Ron Ball
| Ron Ball | |
|---|---|
| Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner | |
|
In office 15 November 2012 – 5 May 2016 |
|
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Philip Seccombe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1950 (age 66–67) Bordesley Green, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England |
| Political party | Independent |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | |
| Profession | Airline pilot |
Ron Ball (born 1950) is a former Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), and the first person to hold the post. At the time of his election he was the only independent PCC not to have a background in policing. After a four-decade long career in aviation as an airline pilot on both commercial and cargo flights he was elected to the newly created office of Police and Crime Commissioner on 15 November 2012. One of his first acts in the post was to endorse an alliance with a neighbouring police force aimed at pooling resources and reducing overall costs. Although his role was a non-operational one, he requested a review of a police investigation into a motoring accident that left several people injured, citing public concerns over the incident. After it emerged that police officers who held a meeting with former Conservative Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell following his involvement in the Plebgate affair had not given a proper account of their conversation, Ball became caught up in the affair after criticising the findings of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which recommended the officers be disciplined. Ball did not contest the 2016 election for the post, and was succeeded by Philip Seccombe of the Conservative Party.
Ball was born in 1950 in Bordesley Green, Birmingham (then in Warwickshire), England, and educated at Birmingham's Central Grammar School. He went on to study engineering at Southampton University, helping with the construction of Spaghetti Junction during his summer breaks from study. He trained at the Hamble College of Air Training then joined British European Airways as an airline pilot. He spent 31 years with BEA, and its successor, British Airways, rising to the position of Captain, and helping to design motivational courses for newly promoted Captains. He was also a union official with the British Airline Pilots' Association. He retired from BA in 2005, but returned to the airline industry as a pilot with Global Supply Systems in 2007, flying Boeing 747 cargo aircraft. Away from this profession he served as a local magistrate and school governor in Warwickshire. He retired from aviation in 2012 to stand as a Police Commissioner.
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