North Wales PCC to stand down at next election
The police and crime commissioner for North Wales, Arfon Jones, has announced that he will step down and not seek re-election this year.
The former police inspector and Wrexham councillor was elected in 2016 and had been due to stand for re-election in May 2020, but the proceedings were postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Jones said: “The main reason I have decided not to seek re-election is that I will have been working for more than 46 years by the time of the next election.
“As a result of the pandemic the term of office was extended for a year. I started thinking about this last May but I didn’t talk to anybody else about it until three months ago.
“I have achieved a lot in the past five years and it is going to be more difficult to make a difference next time because of the pandemic, Brexit and the fact that the term of office has been curtailed to three years.”
Mr Jones was responsible for North Wales Police becoming one of the first forces to issue body-worn video cameras to all its frontline officers and also set up the Checkpoint Cymru scheme aimed at steering low-level offenders away from crime.
Last month it emerged that he had referred himself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct after a report published on his behalf was alleged to contain details which could help lead to victims of sexual offences being identified.
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said the nation was “indebted” to Mr Jones for his “tremendous contribution”.
“From launching Checkpoint Cymru – a project to address the underlying causes of offending – commissioning over £2 million worth of services to support victims of crime, leading the charge in tackling domestic violence and to more recently keeping our communities safe during the coronavirus pandemic, Arfon’s considerable achievements in office are a testament to his commitment to the constituents he serves,” said Mr Price.
