Along with his fellow Warwickshire candidates Ball expressed concerns about the limited information provided by the UK government to explain the nature and purpose of the elections. He also criticised comments made by the former Chief Constable of Warwickshire, Peter Joslin who urged voters to boycott the elections, calling them "irresponsible". The Warwickshire turnout for the election was 15.65%, reflecting a poor figure nationally across England and Wales, and the Electoral Commission launched an investigation into why voting had been so low. The poll was conducted under the supplementary voting system in which voters choose a first and second preference, and saw him score 898 fewer votes than the Labour Party candidate and former government minister, James Plaskitt, but falling short of the 50% required for an overall majority. The second-preference votes for those who had voted for the third-place candidate, the Conservative Party's Fraser Pithie were then counted, giving Ball a clear majority. He had expected to secure around 20% of the vote. His election made him the Police and Crime Commissioner of England's smallest police force. As one of twelve independent candidates elected to the role of Police and Crime Commissioner across England and Wales, Ball was the only one not to have had a background in policing, either as a serving officer or member of a Police Authority. After being declared the winner on 16 November Ball was immediately sworn into office, and officially took up the role of PCC on 22 November, when the post of Police and Crime Commissioner replaced that of the Police Authorities. Keen to establish himself in the mind's eye of the public as a separate entity from the police force he set up his headquarters in a local authority owned building rather than one belonging to the Warwickshire Constabulary: “If people want to come and make a complaint against the police, it’s a bit intimidating in a police station. It will be my job to monitor all aspects of the performance of the police—and that includes being independent when it comes to dealing with people who have complaints against the police.” The task of Police and Crime Commissioner required him to liaise with Warwickshire's Chief Constable to set budgets and meet targets. One of his first acts as the county's head of policing was to launch a six-month review of bureaucracy within the Warwickshire force. He also announced plans to improve the quality of local policing throughout the county, which he described as "patchy", and recruit more special constables. In January 2013 he said these would be recruited in "significant numbers" throughout the area.