Joy Allen is Police and Crime Commissioner for County Durham and Darlington and was elected in May 2021.
Joy has spent most of her career working in the public sector for Durham Constabulary, Sedgefield Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council and County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, as Head of Service and Area Manager for Community Safety. She was elected to Durham County Council in 2013 and appointed to the Cabinet in 2015, where she held the Safer Communities Portfolio.
In 2017, Joy was appointed to lead Durham County Council’s Transformation Programme. She was then elected as Mayor of Bishop Auckland in 2019 and was a cabinet member for Transformation, Culture and Tourism, before going on to take on her current role.
Commissioner Allen is the APCC Joint Lead for Alcohol and Substance Misuse, looking to address the detrimental effects of addiction and substance misuse in our communities. She also holds the title as Joint Lead for Environment and Sustainability and Deputy Lead for Road Safety and Emergency Service Collaboration.
Please also see info on Joy’s role below:
- PCCs (Police and Crime Commissioners) are elected by the public to hold Chief Constables and the force to account, thus making the police answerable to the communities they serve. They ensure community needs are met as effectively as possible and are improving local relationships through building confidence and restoring trust.
The PCC is responsible for:
- Maintaining an efficient and effective policing service for your area
- Holding the Chief Constable (a distinct corporation sole) to account for policing services.
- Represent the interests of local communities and ensure police deliver the best possible service to them.
- Set the priorities for the Service and prepare the Police and Crime Plan.
- Maintain an efficient and effective Police Service for the police area.
- Appoint (and have the power to remove) the Chief Constable (may change following completion of PCC Review).
- Be responsible for Chief Constable complaints and conduct, and for statutory reviews of complaints against the Force.
- Hold the Chief Constable to account for the exercise of their functions, performance of the Service, and delivery of the Police and Crime Plan.
- Set the police budget and the policing precept (council tax that goes to the police).
- Community safety duty: work with other agencies and partners to improve public safety.
- Criminal justice duty: work with other agencies to improve criminal justice in the area
- Supporting victims and reducing reoffending: commission policing and crime services to reduce victimisation and its harm
