Councillor
TopOfTheCops.com 
I look forward to seeing if you get any replies. The mindset within the Preston Labour Group is bonkers. They don’t know whether they support PCSOs or not, whether they fund PCSOs or not, or whether they want more CCTV cameras or not. We’re left with a gaping hole in the budget and nobody taking responsibility.