Ron Ball

Ronald William Ball (born August 1950) is a former Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner (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.

Ball was born in 1950 in Bordesley Green, Birmingham (then in Warwickshire), England, and educated at Birmingham's Central Grammar School.

He went on to study engineering at Southampton University, helping with the construction of Spaghetti Junction during his summer breaks from study.

He trained at the Hamble College of Air Training then joined British European Airways as an airline pilot.

He spent 31 years with BEA, and its successor, British Airways, 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.

He retired from BA in 2005, but returned to the airline industry as a pilot with Global Supply Systems in 2007, flying Boeing 747 cargo aircraft.

Away from this profession he served as a local magistrate and school governor in Warwickshire.

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 Andrew Mitchell following his involvement in the Plebgate 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.

He retired from aviation in 2012 to stand as a Police Commissioner.

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 to explain the nature and purpose of the elections.

He also criticised comments made by the former Chief Constable of Warwickshire, Peter Joslin 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 launched an investigation into why voting had been so low.

The poll was conducted under the supplementary voting system 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, 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'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.

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 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.

Ball did not contest the 2016 election for the post, and was succeeded by Philip Seccombe of the Conservative Party.