I HAVE just read Chris Payne’s letter in the Oxford Mail (March 18) and the Editor’s note telling us the Crime Commissioner’s office had twice refused to say how many candidates, if any, there had been for the post of Chief Constable.

It would seem that the introduction of crime commissioners also introduced a lack of transparency.

What else are we not being allowed to know? A portion of our council tax goes toward funding of the police; we are not paying Mr Stansfeld to encourage policies more akin to a ‘police state’.

BOB MCLOUGHLIN Mulberry Drive, Bicester