Cleveland Police: Row as crime commissioner misses meeting in respect for Queen
BBCA police and crime commissioner (PCC) has angered members of a panel which scrutinises his post by missing a meeting out of respect for the Queen.
The Cleveland Police and Crime Panel went ahead in his absence but some elements had to be adjourned.
PCC Steve Turner said he had a "strong personal belief" that meetings should not go ahead during national mourning.
But panel member councillor Chris Jones told the meeting he had seen the PCC at work upstairs in the same building.
"Steve is here now, I saw him upstairs out of the window on the phone to somebody when I came in," he said.
Redcar and Cleveland councillor Mr Jones said: "We have all got busy lives. I have rushed over from Hartlepool to be here when it doesn't look as if there is any point."
Panel chairman Tony Riordan said government advice was that planned meetings should go ahead.
A minute's silence had been held at the start.
Mr Turner was "required to attend" but had written on Friday to say he would not, Mr Riordan said.
"Correspondence has been going backwards and forwards," he added.
Stockton councillor Pauline Beall said she took offence at the implied suggestion the panel was being disrespectful by carrying on with the meeting.
Middlesbrough councillor Tom Mawston said, by also telling his staff not to attend, the PCC had "basically taken the position to completely destroy and disrupt the meeting".
Mr Turner, whose job it is to set out a crime fighting strategy for Cleveland Police, said he was "unwilling to compromise on my principles".
In a statement, he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "As a mark of respect to the country's longest-serving monarch Queen Elizabeth II, my team and I have cancelled our public-facing engagements and meetings during the national period of mourning.
"Had they chosen to postpone the meeting by a week or so - as other police and crime panels have done - I would have been more than happy to attend and speak to the various reports on the meeting's agenda."
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