Essex Police and secret societies e.g. Freemasons

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Essex Police and Crime Panel,

Please would you kindly provide any rules, policies, regulations, etc regarding Police or Police and Crime Commissioner membership of secret societies such as the Freemasons, or any associated documentation pertaining to this issue in any recorded form - minutes, agendas, reports, files, letters etc.

If someone stands to be elected as PCC, do they have to declare if they are a member of the Freemasons? Can the PCC be a member of the secretive (and men-only) Freemasons?

Of the current candidates for the post of PCC - please tell us who is a Freemason.
Does any of your documentation reflect a consideration of the effect of this possibility on their election and their ability to do the job without bias?

Please provide any related information to this whole issue in any recorded form.

Many thanks,

Yours faithfully,

P. Smith

P. Smith left an annotation ()

Please could you also provide information regarding:

Whether or not there are any rules re the fitness of a candidate to stand in election to be a PCC?

What are these rules? (Integrity, honesty in past dealings and personal publicity, decency, impartiality, memberships, past roles & jobs, behaviours, etc.

Who vets the candidates? How? According to what criteria / rules?

If a member of the public is unhappy about such aspects of a candidate, who can they put their concerns to?

Many thanks,

P. Smith.