Julian Knight MP has accused David Jamieson, the Police and Crime Commissioner, of “doubly poor” judgement after his decision to impose controversial Waheed Saleem to the important role of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner.
Mr Saleem has had a controversial past in the region, including being banned from being a councillor for a year for acting inappropriately as a Walsall Councillor. The controversy has hit the national media in today’s Times.
The cross-party Police and Crime Panel that scrutinizes the Police and Crime Commissioner raised concerns about the appointment and voted against endorsing the appointment. Instead of heeding them, Mr Jamieson instead launched an attack on the Chairman of the Panel.
Commenting on the appointment, Julian Knight said:
“David Jamieson has demonstrated doubly poor judgement in this matter. Firstly, he has promoted a single candidate who has at best been mired in past controversy in the West Midlands and at worst is completely unsuitable for this role. Secondly, he has compounded this by ignoring and then attempting to discredit the perfectly legitimate concerns of the cross-party panel who have fulfilled their role in scrutinising this decision.”
“This whole saga does nothing to the reputation or credibility of his office, he has patently failed to deliver a transparent process and simply imposed a Deputy Commissioner who now lacks credibility from day one.”
