Bob Jones: a look back on his life and achievements

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Bob Jones Credit: Bob Jones/Twitter

Bob Jones has died suddenly at the age of 59. He was elected the first West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner in November 2012.

He was born in Wolverhampton and never lived more than a mile from where he was born (except for time out to study a degree in Public Administration in Nottingham).

He was awarded the CBE in 2010 for Services to Policing. He was also the Campaigning Strategy Director for the Campaign for Real Ale.

  • Labour Councillor from 1980-2013 for Blakenhall. Included a position as Cabinet Member and Chair of Education.

  • Member of West Midlands Police Authority from 1986-2012.

  • Chaired the West Midlands Police Authority from 1995-2000.

  • Member of the Association of Police Authorities, Deputy Chairman 2004-2005, Chairman 2005-2009.

  • Involvement in local community organisations and trusts.

Source: westmidlands-pcc.gov.uk

As his first step as Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, Bob Jones stopped controversial plans to allow private firms to run parts of the force's core services - which could have included street patrols and the guarding of crime scenes.

Half a million pounds had already been spent looking at how this would have worked.It was hoped that privatising parts of the police would help plug a 126 million-pound funding gap - but Bob Jones said the force should be accountable to the public, not shareholders.

Tributes have been paid to his gentle nature and dedication to his local community.