The role of Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) was created to allow the government to take control of policing – that’s the opinion of Kevin Moore, one-time head of Sussex CID.

Mr Moore says: “The role of PCC is fundamentally flawed, developed by Theresa May in order to secure political control of policing.”

In recent months Mr Moore has become increasingly critical of his former employers saying: “The current detection rate is woeful, it’s less than one in ten crimes that are detected, that’s the lowest it has ever been”.

This week he hit out at Sussex’ own PCC Katy Bourne, questioning why she takes such a high profile role in media issues he believes should be dealt with by senior officers.

“If the question were asked, I am pretty sure that many or your readers would name the current PCC for Sussex as Katy Bourne,” says Mr Moore.

“Why is that? Simply because she fronts just about everything media wise involving Sussex Police.

“In the past week alone, she has been featured talking about operational policing matters, about the increased problem of missing persons, as well as rural crime initiatives.”

“PCCs, are not supposed to interfere with operational policing matters. This should be the domain of Chief Constables. This is made very clear in the legislation developed to create PCCs.

“My view is that there is another motive for Katy Bourne’s regular involvement in matters which should be commented upon by senior officers. Ms Bourne is only interested in promoting one thing – herself. These opportunities are mere propaganda.

“She always refers to projects that ‘she’ is responsible for funding and introducing when the reality is that the money comes from the overall police budget. As a politician, she can spend money on things which show her in a positive light. I am often left scratching my head wondering why this money, not inconsiderable in amount, is not being spent on front line policing?

“So where does this leave our Chief Constable? For the benefit of readers his name is Giles York. He commands a salary with other benefits of around £200,000 per annum. So why is he not heading up most of the major issues involving Sussex Police? He hasn’t for sometime now. His lack of visibility has been commented on previously within the national media, in particular the incident involving the Gatwick drones fiasco.

“Am I as an individual angry about all of this. Too right I am and so should the public of Sussex be. I remember the days when all police related issues were fronted in the media by senior police officers who were respected in the main for their professional opinions on police related matters. Policing needs to get back to those times rather than allowing a politician to use media opportunities to promote herself!”