
West Yorkshire chief Sir Norman Bettison, who is a vice-president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said he fears that those elected could feel obligated to people who helped them win power.
He said he also has concerns about new commissioners undermining operational independence.
In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, Sir Norman accepted that a lot of candidates will stand for election simply because they want to make the world a better place.
But he said: "My fear is that (in other cases) it could be the door that unlocks corruption and anything that does has the potential to destroy public trust in policing. There is potential for some corruption with a small 'c'. What I mean is not the problem of huge frauds and secret banks accounts in Monaco.