Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation
Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation
Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation
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THE ROLE OF POLICE<br />
divisions in society in terms of the haves<br />
and the have-nots as financial strictures<br />
begin to bite. Some communities believe<br />
themselves to be over-policed, such as the<br />
disproportionalities in stop and search,<br />
which it has been speculated played a<br />
role in the civil disturbances of August<br />
2011. As such they are withdrawing from<br />
the concept of policing by consent which<br />
underpins the model of British policing.<br />
Latest reforms<br />
<strong>Policing</strong> reforms being introduced by the<br />
present government include:<br />
<strong>Police</strong> and crime commissioners<br />
directly elected by the public;<br />
the phasing out of the Serious<br />
Organised Crime Agency and the<br />
creation of a new National Crime<br />
Agency;<br />
the abolition of the National <strong>Policing</strong><br />
Improvement Agency;<br />
the repositioning of the Association<br />
of Chief <strong>Police</strong> Officers as the<br />
national organisation responsible for<br />
providing the professional leadership<br />
for the police service to be called the<br />
College of <strong>Policing</strong>.<br />
Tom Winsor’s report into police pay<br />
and conditions presented far-reaching<br />
proposals affecting remuneration of<br />
officers and police staff (Winsor, 2012 2 ).<br />
Among other recommendations, Winsor<br />
argues for minimum entry qualifications<br />
for joining the police, multiple point<br />
entry and differential remunerations that<br />
recognise the gaining of qualifications in<br />
service, particularly challenging police<br />
work and valued contributions made by<br />
officers.<br />
Thus the police service may be said<br />
to be in a state of flux with the reforms<br />
being work in progress; recommendations<br />
from Winsor and Peter Neyroud’s<br />
proposals concerning police leadership<br />
(Neyroud, 2010 3 ) are still the subject<br />
of discussion; and during the vacuum<br />
created by transition, different models are<br />
being adopted by forces in response to<br />
the financial imperatives.<br />
Lincolnshire <strong>Police</strong> has signed a<br />
contract to transfer support staff to G4S<br />
while Surrey <strong>Police</strong> is holding fire on its<br />
private-public partnership arrangements.<br />
The shape, premise and remit of the<br />
new policing professional body remain<br />
incomplete, although due to start life in<br />
November 2012.<br />
Given the scale and speed of change<br />
and the volatility of the social, economic<br />
and political climate, a review of police<br />
and policing, which tries to take a big<br />
picture perspective, and is at one remove<br />
from those in the firing line, represents<br />
a reflective intake of breath by some<br />
critical friends.<br />
Initiated by The Labour Party,<br />
Lord Stevens was invited to set up an<br />
Independent Commission to look at:<br />
1. The challenges for policing in the 21st<br />
century – what is the role of the police<br />
and what is expected of the police?<br />
2. How to deliver the workforce to best<br />
equip the police to cut crime and increase<br />
public confidence.<br />
3. The police’s relationship with the<br />
wider criminal justice system and the<br />
agencies of the state.<br />
4. Governance and accountability<br />
– how to ensure the police are both<br />
held to account, but unencumbered by<br />
bureaucracy.<br />
5. Striking the right balance between<br />
the need for the police service to meet<br />
both local and national priorities, and the<br />
national structures to support that effort.<br />
6. Management of resources and the<br />
efficiencies to be found to get the most<br />
out of police spending.<br />
The work of the Commission is being<br />
undertaken by a core team set up by<br />
Lord Stevens and through an invited<br />
“The economic climate is likely to<br />
exacerbate the divisions in society in<br />
terms of the haves and the have-nots<br />
as financial strictures begin to bite.”<br />
advisory panel of Commissioners from<br />
across the political spectrum.<br />
While not a Royal Commission such<br />
as the 1960-62 Inquiry, the work being<br />
undertaken adopts a similar methodology<br />
ie, witness hearings, invited written<br />
submissions and attitude surveys.<br />
Assumptions<br />
The Commission has made some basic<br />
assumptions when considering the future<br />
of policing in England and Wales. These<br />
are:<br />
1. A need to reconcile public demand for<br />
police services and diminishing resources<br />
in the foreseeable financial climate.<br />
It is probable that demand may well<br />
increase such that it itself will have to<br />
be managed, possibly diverted to other<br />
agencies, changing public expectations or<br />
creating greater community engagement<br />
and that the more limited resources are<br />
triaged and focused to best effect.<br />
2. The likely increase in social<br />
fragmentation with greater differentials<br />
in the distribution of personal wealth<br />
with different social groups having<br />
greater or lesser access to resources<br />
such as information technology and<br />
material goods. This may well result<br />
in communities having different and<br />
potentially contradictory demands of the<br />
police.<br />
3. Development of new and different<br />
patterns of crime and disorder including:<br />
social unrest;<br />
cyber criminality;<br />
greater significance of cross-border<br />
and international reach of criminality.<br />
This will have implications for the<br />
sophistication and inter-operability<br />
of police computing and intelligence<br />
systems.<br />
4. Continuation of greater diversity<br />
and range of police partnerships<br />
arrangements whether these be with:<br />
other parts of the criminal justice<br />
system;<br />
other statutory agencies;<br />
NGOs;<br />
private sector;<br />
other police forces;<br />
other police jurisdictions.<br />
This will require new ways of working<br />
and again have inter-operability<br />
implications.<br />
5. Advances in science and technology<br />
that will make new innovations possible<br />
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