'People expect me to obey the law': Commissioner issues robust defence as police apologise over Maccabi debacle
West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster today (Tuesday) issued a robust defence of his handling of the Maccabi Tel Aviv controversy.
The decision to ban supporters of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv from a Europa League tie with Aston Villa led to outrage among the Jewish community, and the retirement of chief constable Craig Guildford after the Home Secretary said she had lost confidence in him.
Mr Foster found himself the subject of criticism for not dismissing Mr Guildford from his post.
However, the commissioner issued a defiant rebuttal to these claims, insisting he had did not have the legal powers to summarily dismiss a chief constable without going through a lengthy legal process.
Speaking at a meeting of the force's accountability and governance board, held at the force's Lloyd House headquarters in Birmingham, Mr Foster said: "A police and crime commissioner has no power to prevent a chief constable from retiring, it wasn't within my power.
He said a commissioner could ask a chief constable to retire or resign, but only after a lengthy legal procedure where the chief constable would be asked to appear before a panel, and would be given the opportunity to challenge the request. The commissioner said he would need to give six weeks' notice of launching such a procedure.
"This is not best practice, it is a law passed by parliament," he said.
