Officers could be held to account from early next year

Saturday 20th March 2010, 2:56PM GMT.

Home Affairs Minister Ian Le Marquand.

SENIOR police officers could be held to account over targets, standards and spending by an independent authority as early as next year.

Home Affairs Minister Ian Le Marquand is supporting a backbench proposition going to the States on Tuesday calling for detailed proposals on a police authority to come back to the States by December.

His support means that the proposal – tabled by Senator Alan Breckon – is virtually certain to pass through the States next week, nearly 12 years after the Chamber first agreed to establish an independent authority with oversight of the police.

In the UK, police authorities have the power to sack police chiefs and set budgets, including council tax levies.

Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post. Click here for subscription details. Individual editions are also available online.