About us
Change is coming to policing and criminal justice in Bedfordshire. The Police and Crime Commissioner was elected in May this year with a mandate for change based on social and criminal justice, and is committed to achieving radical change to secure a safer and fairer county for everyone who lives, works or visits the county.
This will mean change in his Office of Police and Crime Commissioner too.
As PCC I am adopting a mission-driven approach to ensuring that this police and crime plan is focused on the outcomes that the residents of Bedfordshire want and deserve.
John Tizard
Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire
Missions to creating a safer and fairer Bedfordshire
Prevention
Work as a partnership to prevent crime
Tackle Serious Crime
Reduce serious and organised crime as well as serious youth violence
Tackle VAWC
Reduce violence and protect all women and children
Excellence
Deliver and excellent police service and criminal justice system to improve public confidence
Local policing
Work with local communities to engage, prevent and solve crime and community issues
Victims
Put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system
Mission Boards
The PCC is introducing new governance and project management arrangements to:
- develop the longer-term police and crime plan with key objectives and measurable outcomes
- engage and involve Bedfordshire police and other stakeholders in this process
- oversee the implementation of the police and crime plan; and agree delivery plans. The boards will be chaired by the police and crime commissioner or his deputy.
Each board will be supported by a mission director from either the police service or the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and will have a small membership including key stakeholders with an interest in the mission and its impact.
About Police and Crime Commissioners, and our work in Bedfordshire
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) were first elected in 2012, and the current PCC for Bedfordshire, John Tizard, was elected May 2024.
The role of the PCC is to be the voice of the people and to hold the Chief Constable to account for delivering an effective and efficient police service. The PCC also has a duty to convene and coordinate the wider local criminal justice system.
PCCs work with public sector partners, local businesses and are elected by the public, ensuring the police are answerable to the communities they serve.
PCCs ensure community needs are met as effectively as possible, and improve local relationships through building confidence and restoring trust. They work in partnership across a range of agencies, at local and national level, to ensure there is a unified approach to preventing and reducing crime.
Under the terms of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, PCCs must:
- secure efficient and effective police for their area.
- appoint the Chief Constable, hold them to account for running the force, and if necessary, dismiss them.
- set the police and crime objectives for their area through a police and crime plan.
- set the force budget and determine the precept.
- contribute to the national and international policing capabilities set out by the Home Secretary.
- bring together community safety and criminal justice partners, to make sure local priorities are joined up.
- The Bedfordshire PCC is committed to pursuing social justice, upholding human rights and preventing crime as well as driving change and reform across the public sector, in the police and in the wider criminal justice system.
PCCs are expected to adhere to the Seven Principles of Public Life, as determined and published by the Nolan Committee – the ‘Nolan Principles‘.
About the PCC John Tizard
Elected on 2 May 2024, Police and Crime Commissioner John Tizard has vast experience of representing communities in Bedfordshire where he has lived for almost 50 years.
As well as holding leadership roles in numerous businesses, charities, and public sector organisations, John served as a councillor for 18 years.
For most of this time, he was leader of the Labour group of councillors on the former Bedfordshire County Council. He was also a joint leader of the Council for some of this period.
John is driven by his commitment to social justice and his belief that governance and behaviour are essential for any organisation to fulfil its mission and maximise its impact and has held local government posts nationally and in Europe.
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John’s career includes senior leadership roles in the business sector where he held a senior strategic executive role in a FTSE 100 company for many years. He has had non-executive director experience in several start up and social businesses.
He has had leadership experience in charities both as a senior executive at what is now Scope and as a trustee and chair of several charities.
He is currently a trustee of Bedfordshire based Making Me which enables young people to thrive by equipping them to navigate their mental and emotional journey into adulthood and is Chair of Action Space a London based Arts Council sponsored arts organisation which enables and promotes the right of artists with learning difficulties.
John established and led research centres at the University of Birmingham and London South Bank University both of which specialised in public sector collaboration and partnerships between the public, business, and voluntary and community sectors.
More recently John has advised organisations and leaders in the business, charity, social and public sectors in the UK and internationally on subjects such as leadership, governance, public service reform, procurement, and insourcing.
He regularly writes, commentates, and speaks on these and related issues in this country and internationally. He has been an evaluator in the European Public Service Awards programme since 2015.
He has written for a variety of publications and has, in the past few years, authored reports for the Fabian Society, the TUC and Unison on topics including reforming public sector audit, outsourcing, and insourcing of public services, and strengthening workers’ rights.
Some of his key areas of interest include community engagement, tackling anti-social behaviour, hate crime, cyber-crime, knife crime, reducing crime against women and children, and investing in prevention methods to tackle the causes of crime.
John is passionate about social justice, equity, equality, high standards in public life and human rights. He will draw on his values and his political and professional experiences as Police and Crime Commissioner.