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Ronald William Ball (born August 1950) is a former
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner The Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Warwickshire Police in the English County of Warwickshire. The post was created in Novemb ...
(PCC), and the first person to hold the post. At the time of his election he was the only independent PCC not to have a background in policing. After a four-decade long career in aviation as an airline pilot on both commercial and cargo flights he was elected to the newly created office of Police and Crime Commissioner on 15 November 2012. One of his first acts in the post was to endorse an alliance with a neighbouring police force aimed at pooling resources and reducing overall costs. Although his role was a non-operational one, he requested a review of a police investigation into a motoring accident that left several people injured, citing public concerns over the incident. After it emerged that police officers who held a meeting with former Conservative
Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...
Andrew Mitchell following his involvement in the
Plebgate "Plebgate" (also known as "Plodgate" and "Gategate") was a British political scandal which started in September 2012. The trigger was an altercation between Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell and police officers on duty outside Downing Street. Le ...
affair had not given a proper account of their conversation, Ball became caught up in the affair after criticising the findings of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which recommended the officers be disciplined. Ball did not contest the 2016 election for the post, and was succeeded by
Philip Seccombe Philip Stanley Seccombe (born July 1951) is the Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner, representing the Conservative Party. He was first elected at the elections for police and crime commissioners held across England and Wales on 5 May 20 ...
of the Conservative Party.


Early life and career in aviation

Ball was born in 1950 in
Bordesley Green Bordesley Green is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England about two miles east of the city centre. It also contains a road of the same name. It is in the Bordesley Green Ward which also covers some of Small Heath. Heartlands Hospital is lo ...
, Birmingham (then in Warwickshire), England, and educated at Birmingham's Central Grammar School. He went on to study engineering at
Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
, helping with the construction of Spaghetti Junction during his summer breaks from study. He trained at the
Hamble College of Air Training Hamble College of Air Training was a flight training centre in Hampshire, England. During the late 1950s it became apparent that there was going to be a shortage of ex military pilots who would be available to crew British civil aircraft. The tw ...
then joined British European Airways as an airline pilot. He spent 31 years with BEA, and its successor,
British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...
, rising to the position of Captain, and helping to design motivational courses for newly promoted Captains. He was also a union official with the
British Airline Pilots' Association The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) is the professional association and registered trade union for UK pilots. BALPA represents the views and interests of pilots, campaigning on contractual, legal and health issues affecting its m ...
. He retired from BA in 2005, but returned to the airline industry as a pilot with Global Supply Systems in 2007, flying
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
cargo aircraft. Away from this profession he served as a local
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
and school governor in
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
. He retired from aviation in 2012 to stand as a Police Commissioner.


Election to office

Ball stood as an independent candidate in Warwickshire in the United Kingdom's first elections for Police and Crime Commissioners on 15 November 2012, deciding to seek election because he believed the post should be non-political. Although he had no previous police experience, part of his campaign was to argue that this would enable him to take an independent approach to matters of law enforcement. His manifesto promised a "common sense" approach to policing, and in his election statement he said that his objective would be to reduce crime and disorder in Warwickshire. Along with his fellow Warwickshire candidates Ball expressed concerns about the limited information provided by the
UK government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...
to explain the nature and purpose of the elections. He also criticised comments made by the former Chief Constable of Warwickshire,
Peter Joslin Peter Joslin, QPM, DL, (born 26 October 1933) is a former British police officer and Deputy lieutenant of Warwickshire. He served as Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police, where he held the position for fifteen years from 1983 to 1998, becom ...
who urged voters to boycott the elections, calling them "irresponsible". The Warwickshire turnout for the election was 15.65%, reflecting a poor figure nationally across England and Wales, and the
Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
launched an investigation into why voting had been so low. The poll was conducted under the
supplementary voting system The contingent vote is an Voting system, electoral system used to elect a single representative in which a candidate requires a majority of votes to win. It is a variation of instant-runoff voting (IRV). Under the contingent vote, the voter ...
in which voters choose a first and second preference, and saw him score 898 fewer votes than the Labour Party candidate and former government minister,
James Plaskitt James Andrew Plaskitt (born 23 June 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Warwick and Leamington from 1997 until his defeat at the 2010 general election. Early life Born in Grimsby, Plaskitt w ...
, but falling short of the 50% required for an overall majority. The second-preference votes for those who had voted for the third-place candidate, the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
's Fraser Pithie were then counted, giving Ball a clear majority. He had expected to secure around 20% of the vote. His election made him the Police and Crime Commissioner of England's smallest police force.


Police and Crime Commissioner

As one of twelve independent candidates elected to the role of Police and Crime Commissioner across England and Wales, Ball was the only one not to have had a background in policing, either as a serving officer or member of a Police Authority. After being declared the winner on 16 November Ball was immediately sworn into office, and officially took up the role of PCC on 22 November, when the post of Police and Crime Commissioner replaced that of the Police Authorities. Keen to establish himself in the mind's eye of the public as a separate entity from the police force he set up his headquarters in a local authority owned building rather than one belonging to the Warwickshire Constabulary: “If people want to come and make a complaint against the police, it’s a bit intimidating in a police station. It will be my job to monitor all aspects of the performance of the police—and that includes being independent when it comes to dealing with people who have complaints against the police.” The task of Police and Crime Commissioner required him to liaise with Warwickshire's Chief Constable to set budgets and meet targets. One of his first acts as the county's head of policing was to launch a six-month review of bureaucracy within the Warwickshire force. He also announced plans to improve the quality of local policing throughout the county, which he described as "patchy", and recruit more special constables. In January 2013 he said these would be recruited in "significant numbers" throughout the area. The BBC reported in August 2013 that talks were under way on proposals to merge the Warwickshire and West Midlands forces. Ball said that although this was one of several options being discussed going forward, nothing would happen during his term in office, and he personally had an "emotional preference" for smaller police forces. On 28 November, and together with his counterpart,
Bill Longmore William Morgan Longmore, more publicly known as Bill Longmore (18 August 1938 – 17 May 2018) was the Independent West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner. He was the first person to hold the post and was elected on 15 November 2012. A former ...
from the neighbouring West Mercia Police, Ball gave his backing to an alliance between the two forces, enabling them to pool services and make budgetary savings of £30.3 million. A draft report published in January 2013 and titled the ''Police and Crime Plan'' indicated that as part of the savings the two police forces would collectively lose 200 frontline police officers by 2016, together with 450 civilian posts. On 5 December Ball appointed the former Chief Executive of Warwickshire Police Authority, Dr. Eric Wood as his Deputy. He also announced that official meetings between himself and the Chief Constable would be open to the public, giving Warwickshire residents the opportunity to gain some insight into the working of their police force. Meetings would be held on a bimonthly basis with the public invited to submit questions beforehand, as well as regular surgeries at locations throughout the county. Another of Ball's early decisions was to ask the Chief Constable to review a Warwickshire Police investigation into an incident in which several people were injured when a vehicle crashed through pedestrians and into a shop in
Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...
. Nobody was prosecuted over the incident in April 2012 because there was found to be insufficient evidence to bring a case, and although operational matters are generally not the responsibility of a Police and Crime Commissioner, Ball asked for the review as he felt the event was a matter for public concern. In October 2015 Ball announced that he would not be standing for re-election in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
. The second police and crime commissioner elections, held on 5 May 2016, saw
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
councillor
Philip Seccombe Philip Stanley Seccombe (born July 1951) is the Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner, representing the Conservative Party. He was first elected at the elections for police and crime commissioners held across England and Wales on 5 May 20 ...
elected to succeed Ball with 43,208 votes, and on a turnout of 26.73%. Ball offered Seccombe his congratulations: "I have no doubt that he will find the job as rewarding and enjoyable as I have and I wish him the very best for the next four years."


Plebgate investigation

The
Plebgate "Plebgate" (also known as "Plodgate" and "Gategate") was a British political scandal which started in September 2012. The trigger was an altercation between Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell and police officers on duty outside Downing Street. Le ...
affair concerns an altercation between former Conservative
Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...
Andrew Mitchell and police officers guarding Downing Street that occurred on 19 September 2012, during which Mitchell was alleged to have called the officers "fucking
plebs In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizenship, Roman citizens who were not Patrician (ancient Rome), patricians, as determined by the capite censi, census, or in other words "commoners". Both ...
" when they refused to let him cycle through the main gate. Mitchellthe MP for
Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...
in the
West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
subsequently met with three Police Federation representatives from the
West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, Warwickshire and West Mercia forces at his constituency office to discuss the incident, after which the officers gave interviews about what had been discussed at the meeting. They claimed Mitchell had not given a full account of the disagreement, but a transcript of a recording of the meeting made by Mitchell indicated he had spoken at length about the incident. West Mercia Police launched an investigation into the affair, but concluded the three officers concerned should not be disciplined. An inquiry was also held by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). On 15 October 2013, the IPCC said that West Mercia's conclusions were wrong, and questioned the "honesty and integrity" of the three officers. Along with the three police forces involved, Ron Ball criticised the IPCC's findings, prompting its Deputy Chair,
Deborah Glass Deborah Glass (born 1959) is an Australian lawyer, who has been the Victorian Ombudsman since March 2014. A lawyer by profession, she spent her formative years in Melbourne, Australia, before taking her career overseas to Switzerland, Hong Ko ...
, to respond with clarification of its conclusions. In a letter to Ball, Glass said that West Mercia had changed its mind over whether to discipline the officers before the final publication of its report. Her comments led to media speculation that senior police officers could have interfered with the investigation. Ball subsequently requested a review of West Mercia's inquiry. "That is a very serious allegation and I want to understand the exact circumstances of the investigative approval process." West Mercia then launched an investigation into issues raised by the IPCC. The IPCC subsequently announced it would conduct its own investigation into the behaviour of the three officers, prompting Ball to issue a statement on 3 November 2013 in which he expressed concerns about the legality of a fresh probe. Ball made an appearance on the BBC's '' Newsnight'' on 16 October 2013, in which he spoke about the affair. Writing for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', the journalist Steve Richards noted that he "appeared comically out of his depth".


References


External links


Warwickshire Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Ron 1950 births Living people Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of Hamble College of Air Training English aviators Trade unionists from Birmingham, West Midlands Police and crime commissioners in England Date of birth missing (living people) Independent police and crime commissioners Commercial aviators