THE DEPUTY police and crime commissioner will be the subject of a fresh complaints hearing after a councillor flagged his monthly newsletter as ‘misleading’.
Ian Middleton, a Kidlington and Yarnton Parish councillor, said that the latest ‘police and crime bulletin’ was disguised as an official email from the police and crime commissioner’s office but in fact was just part of Matthew Barber’s election campaign.
Mr Barber was due to stand for Anthony Stansfeld’s role as PCC this month but due to the coronavirus lockdown the election has now been postponed until May 2021.
Until then Mr Stansfeld will remain the elected head of the police and Mr Barber will continue as the appointed deputy.
In the latest complaint against the voted-in Conservative duo, Green Party councillor Mr Middleton explained that the email was forwarded to various councillors from across the political spectrum who ‘obviously’ believed it to be from Mr Stansfeld’s office.
Ian Middleton
He wrote: “In fact, it is an election address from Mr Barber as the conservative candidate for the PCC, which in my opinion has been formatted to look like an official bulletin from him as PCC on behalf of Thames Valley Police.”
He said the illusion was added to with checked black and white graphics, often associated with the police, that had links to the ‘latest update on the Covid-19 situation’.
Mr Middleton said: “This suggests you will be referred to an official police response page. But instead, clicking on the link takes you to a page hosted by the Conservative Party set up to support the candidacy of Mr Barber.”
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'On our website'
Further down the bulletin there is mention of the expected rise in domestic abuse amid the lockdown, and with Mr Barber suggesting victims ‘call 101 or make a report on our website’.
Mr Middleton said the statement was misleading given the email is not from Thames Valley Police and you cannot report a crime on his website.
But Mr Barber, who gets paid £65,000 a year to be the deputy, said it should be ‘clear’ that it is not an ‘official’ communication from the office of the police and crime commissioner.
He said: “I have included details of where people can visit the ‘official’ website.
“I maintain the mailing list at my own expense and produce its newsletters myself, using either my own content or public available information.
“In all of my political roles I have always sought to keep the public I serve well informed. There is certainly nothing intended to be misleading in the publications.”
Mr Barber is also a Vale and White Horse district councillor for Steventon and Hanneys.
He added: “It is a matter of fact that I am the deputy, I have been selected to fight the next PCC election for the Conservatives and so I have simply sought to inform the public and to community openly.”
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