(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121119-police-election-230a.photoblog600.jpg)Suzanne Plunkett / ReutersA voter enters a polling station in Hambleden, southern England, on Thursday as the public elected 41 police and crime commissioners.By Peter Jeary, NBC NewsLONDON -- Democracy is a valuable commodity; revolutions are fought to win it, lives are lost defending it, constitutions are written to enshrine it and billions of dollars are spent making it mean something. However, an initiative in Britain to extend the scope of democracy has met with an emphatic thumbs-down by the electorate, raising questions about how the nation has its say in who-runs-what.
On Thursday, voters in England and Wales, with the exception of London, had the opportunity to elect the first-ever Police and Crime Commissioners (http://www.apccs.police.uk/page/Role%20of%20the%20PCC) (PCC). These new regional officials, paid upwards of $150,000 a year, have the power to set policing budgets, fix priorities and hire and fire chief constables -- the most senior officers in the force.
NBCNews