South Yorkshire: New PCC is sworn in

The new Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire has taken office following a swearing-in ceremony - and pledged: “I will be the people’s commissioner.”

Canon Dr Alan Billings took the legal oath of political neutrality to become the county’s new PCC.

He said: “I am honoured to have been elected and I’m committed to working with all communities across South Yorkshire to bring people together to face the challenges ahead.”

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“I will be supportive of the police, the vast majority of whom do fantastic work, but I’ll not be part of their culture.”

“My job is to hold them to account, particularly over Rotherham, Hillsborough and Orgreave, to make sure they are learning lessons, at the same time as supporting them in carrying out the important job they do protecting our people and our communities.”

“I will be a voice for all South Yorkshire people. I will be the people’s commissioner.”

Dr Billings, who lives in Crookes in the city of Sheffield, was deputy leader of Sheffield Council and a councillor for Walkley during the 1980s.

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He served as a Church of England parish priest in four parishes, including spells in inner-city Sheffield and Beighton.

The former Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright resigned over the Rotherham child abuse scandal in September of this year.

Mr Wright faced repeated calls to step down in the wake of a report which found at least 1,400 children were abused in the town of Rotherham from 1997 to 2013.