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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
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Results for policing (u.k.)
37 results foundAuthor: Great Britain. Human Genetics Commission Title: Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Fear? Balancing Individual Rights and the Public Interest in the Governance and Use of the National DNA Database Summary: The main conclusion of this report is that the U.K. has the largest police DNA database in the world, yet it was developed piecemeal without a specific Act of Parliament. The report concludes that it needs to be regulated on a clear statutory basis and supervised by an independent authority. Details: London: Human Genetics Commission, 2009. 112p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 118271 Keywords: DNA Typing (U.K.)Policing (U.K.) |
Author: Brasnett, Laura Title: Understanding Overtime in the Police Service Summary: This report provides an understanding of the drivers of overtime and the practices used for managing overtime in police forces across England and Wales. Details: London: Home Office, 2010. 28p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 118811 Keywords: Police AdministrationPolice AgenciesPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Great Britain. Home Office Title: From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing Our Communities Together Summary: This Green Paper sets out several focus areas to further improve policing in the U.K. and ways in which it can deliver for the public. The key issues addressed include: local dimension; service standards to the public; neighbourhood policing; bureaucracy and red-tape and use of technology; officers and staff; development and deployment of the police workforce; what the Government will do to support these changes; steps needed to promote collaboration and co-operation between forces; and plans for a radical reshaping of national performance management arrangements. Details: London: TSO, 2008. 98p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 114837 Keywords: Community Policing (U.K.)Neighborhood PolicingPolice-Community RelationsPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Inglis, Geoff Title: Confidence in the Police Complaints System: A Survye of the General Population in 2009. Summary: This annual survey measures trends in public confidence concerning the complaints system in the U.K. by surveying a representative sample of the general population. The survey asks about: contact with the police; willingness to complain; barriers against complaining; and ways in which members of the public may wish to complain awareness of the IPCC. Details: London: Independent Police Complaints Commission, 2010. 49p. Source: Internet Resource; IPCC Research and Statistics Series: Paper 17 Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 119396 Keywords: Complaints Against PolicePolice MisconductPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Barnes, Ian Title: Partners in Crime: Democratic Accountability and the Future of Local Policing Summary: There is now widespread recogniton that the structure of policing in England and Wales must be radically overhauled if it is to tackle crime and maintain public confidence through a period of diminishing public finances. In this report, Policy Exchange sets out a vision of democratic accountability driving efficiency and responsiveness in the police service, renewing the longstanding bonds between the police and the public. The report calls for the introduction of elected police heads, responsible for meeting the needs of local people and revitalising the relationship between the police and the public. Details: London: Policy Exchange, 2009. 46p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 117361 Keywords: Police ReformPolicing (U.K.)Public Opinion |
Author: Quinton, Paul Title: The Impact of Information About Crime and Policing on Public Perceptions: The Results of a Randomised Controlled Trial Summary: The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) carried out a randomised controlled trial to test the impact of crime maps and policing information. The public’s reaction to information about crime and policing was positive; a large majority thought it was informative and trustworthy. Importantly, the study was able to challenge the myth that sharing information with the public would increase the ‘fear of crime’. In fact, information was found to improve people’s perceptions of their neighbourhood and of the local police. The results of the study suggest that crime and policing information is a promising intervention in terms of improving the views of the public and, potentially, enhancing police accountability. The evidence, therefore, indicates that an investment of police resources in making information available to the public is worthwhile, particularly when integrated within a broader neighbourhood policing approach. Details: Bramshill, UK: National Policing Improvement Agency, 2011. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 16, 2011 at: http://www.npia.police.uk/en/docs/Full_Report_-_Crime_and_Policing_Information.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.npia.police.uk/en/docs/Full_Report_-_Crime_and_Policing_Information.pdf Shelf Number: 120809 Keywords: Crime MappingFear of CrimeNeighborhood PolicingPolice-Community RelationsPolicing (U.K.)Public Information |
Author: Neyroud, Peter Title: Review of Police Leadership and Training Summary: This Review was commissioned by the Home Secretary in the light of the Coalition Governments reform agenda on policing. The Government’s consultation document, ‘Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting police and the people’, which was published in July 2010 set out ’the most radical change to policing in 50 years’. The first part of this reform agenda, specifically the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, was set before parliament on 1 December 2010. The paper contained three key themes; the first is reconnecting the police with the public. There are two key step towards this: the ‘transference of power back to the people’, principally through the election of local Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs’); transferring power away from government by doing away with national targets and leaving PCCs’ instead to create local Crime and Disorder Plans. Both of these are the main subject of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill. Alongside this, the second theme is institutional change: the creation of the National Crime Agency (NCA) to provide a stronger national approach to serious and organised crime; the phasing out of the National Policing Improvement Agency. The third theme is severe fiscal constraint, with police forces facing ‘serious and difficult’ financial choices. Finally, running through the whole document is a recognition of the ‘golden thread’ needed to connect policing at all levels – local, national and international – if policing is to be effective in the 21st century. Alongside growing demand for policing at all levels, from neighbourhood action on anti-social behaviour to national efforts to tackle serious, organised crime and terrorism, these reforms provide immense challenges for police leaders. As the lead for the Review, I was, therefore, asked to carry out a ‘fundamental review of the current approach’, whilst examining in particular, how leadership and professional standards could be taken forward by a ‘repositioned Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)’, how talent can be developed to meet the new challenges and how the national functions currently delivered by the NPIA could be transitioned into the future. The eight key points of the Terms of Reference are set out below: 1. How ACPO can own and develop a shared vision in the service which engages practitioners, with PCCs’ locally and nationally with Government and other organisations such as the new National Crime Agency, for the standards of leadership and the development of the profession, building on learning from the Leadership Strategy: 2. How to develop an ACPO capacity to deliver leadership development, and assessment/accreditation, supported by the Superintendents’ Association, the Police Federation and others, which brings a cohesive approach to the leadership landscape: 3. Areas of focus nationally and locally for the leadership and talent management challenges – for example to identify key transitions and talent pools, including to increase diversity and respond to the Value For Money and operational skills challenges of the service: 4. The legal framework for assessment, for example for the promotion processes. 5. How the NPIA leadership functions can be transitioned effectively, in the context of the need for very substantial budget reductions: 6. The need to respond to the Government’s priority of reducing the unsustainable national deficit, including alternative funding models for leadership that both reduce and recover cost: 7. The potential role of other providers in training delivery, including other public sector leadership academies, the private sector, and other institutions: 8. The implications of the strategic direction for the leadership estates and infrastructure.’ I begin the Review by identifying the principles that need to underpin the approach to policing and police leadership in the future mapped out by the consultation document: 1. Democratically accountable: This is more than simply about the introduction of PCCs. It is about the link between police and civil society, between local police officers and their neighbourhoods’. It is also about the way in which the standards that guide police practice are the product of democratic debate. 2. Legitimate: There is a growing body of evidence to support the importance of the police performing their duties in ways that develop and maintain public perceptions of fairness and ethical behaviour. The research for the review reinforced the importance of such an approach in providing authority to the police and supporting law keeping by the public 3. Evidence-based: A growing body of evidence has been built up around effective police practice over the last 30 years5, which means that policing, professionally applied, works. 4. Nationally (and internationally) coherent: The more that policing is localised for delivery, the more important it is to be clear on the areas where interoperability and national standards are vital to protect the public 5. Capable, Competent and cost-effective: building on the 1964 Police Act’s principle of ‘efficiency and effectiveness’, Policing needs both to deliver desired outcomes and do so in a progressively more cost-effective way. Details: London: Home Office, 2010. 196p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 12, 2011 at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/consultations/rev-police-leadership-training/report?view=Binary Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/consultations/rev-police-leadership-training/report?view=Binary Shelf Number: 121314 Keywords: Police AdministrationPolice ReformPolice Selection and TrainingPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Great Britain. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Title: Demanding Times: The Front Line and Police Visibility Summary: Forces must organise their resources so that the highest possible proportion of officers and other police staff are available to meet the needs of the public. At no time in the past has this been more important than now: in this age of austerity, the police will have to make hard choices about how they use their resources. It is important that these are informed choices. In this report, HMIC therefore opens the books of policing, enabling both the police and the public to see how resource choices differ from force to force: • Section 1, ‘The police workforce and the “front line”’, identifies and categorises the different police roles, quantifies each category and examines which roles might comprise the front line. • Section 2, ‘Where are the police?’, outlines the proportion of police officers and police and community support officers (PCSOs) who are visible and available to the public at key times of the day. • Section 3, ‘Demands on the police’, uses findings from three new case studies to illustrate the range of demands on the police, and the variety of resources needed to meet these demands. Details: London: HMIC, 2011. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 12, 2011 at: http://www.hmic.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Thematics/THM_20110330.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.hmic.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Thematics/THM_20110330.pdf Shelf Number: 121319 Keywords: Police AdministrationPolice-Community RelationsPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Innes, Martin Title: Assessing the Effects of Prevent Policing: A Report to the Association of Chief Police Officers Summary: “This report provides an assessment of the effects of Prevent policing. Informed by analyses of the British Crime Survey and ninety five in-depth interviews with Muslim community members (n=53) and police involved in delivering Prevent (n=42), it seeks to develop an evidence-led account of what Prevent policing has and has not achieved since its inception in 2003. The interview data clearly capture that community participation in co-‐productive working to solve problems is involving both organizations that are formally funded by Prevent, but also more ‘organic’ forms of activism. However, reflecting a key finding of the earlier report, it remains the case that Muslim communities continue to express a preference for using their own informal social control resources to solve a problem when this is (or at least is believed to be) feasible. The evidence suggests that many Muslims hold quite complex and sophisticated views about the Prevent programme. Frequently, across the course of a single interview, community representatives talked both positively and negatively about their encounters with Prevent. Many of the reservations expressed about Prevent policing centred upon the means sometimes implemented. In particular, objections were registered about how Prevent funding had gone to groups who were not delivering much practical benefit. These concerns were reinforced by the wide-‐ranging disposition of the Prevent programme and the tendency for it to define Muslims’ relations with key state agencies, such as the police. Overall, the attitudes and perceptions of people belonging to Muslim communities can be divided into three main positions: Some are fundamentally ‘anti--Prevent’ and anti-police. This stance views the entire Prevent agenda as flawed and misconceived. Whilst this ‘strong critique’ of Prevent policing has achieved some political traction, the evidence collated suggests that it is not a mainstream or majority view within Muslim communities. At the other end of the continuum are people who are ‘advocates’ of Prevent. They accept the premises of Prevent and are often actively engaged in helping to deliver it, either within or outside of formal programme structures. In between these two positions are a large group of ‘non-aligned’ Muslims, whose views shift according to the unfolding of events. For many of these, a ‘weaker’ critique of Prevent does have some resonance in that they disagree with how some aspects of it have been delivered, but accept that ultimately there is a problem that needs to be confronted. Their concerns are pragmatically grounded in terms of how interventions should and should not be delivered. The police role in Prevent appeared to be viewed more positively than the wide-ranging remit afforded to the local authority based ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ element. Overall though, there was a strong sense in the data of Prevent being a ‘tainted’ brand’. Such views have been strongly influenced by the legacy of how Prevent was initially introduced in a hurry without establishing clarity of mission, or testing of appropriate tactical and strategic interventions. These concerns notwithstanding, appropriately configured targeted policing interventions did receive community support and backing. Taken as a whole, Muslims express higher levels of trust and confidence in the police than do the general population. This is in spite of them reporting crime and disorder impacts more negatively upon them than do the general population. This is an important finding because it challenges the oft repeated claim that Muslim communities in the UK are being profoundly alienated and disenchanted by the workings of the Prevent programme. The evidence available for this study suggests that the actual situation is somewhat more complex. Time trend analysis of a number of general policing indicators contained within the BCS covering the period in which Prevent has been implemented shows that Muslim community perceptions of the police have been remarkably stable, and largely positive. It is thus concluded that Prevent policing does not appear to be causing widespread damage to police and Muslim community relations.” Details: London: The Association of Chief Police Officers, 2011. 102p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 14, 2011 at: http://www.acpo.police.uk/documents/TAM/2011/PREVENT%20Innes%200311%20Final%20send%202.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.acpo.police.uk/documents/TAM/2011/PREVENT%20Innes%200311%20Final%20send%202.pdf Shelf Number: 121337 Keywords: Counter-TerrorismMinority GroupsMuslimsPolice-Community RelationsPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Winsor, Thomas P. Title: Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions: Part 1 Report Summary: The independent review of pay and conditions of service for police officers and staff began on 1 October 2010. The Home Secretary has asked the reviewer, Tom Winsor, to ensure that police pay and conditions and the structures around them are the best they could be given the challenges facing the police service, which will see forces being required to achieve more with less, while also being fair to officers and staff. The first report, published on 8 March 2011, covers: the deployment of officers and staff (including shift allowances, overtime and assisting other police forces); post and performance related pay (including special priority payments, competence related threshold payments for constables and bonuses at all ranks); and how officers leave the police service. Details: London: The Stationery Office, 2011. 326p. Source: Internet Resource: Cm 8024: Accessed April 22, 2011 at: http://review.police.uk/documents/police-remun-and-conditions/first-report?view=Binary Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://review.police.uk/documents/police-remun-and-conditions/first-report?view=Binary Shelf Number: 121389 Keywords: Police AdministrationPolice DeploymentPolice RemunerationPolice SalariesPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Great Britain. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Title: Adapting to Austerity: A review of police force and authority preparedness for the 2011/12 – 14/15 CSR period Summary: It has never been more important for forces and authorities to make effective decisions on how to manage their resources and improve their efficiency. Therefore in Spring 2011 HMIC carried out an inspection into the preparedness of forces and authorities to cope with the financial challenges of the CSR period. This provided an external challenge to forces by testing their assumptions and approach, and aimed to share knowledge and provide assurance to police authorities in the lead-up to publication of their medium term financial plans. This review incorporates the overall findings from our preparedness inspection, and examines: the plans forces and authorities have made; what this means across England and Wales as a whole; how different forces compare; whether frontline numbers will reduce; the impact of this on crime and police visibility; and the need to transform the efficiency of support functions. Details: London: HMIC, 2011. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 3, 2011 at: http://www.hmic.gov.uk/publication/adapting-austerity-review-police/ Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.hmic.gov.uk/publication/adapting-austerity-review-police/ Shelf Number: 122296 Keywords: Costs of Criminal JusticePolice AdministrationPolice BudgetsPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Sotiropoulos, Alexis Title: Making Time: Freeing Up Front-Line Policing Summary: Police officers don’t join the service to work as facilities managers. The public expects warranted officers to specialise in law enforcement, not IT support. In their efforts to free up the time of front-line officers, police forces have increasingly turned to civilian specialists to provide back-office services. ‘Making Time’ documents the changes that have been taking place in British policing over the past decade as Chief Constables have shifted resources from the back office to the front line, given police greater visibility and arranged technological and administrative support to enable them to stay on the streets longer. Details: London: The Serco Institute, 2008. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2011 at: http://www.serco.com/Images/making_time2a%20(Single%20pages)_tcm3-29348.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.serco.com/Images/making_time2a%20(Single%20pages)_tcm3-29348.pdf Shelf Number: 122578 Keywords: Police AdministrationPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Boyd, Edward Title: Cost of the Cops: Manpower and Deployment in Policing Summary: The Great Police Expansion (2001-2010)... The backdrop to the current debate around police funding is clear: the police service in England and Wales has never been better resourced. The last decade has seen an unprecedented rise in police expenditure: in nominal terms police expenditure has increased by 56% between 2001-2 and 2009-10 reaching more than £14.5 billion – up 25% in real terms since 2001. The increases over the last decade dwarfed even the large increases that the police enjoyed in the 1980s and taxpayers in England and Wales have never spent as much on policing as they do today. In 2010, each household was paying £614 per year for policing, up from £395 in 2001. Policing in England and Wales is among the most expensive in the developed world. A comparison of policing revenue expenditure as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) for a number of comparable, Common Law jurisdictions shows that UK police expenditure in 2010 was higher than the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. The decade of expansion in police funding also consisted of more local funding (including through business rates) with all police forces seeing significant increases in the police precept on council tax. Share of police funding raised from the precept increased from around 12% in 2001-2 to 23% at the end of the last decade. At force level, elements of police personnel expenditure saw marked increases, including in overtime paymentswhich rose from £289million in 2000-1 to £381 million in 2009-10, having peaked at £437 million in 2007-8. The increase occurred concurrently with a 12% increase in officer numbers, suggesting that poor management drove the increase in overtime rather than under-resourcing (See: Police Overtime Expenditure, Policy Exchange, February 2011). Total police officer strength rose 15% from 123,476 at March 2001 to 141,631 at March 2010. The number of Special Constables (volunteer officers) also increased 22% from 12,738 to 15,505, having dipped briefly to under 11,000 at March 2004. The increase in officer numbers was principally fuelled by the creation of The Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) in 2000, which provided a Home Office grant “designed to maintain/increase the number of police officers.” The result of increased expenditure tied to schemes like the CFF was a large rise in recruitment and subsequently an increase in officers at every policing rank. Between 2001 and 2010 the greatest absolute increase in personnel occurred at the level of constable (12,000 were added to the ranks), yet the make-up of officers tilted in favour of more senior ranks and proportionally there were more significant increases in the middle management of police forces. Increased spending since 2001 also translated into a large increase in the number of civilian staff (made up of police staff, PCSOs, Designated Officers and Traffic Wardens), who increased 73% from 57,104 to 98,801 over the decade. The number of civilians now employed means that there are seven civilian staff members for every ten police officers. The number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in particular has grown since they were first piloted in 2003, reaching 16,685 in 2010, as have the number of designated officers (first introduced in 2005), who have increased to 3,809. PCSOs were a critical component in facilitating the roll-out of Neighbourhood Policing – one of the most important policing reforms of recent history – by creating a more visible and available police service. If the police were a single company, they would be a significantly bigger (22% bigger) employer than Tesco Plc in the UK (Tesco Plc employed 196,604 FTE in 2010 (UK), the police service employed 240,432 FTE). The Next Four Years... In this context budget reductions over the next four years will be from a high base and in this regard, policing in England and Wales is in a comparatively strong position: more officers than ever before, better supported by historically high numbers of civilian staff and new technology, and facing reduced crime demand after more than a decade of reductions in volume offences (as measured by the British Crime Survey). The reductions planned for 2010-15 are large historically, and they will be challenging, but they are not excessive. Viewed in context, they do no more than reduce annual police funding to the level that would have been reached in 2015 if the trend rate of growth 1979-2001 had continued. The expansion after 2001 took police funding far higher than the trend increases of previous decades, and the funding agreed in the 2010 CSR will act to correct this unprecedented “surge”. The 20% budget reductions from the 2010 high amount to 14% over four years once local funding is taken into account. By the end of the period (2014-15), we will still be spending more than £12 billion on policing each year, or £500 per household in England and Wales – more than what was spent in 2004 and £100 more than was spent in 2001 when funding totalled £9 billion. Some forces – mostly in the north of England and the Midlands – as HMIC have noted, are facing more significant challenges, particularly if their total share of funding from central government is higher. It is certain that police forces will be smaller in 2015 than they were in 2010. Post the personnel reductions planned by forces up to 2015 there will still be 210,000 police employees in England and Wales – the same number as at March 2004. Details: London: Policy Exchange, 2011. 106p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 6, 2011 at: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/pdfs/Cost_of_the_Cops_-_Sep__11.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/pdfs/Cost_of_the_Cops_-_Sep__11.pdf Shelf Number: 122651 Keywords: Costs of Criminal JusticePolice OfficersPolice StaffingPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Metropolitan Police Authority. Civil Liberties Panel Title: Protecting the Innocent: The London Experience of DNA and the National DNA Database Summary: The MPA Civil Liberties Panel, which reports to the MPA Full Authority, was set up as a part of Met Forward, the MPA’s strategic plan. It was established as a means of improving public confidence in policing and ensuring the MPS maintains public trust. The use of DNA in policing is arguably one of the biggest advances in crime investigation since fingerprinting was first used in the early 20th Century. DNA is also highly emotive; it is personal and unique to an individual and when taken allows a significant amount of information to be known about a person. This means the public need to be confident that the police and the government use DNA and DNA records in a way that respects their fundamental right to privacy and protects their civil liberties. With this in mind, the panel have chosen to focus only on DNA that is taken from an individual by the police, for the purposes of investigating crime, including the operation of the DNA Database. Therefore, this review is not concerned with DNA that is obtained from crime scenes (for example, traces of DNA have been found on cigarette butts which have helped secure a conviction for murder). The panel does not dispute the need to take and retain DNA taken from a crime scene in order to assist with the investigation and identification of suspects, nor does it have concerns about the manner in which this is done and processed. The Panel prioritised ‘DNA’ because of the following: • The UK has a higher percentage (8.4%) of its population on a DNA database compared to anywhere else in the world. On 31st July 2010, the estimated total number of individuals retained on the DNA Database was 5.1 million. • The DNA Database contains the DNA profiles of all those convicted for a recordable offence since 1996. However, a change in legislation in 2001 allowed for the retention of DNA on arrest. The DNA Database currently holds all DNA profiles indefinitely, irrespective of whether they have been convicted of committing an offence. Approximately 1 million people or 1 in 5 of those on the DNA database have not been convicted of any offence. • 16% of DNA profiles on the DNA Database are from non-white ethnic groups. The 2001 census identified that 7.9% of the UK population comprised of non white ethnic groups4. Ethnicity monitoring in relation to the DNA Database is based on police ethnic appearance codes (please see Glossary for details) which require the police officer to make their own judgement of an individual’s ethnic appearance on the basis of 6 categories. This differs to the self defined ethnicity codes (please see Glossary for details) used throughout the criminal justice system. A total of 118,990 DNA samples were taken by the Metropolitan Police during 2009/10. There are no records held centrally regarding the total number of DNA samples taken by UK police forces in 2009/10. Of the DNA samples taken by the MPS in 2009/10: • 50% of these samples were taken from white people (71% of London’s population is white6); 49% were taken from black and Asian ethnic groups7 (23% of London’s population comprises of black and Asian ethnic groups). The largest age group represented was 25-44yrs old (45%). Nearly 20% of samples were taken from young people aged 10-17. Public concerns have been raised about the disproportionate representation of some groups and communities on the DNA Database. In December 2008 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in the case of S & Marper v The United Kingdom that indefinite retention of DNA profiles and samples on the National DNA Database was in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to respect for private and family life. The government has recently introduced the Protection of Freedoms Bill which sets out to balance civil liberties and the protection of the public, and in doing so address the issues outlined above. A recent decision by the Supreme Court echoes the ECHR decision in the case of S & Marper. Her Majesty’s Inspectorates for both the Police and the Prison Service are also conducting joint inspections of police custody facilities as part of a six year programme commencing in 2008. Some of the inspections undertaken across England and Wales, including a number of MPS boroughs in London have exposed deficiencies in relation to the management and storage of DNA within custody, including DNA samples not being correctly processed and labelled and on one occasion, DNA samples being stored alongside foodstuffs. The overarching purpose of this review is to ensure that DNA is managed and handled appropriately by the MPS with the necessary safeguards in place in order to strengthen public confidence. Our review has focused on the experience of Londoners, including many who have had their DNA taken by police. Our report provides an illustration of what happens to DNA when it is taken by police from an individual, through to its inclusion on the National DNA Database. As part of our review we examined this whole process in detail, focusing on the impact on individuals and on specific groups, on their perceptions, fears and concerns. Details: London: MPA, 2011. 99p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 13, 2011 at: http://www.mpa.gov.uk/downloads/committees/mpa/110630-04-appendix01.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.mpa.gov.uk/downloads/committees/mpa/110630-04-appendix01.pdf Shelf Number: 122726 Keywords: Civil LibertiesCriminal InvestigationsDNA TypingPolicing (U.K.)Public Opinion |
Author: McLean, Fiona Title: An Observational Study of Response and Neighbourhood Officers Summary: Reducing the bureaucratic burden on frontline police officers has been a recurring theme in the context of increasing efficiency. The drive for efficiency in policing has been given new impetus by the 2010 October Spending Review. The Home Office Business Plan 2011-15 included as Coalition priorities cutting police bureaucracy and improving value for money. The current study was carried out to provide police stakeholders with an up-to-date indication on how officers spend their time, to identify likely sources of inefficiency and bureaucracy in frontline policing and potential areas for improvement. The study found the following: • Public facing work in the community accounted for approximately forty-four per cent of the observed response and neighbourhood officers’ time, including responding to incidents and taking statements, foot patrol and community engagement. • Administrative activity, mainly paper or computer-based work required after incidents or to build case files for court, amounted to twenty-seven per cent of officer time – around 2.5 hours per shift. Another twenty-seven per cent was spent in the custody suite or at court, in training, briefings or meetings, travelling or on breaks. Observers had not recorded codes for officer activity for the remaining two per cent of their time. • Observers felt there was an opportunity for greater efficiency in over half the shifts observed (56%; 108 shifts) and noted more issues during response shifts than neighbourhood shifts. Overall, initiatives that impact on the response function appear to have more potential to increase police efficiency. Details: London: NPIA (National Policing Improvement Agency), 2011. 89p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 18, 2011 at: http://www.npia.police.uk/en/docs/An_observational_study_of_response_and_neighbourhood_officers.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.npia.police.uk/en/docs/An_observational_study_of_response_and_neighbourhood_officers.pdf Shelf Number: 123039 Keywords: Police AdministrationPolice OfficersPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Mason, Mark Title: Analysis of Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Activity Based Costing (ABC) Data: Results from an Initial Review Summary: This report summarises analysis into activities undertaken by Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) while on active duty, and explores whether these activities match the Home Office guidance on the role of PCSOs. The report is based on findings from a snapshot analysis of PCSO Activity Based Costing (ABC) data from 2006/07. ABC data are collected from each force over a two-week period every year. The data used in this analysis are therefore representative at the national level. However, ABC data may yield different results between and within forces due to differences in local priorities and variations in how individual activities are recorded. Grouping similar or related activity codes into meaningful categories will help mitigate the effects of any local variations in recording. Analysis of Activity Based Costing data found that despite local variation in the amount of time spent on individual activities, PCSO activity corresponds well to Home Office role guidance, with PCSOs spending the majority of their time being highly visible within the community, dealing with minor offences and supporting front-line policing. Details: London: Home Office, 2008. 3p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report 8: Accessed March 2, 2012 at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/horr08.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/horr08.pdf Shelf Number: 124334 Keywords: Police BehaviorPolice PerformancePolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Great Britain. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary Title: A review of national police units which provide intelligence on criminality associated with protest Summary: In 2010, revelations about the activities of Mark Kennedy, a police officer working undercover for the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), led to the collapse of the trial of six people accused of planning to shut down a large power station in Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire. Later that month, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) announced a review of the systems used by the NPOIU to authorise and control the development of intelligence. This report outlines our findings and recommendations. The NPOIU was created in 1999 as part of the Police Service's response to campaigns and public protest that generate violence and disruption. Located within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), it was funded by the Home Office to reduce criminality and disorder from domestic extremism and to support forces managing strategic public order issues. The unit gathered and coordinated intelligence that enabled the police to protect the public by preventing crime and disruption. HMIC has reviewed: the supervision of undercover officers deployed by the NPOIU; the activities and supervision of Mark Kennedy specifically; the issues of management and supervision that arise from the case of Mark Kennedy, and how these might be strengthened; the ACPO definition of "domestic extremism"; the history, remit and governance of the NPOIU; and links between the NPOIU and the MPS Special Demonstration Squad (SDS). This report considers undercover police tactics when used to develop intelligence, rather than to obtain material specifically for a criminal prosecution. Conclusions and recommendations are made with regard to the level of intrusion into people's lives; the use of these tactics to tackle domestic extremism as well as to inform public order policing; and the extent to which the risks inherent to undercover deployments are justified and controlled. Details: London: HMIC, 2012. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 13, 2012 at http://www.hmic.gov.uk/media/review-of-national-police-units-which-provide-intelligence-on-criminality-associated-with-protest-20120202.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.hmic.gov.uk/media/review-of-national-police-units-which-provide-intelligence-on-criminality-associated-with-protest-20120202.pdf Shelf Number: 124501 Keywords: Domestic Terrorism (U.K.)Intelligence GatheringPolice OperationsPolicing (U.K.)ProtestsPublic Order Management (U.K.)Violent Extremism (U.K.) |
Author: Great Britain. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary Title: Anti-social Behaviour: Inspection Findings Summary: In Spring 2010, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) carried out a review of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in England and Wales. This included asking victims about their experience of reporting ASB to the police, and inspecting the quality of the processes that forces use in tackling and responding to the problem. Working with the Police Science Institute at Cardiff University, we then used the results to answer the question of how the police can best tackle ASB. Details: London: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, 2010. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 24, 2012 at http://www.hmic.gov.uk/media/anti-social-behaviour-inspection-findings-20100923.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.hmic.gov.uk/media/anti-social-behaviour-inspection-findings-20100923.pdf Shelf Number: 125064 Keywords: Anti-Social Behavior (U.K.)Police Administration (U.K.)Police Operations (U.K.)Policing (U.K.)Victimization Surveys (U.K.) |
Author: Sergeant, Harriet Title: The Public and the Police Summary: Expenditure on the police force is at record levels. In terms of numbers and budgets, it has never been so large. In spite of this there is widespread public dissatisfaction resulting in a steep increase in com‐plaints against the police, with many coming from law‐abiding, middle‐class people who complain of rude‐ness and neglect of duty. It is hard to get the police to respond to reports of crime and anti‐social behaviour. Investigations are lacklustre and often abandoned. The police, in their turn, complain of being short of resources. Although police numbers in England and Wales are historically high, compared with other developed countries they are low. Furthermore, crime rates in England and Wales are amongst the highest in the developed world, so the workload of officers is unmanageably large. Officers have been submerged by a flood of paperwork, so that only 14 per cent of their time is spent on patrol. This paperwork is done at the expense of officers on the beat and responding to crimes. The public have no power to influence policing. All decisions are taken by politicians and their appointees, but there is no accountability within the system. Since the Police Act 1964 successive governments have accrued power to the centre. Centralisation has led to politicisation and the introduction of targets. Bonuses are paid to senior officers based on compliance with targets. In order to achieve the required level of detections, police officers pursue those who will yield easy convictions, such as The target the public would most like to see met is the absence of crime—the first of the Nine Principles of Policing laid down for the Metropolitan Police on their foundation in 1829. To this end, police officers need to be visible in their communities. The decision to prosecute is taken by the Crown Prosecution Service, which has its own targets to achieve in terms of successful prosecutions. This makes the CPS unwilling to prosecute cases where they are not convinced the evidence is rock solid. This leads to many potential prosecutions being dropped, leaving the public feeling let down and allowing criminals to feel they have ‘got away with it’. Prison overcrowding has created pressure for non‐custodial sentences. Many criminals, including burglars, rapists and violent attackers, get no more than a caution. Often they continue to offend, and it becomes progressively more difficult for the police to catch them as they learn by their experience of the system. Police officers swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen, not the Prime Minister. Unlike many other police forces, British police were not intended to be servants of the state, but of the communities they serve. Their powers are personal, used at their own discretion and derived from the crown. This essential feature of British policing—policing by consent—is now in jeopardy. Details: London: Civitas: Institute for the Study of Civil Society, 2008. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 30, 2012 at: http://www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/PublicAndThePolice.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/PublicAndThePolice.pdf Shelf Number: 125105 Keywords: Police AdministrationPolice OfficersPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Great Britain. Her Majesty's Iinspectorate of Constabulary Title: Valuing the Police: Policing in an Age of Austerity Summary: In times of increasing budgets, the police in England and Wales were successful in achieving the measures set for them – reducing crime and improving public confidence. This report considers the effect of budget cuts on policing, and in particular the impact on sustaining the number of police who are visible and available to the public. Police forces receive between 50 and 90% of their funding from central government, with most of the remainder coming from Council Tax. The Emergency Budget on 22 June 2010 announced that on average there would be a 25% cut in central government budgets between now and 2013/14, and that Council Tax would remain stable for a year. We will not know what this means for policing until it is announced by the Government later this year. However, we do know that a fixed percentage cut applied to all forces would impact disproportionately on those forces that receive a higher proportion of their funding from central government. Our report with the Audit Commission, Sustaining Value for Money in the Police Service, also published today indicates that cost cutting and improvements in productivity could, if relentlessly pursued, generate a saving of 12% in central government funding (see the ‘Re-design’ section below). But we should not underestimate the challenge in reducing costs and, importantly, retaining a police service that is visibly effective in the eyes of the public. Details: London: HMIC, 2010. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 27, 2012 at: http://www.hmic.gov.uk/media/valuing-the-police-policing-in-an-age-of-austerity-20100720.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.hmic.gov.uk/media/valuing-the-police-policing-in-an-age-of-austerity-20100720.pdf Shelf Number: 126479 Keywords: Costs of Criminal JusticeCriminal Justice ExpendituresPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Ray, Kathryn Title: Perceptions of the Policing and Crime Mapping 'Trailblazers' Summary: The aim of the research was to examine public perceptions of ‘Trailblazer’ initiatives across seven areas. These initiatives aim to increase transparency in policing and criminal justice, through enhancing or building on the national www.police.uk website. Qualitative research collected data from telephone interviews with policymakers and practitioners involved in the development and implementation of the initiatives, and from focus groups with members of the public. This enabled a detailed exploration of views, to provide feedback to the Home Office and local sites, and to inform future developments on transparency. The findings suggest a number of implications for future policy in this area. There is a need to think carefully about future enhancements to www.police.uk and related initiatives. The findings suggest that more information is not always desirable and can be counter-productive. Information needs to be high quality, relevant, usable and intelligible. The type of enhancements that should be made to www.police.uk depend upon the purposes for which the site is to be used: - to aid in crime prevention, enhancements could include more frequent updates and more details about individual crimes; for the public to use the site for holding the police to account, more aggregated data are required, namely trend data and comparisons of crime rates across areas. The findings suggest that information provision alone is unlikely to stimulate greater public engagement in police accountability, without wider activity to educate members of the public on how they might use the information to do this effectively. The initiatives need a 'hook' to keep people returning to them. Encouraging users to create an account and sign up for alerts, tailored to individual location and interest, would be useful for maintaining engagement. Details: London: Home Office, 2012. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report 67: Accessed October 11, 2012 at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/horr67/horr67-report?view=Binary Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/horr67/horr67-report?view=Binary Shelf Number: 126683 Keywords: Information SharingInformation SystemsPolice-Community RelationsPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Boyd, Edward Title: Policing 2020: What Kind of Police Service Do We Want in 2020? Summary: Policing 2020 looks at the landscape of policing over the next ten years, calling for a return to Sir Robert Peel’s core principles of crime prevention. It proposes: The formation of Crime Prevention Officers (CPOs). CPOs would replace neighbourhood police officers who make up around 15% of total police force personnel. They would be more highly trained and equipped and be made directly responsible for crime prevention in their area and held to account through monthly meetings with their local Commander. Citizen Police Academies should be set up to train the public – using a mixture of police officers and voluntary groups with relevant expertise – on how to play their part in the fight against crime. They would be taught everything from how to perform citizen’s arrests safely to how to avoid danger when walking home alone. Polling for the report also found that the public support the police working with independent organisations, such as private businesses and social enterprises, to free up police officers’ time: •Three quarters of people supported the idea of independent organisations providing IT support and carrying out administrative functions •56% of people thought they should be able to answer calls from the public •47% backed them being able to police crime scenes compared to 38% who opposed the idea. Details: London: Policy Exchange, 2012. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 23, 2013 at: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/policing%202020.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/policing%202020.pdf Shelf Number: 127355 Keywords: Police AdministrationPolice ReformPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Graham, John Title: Policing Young Adults: A Scoping Study Summary: This report presents the findings of a small scoping study on the policing of young adults. Its main aim is to highlight key issues and challenges and identify a future agenda for research, policy and practice. It draws on a small number of interviews with young adults, police officers and individual experts (e.g. policy makers, community safety experts and relevant literature). The study focuses on encounters between young adults and the police, particularly those involving stop and search and the night-time economy, and how well the police handle – and are trained to handle – such encounters. Details: London: Police Foundation, 2013. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 5, 2013 at: http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/uploads/catalogerfiles/policing-young-adults/policing_young_adults.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/uploads/catalogerfiles/policing-young-adults/policing_young_adults.pdf Shelf Number: 127846 Keywords: Police BehaviorPolice LegitimacyPolice-Citizen InteractionPolice-Community RelationsPolicing (U.K.)Young Adult Offenders |
Author: Bartlett, Jamie Title: Policing in an Information Age Summary: Policing is an information intensive business. This means that changes in the way people create, share and use information present new challenges to the task of policing a democratic society. The widespread adoption of social media is one such change. Social media allows the police to engage and include the public in law enforcement in new, potentially transformative ways. But it also makes these engagements more difficult to control, and open to misuse and reputational damage. It allows the police to gather powerful, recent and possibly decisive intelligence – social media intelligence or ‘SOCMINT’ - in the interests of public safety. But there is a risk that this will be done in a way that is unsound, unsafe, and radically undermining of public trust. Social media is a new source of evidence for enforcement purposes, but also a new theatre of crime. For at least the last five years, dealing with these opportunities and challenges has become increasingly important to police forces. The initial doubts which many may have had about the relevance of social media platforms to police work were largely dispelled by the August 2011 riots. Since then, police interest in and use of social media has increased rapidly against a background of greater pressure on police budgets and the beginnings of a decline in police numbers. All forces in the UK have some presence on Twitter, with accounts for senior police officers, central communications, neighbourhood, helicopter, road and football policing teams. Some police officers tweet in a private capacity. West Midlands Police for example has accounts for individual officers, force football teams and even the police dog. Other social media platforms – Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Pinterest, Google +, Audiobook – are also used, often linked to Twitter accounts. Most forces have formal social media policies and strategies, and most use social media as a basis for investigation or as evidence. In this short paper, we summarise the key opportunities and difficulties social media presents for engagement, intelligence and enforcement. It is far from comprehensive and offers only an overview of each. Nevertheless, it seems to us that the police will now certainly need to use social media to engage with the public, collect intelligence, and investigate crime, both on- and offline. This needs new settlements – in doctrine, resource allocation, operation, capability, regulation and strategy – that allow it to be done in accordance with the principles at the heart of the British model of policing: legitimacy, accountability, visibility, compliance with the rule of law, proportionality, the minimal use of force and engagement with the public. Details: London: Demos, 2013. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2013 at: http://www.demos.co.uk/files/DEMOS_Policing_in_an_Information_Age_v1.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.demos.co.uk/files/DEMOS_Policing_in_an_Information_Age_v1.pdf Shelf Number: 128164 Keywords: Information TechnologyPolice-Media RelationsPolicing (U.K.)Social Media |
Author: Great Britain. Comptroller and Auditor General Title: Police Procurement Summary: Although the 43 police forces in England and Wales and the Home Office are making savings in the procurement of goods and services for the forces and are implementing initiatives to improve value for money, many opportunities remain unexploited. Police forces procure a wide range of goods and services, from uniforms and police vehicles to estate and facilities management services such as cleaning, spending some £1.7 billion in 2010-11. The Department oversees the police service, and central government provides most of its funding, but individual forces have traditionally bought many goods and services independently. With central government funding being reduced by some £2 billion in real terms over the spending review period, however, the Home Office has taken a role in providing leadership and support to help forces improve their procurement and make savings. Many forces are now working with others to improve their buying power and make administrative savings, but most collaborations involve few forces and nearly half of all forces still have independent procurement teams. Some forces have set up regional or national approaches to purchase common goods and services which many other forces take advantage of. However, common specifications for many types of goods and services do not exist, which reduces scope for collaborative buying. The NAO found at least nine separate specifications for each of five common types of equipment used by police officers, such as boots, body armour and high-visibility jackets. The NAO estimates forces could save up to a third of their costs in such areas, for example by agreeing a common specification for a uniform, such as that agreed by the Prison Service. The Home Office’s efforts so far have been hampered by the lack of timely, accurate and detailed data, with national level data collection enjoying limited success and expenditure data up to two years out of date. This makes it difficult for it to target its interventions. Forces also reported mixed views about the support the Department provides. It has set up frameworks for body armour and vehicles which forces are legally compelled to use, and forces are on the whole positive about these, but it has been slow to build on this despite support from two-thirds of forces for further mandatory frameworks. There are also tensions between the Department’s strategy to increase procurement at a national level, and its reforms to increase local accountability, such as the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners. The Department, forces and Commissioners will need to work together more effectively to identify and deliver further savings, particularly given the need to minimize the impact that cost reductions have on frontline policing. Details: London: National Audit Office, 2013. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2013 at: http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/10092-001-Police-procurement.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/10092-001-Police-procurement.pdf Shelf Number: 128165 Keywords: Cost-Benefit AnalysisCosts of Criminal JusticePolice AdministrationPolice ManagementPolice ProcurementPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Brake, Tom Title: Upholding the Queen’s Peace: towards a new consensus on policing Summary: The Police Federation of England and Wales represents over 130,000 police officers up to and including the rank of chief inspector. We ensure that their views on all aspects of policing, including their welfare and efficiency, are accurately relayed to government, opinion formers and key stakeholders. In doing this, the Federation has evolved from being a voluntary, unfunded organisation in its early years, to a modern, professional staff association that covers all subjects and issues that affect the police service, including issues such as training, promotion, discipline and professional standards. These are challenging times for the police service. Regarded by many – including some of the contributors to this collection of essays – as an inherently conservative institution, the service is in fact no stranger to change. An organisation can adapt to the changes that occur around it, in the society it polices; it can adapt to increases in demand or greater constraints on its resources. It can even adapt to changes in policy and legislation implemented by the government of the day. The question, though, is whether, when an institution is faced with a combination of these challenges, it can continue to operate on the basis of the same principles which have guided it throughout its existence. As the Police Federation seeks to influence and negotiate on behalf police officers and the interests of the wider public to provide a police service which values diversity, respects work-life balance and is responsive to the needs of the communities it serves, we have asked a number of respected politicians, stakeholders and commentators for their perspective on the challenges facing the police service. The all-embracing question for many of us is whether the traditional consensus around policing in England and Wales stills holds, even against this backdrop of change, or whether we need to develop a new policing consensus. These essays do not necessarily provide all of the answers, but they do mark the beginning of that debate. Details: London: Police Federation, 2013. 124p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 12, 2013 at: http://www.polfed.org/documents/Upholding_The_Queens_Peace_Essay_book.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.polfed.org/documents/Upholding_The_Queens_Peace_Essay_book.pdf Shelf Number: 128339 Keywords: Police ReformPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Innes, Martin Title: Rebooting the PC: Using innovation to drive smart policing Summary: When Neighbourhood Policing was first introduced in England and Wales, many senior police leaders and experts publicly dismissed the idea, arguing that providing reassurance and focusing on the public’s crime priorities would not cut crime or improve public confidence – with some adding that the policy was conceived by people who had no real knowledge about the front-line. Now that it has helped to sustain record reductions in crime and is held up as a beacon of best practice around the world, the Neighbourhood Policing model is fiercely protected and promoted by senior officers, ACPO, the Home Office and all major political parties. It is, perhaps, the best example of a successful innovation in British policing. The journey from conception to world-famous innovation (in policing circles, at least) was not an easy one, made harder by an institutional resistance to change and a cop culture that often sees promising ideas rejected because they were ‘not invented here’. This conservatism is understandable. The police often deal with situations and issues which can result in serious harm to victims, and so they can be understandably risk averse. And police officers are highly pragmatic, practical people who solve problems creatively every day – meaning that they are often happy to ‘satisfice’ with processes, kit or technology that are just good enough to do the job. This is best summed-up by the oft-repeated policing phrase, “we’re not trying to build a Rolls Royce, we only need a Mini”. Innovation involves risk. In fact, it often requires it. So we should expect a degree of resistance from an organisation like the police. But with the growing social and financial challenges facing the country’s forces, there is no part of policing that can be immune from a re-examination of what has hitherto simply been received wisdom or accepted practice. This report is all about how to hardwire innovation into the structures and cultures of policing. It examines why policing can be culturally and institutionally resistant to innovation, identifies the ‘engines of innovation’ which can sometimes break through this inertia, demonstrates why embedding processes of innovation should be a deliberate goal of policy, and calls for the creation of new collaborative networks specifically designed to foster innovation. Details: London: Policy Exchange, 2013. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2013 at: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/rebooting%20the%20pc.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/rebooting%20the%20pc.pdf Shelf Number: 128657 Keywords: Neighborhood PolicingPolice InnovationPolice ReformPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Independent Commission on Mental Health and Policing Title: Independent Commission on Mental Health and Policing Report Summary: The Independent Commission on Mental Health and Policing was set up in September 2012 at the request of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. Terms of reference and membership are attached at Appendix 1 on page 68. The Commission’s brief was to review the work of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) with regard to people who have died or been seriously injured following police contact or in police custody and to make recommendations to inform MPS conduct, response and actions where mental health is, or is perceived to be, a key issue. While reports like this cannot take away the anguish families have suffered, it is the hope of the Commission, and the duty of those who receive this report, to ensure that the recommendations are implemented in the name of the families as citizens who have lost loved ones in terrible circumstances. By doing so, a level of reassurance can be given to the families that others may not suffer the same loss. Although the Commission was focused on the MPS, the issues identified are national and the recommendations are likely to be applicable to all forces across the country. The Commission independently examined 55 MPS cases covering a five-year period (September 2007 — September 2012). As some cases are still to receive judicial findings in those reviewed, we have been careful to avoid making any comments that would prejudice future findings. All cases, therefore, have been made anonymous. We focused on the roles and responsibilities of the MPS in dealing with issues of mental health in custody, at street encounter and in response to calls made to police, including call handling processes when dealing with members of the public where there is an indication of mental health. 2 Cases within the report are referenced by numbers, rather than initials, to protect the identity of the individuals and families involved. Everything which follows in this report must be seen through the lens that mental health is part of the core business of policing. The role of the police is not a clinical one but mental health issues are common in the population and will often be found in suspects, victims and witnesses. A person may commit an offence or cause a public disturbance because of their mental health issues. In addition, the police may be first on the scene of a person in mental health crisis or a potential suicide. It therefore cannot be a periphery issue, but must instead inform every day practice. As existing guidance states: ‘Given that police officers and staff are often the gateway to appropriate care — whether of a criminal justice or healthcare nature — it is essential that people with mental ill health or learning disabilities are recognised and assisted by officers from the very first point of contact. The police, however, cannot and indeed are not expected to deal with vulnerable groups on their own.’ Details: The Commission, 2013. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 15, 2013 at: http://www.wazoku.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/05/Independent_Commission_on_Mental_Health_and_Policing_Main_Report.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.wazoku.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/05/Independent_Commission_on_Mental_Health_and_Policing_Main_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 128728 Keywords: Mentally Ill OffendersPolice Services for the Mentally IllPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Bradford, Ben Title: Policing and Social Identity: Procedural Justice, Inclusion, and Cooperation between Police and Public Summary: Accounts of the social representation of policing and of the relationship between police and citizen converge on the idea that police behaviour carries important identity-relevant meaning. Opinions of and ideas about the police are implicated in the formation of social identities that relate to the social groups it represents – nation, state and community. Procedural justice theory suggests that judgements about the fairness of the police will be the most important factor in such processes. Fairness promotes a sense of inclusion and value within the group. Furthermore, positive social identities in relation to the police should on this account promote cooperation with it. This paper presents an empirical test of these ideas in the context of British policing. Data from a survey of young Londoners are used to show that perceptions of police fairness are indeed associated with social identity, and in turn social identity can be linked to cooperation. Yet these relationships were much stronger among those with multiple national identities. Police behaviour appeared more identity relevant for people who felt they were citizens of a non-UK country, while for those who identified only as British there was a weaker link between procedural fairness and social identity, and legitimacy judgements were the main ‘drivers’ of cooperation. Policy and theoretical implications are discussed. Details: Oxford, UK: University of Oxford, 2012. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper No. 06/2012: Accessed May 15, 2013 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1994350 Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1994350 Shelf Number: 128729 Keywords: Police-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsPolicing (U.K.)Procddural Jsutice |
Author: Bartlett, Jamie Title: @metpoliceuk: How Twitter is Changing Modern Policing: The Case of the Woolrich Aftermath Summary: Major events – natural disasters, football matches, terrorist attacks – are increasingly accompanied by a complex, varied and evolving cloud of reaction on Twitter: questions, interpretations, condemnations, jokes, rumours and insults. This surge of online information, shadowing the event itself, is often called a ‘twitcident’. This new kind of aftermath opens new opportunities and challenges for policing.i Inherently amenable to collection, measurement and analysis, they can be harnessed as sources of social media intelligence – ‘SOCMINT’ – in a number of ways to keep society safe: as important sources of evidence; as situational awareness in contexts that are changing rapidly, as a way of crowd-sourcing intelligence, and to answer a backdrop of strategic research questions, such as how society will change in result of the event itself.ii Twitcidents do not just provide intelligence for the police, however. They also put pressure on the police themselves to provide information, intelligence and, where possible, public assurances. As we have argued elsewhere, social media is an increasingly important aspect of modern policing, particularly for intelligence collection and communication.iii It is now apparent that social media is an important part of any large incident or emergency response. As people continue to transfer their social lives onto these digital-social spaces, the benefits of effectively harnessing and responding to twitcidents will increase, and so will the risk of failing to do so. To understand the specific challenges and opportunities this presents, we have chosen to dissect in detail the tweets directed at @metpoliceuk immediately before, during and after the alleged murder of Lee Rigby by two individuals – believed to be Islamist extremists – in Woolwich at 14:20 on 22nd May 2013. After the murder, the alleged assailants remained at the scene, and spoke to, and were filmed by, bystanders. First unarmed, then armed police arrived and, following an exchange of fire, the two men were wounded and taken to hospital. As of May 29th the Metropolitan’s Police Twitter account (@metpoliceuk) was the most followed police account in the UK, with 114,369 followers. Up to the afternoon of the 22nd, the account was lively. Two online petitions were driving tweets to the police account, one to demand additional information be released from the McCann investigation, and the other demanding the arrest of the self-exiled Pakistani politician Altaf Hussain. BBC Breaking News’ Twitter account tweeted at 3.50pm that: Police officers called to incident in Woolwich, south-east London at 14:20 BST, @metpoliceuk confirm. No further details at present Quickly, news of the attacks began to circulate on Twitter, and video footage of the assailants – including one of the suspects talking to a bystander – was uploaded onto YouTube and other platforms. By the late afternoon, members of the English Defence League took to Twitter to organise a flash demonstration in Woolwich to express outrage at the murder; and by the early evening around 100 supporters clashed with police before being dispersed at around 11pm. In order to understand how people reacted on Twitter to these events, from May 17th to May 23rd, we ‘scraped’ all 19,344 Tweets that contained the identifying ‘@tag’ - @metpoliceUK. A Twitter scrape is the result of filtering the recent public Twitter timeline with a set of query terms through Twitter’s ‘Search Application Programming Interface’. All Tweets matching @metpoliceuk were in this way accessed, and downloaded into a MySQL database. With this corpus of collected tweets three simple analyses were conducted: Overall rates and volumes of tweets over time; A qualitative analysis of tweets to create overall ‘types’. Several thousand Tweets were manually placed into categories until ‘saturation’ – wherein new tweets neither required new categories to be created, or the boundaries of existing categories to be revised; The formal coding of 500 randomly selected tweets into these categories to establish the proportional breakdown of the dataset overall. This was done twice, the first, over the 24 hours of the 22nd, the second over the entire four days period during which the data was collected. This was in order to provide some broader analysis and comparison. Details: London: Demos, 2013. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 1, 2013 at: http://www.demos.co.uk/files/_metpoliceuk.pdf?1371661838 Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.demos.co.uk/files/_metpoliceuk.pdf?1371661838 Shelf Number: 129230 Keywords: Information TechnologyMediaPolicing (U.K.)Social MediaTwitter |
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee Title: Leadership and Standards in the Police Summary: There are two sides to public perceptions of the police and to the image the police portray to us. Every day, thousands of officers show absolute commitment to their work and go beyond the call of duty to safeguard the public, prevent crime and catch criminals. The speedy and heroic response of officers to the brutal murder of Drummer Lee Rigby on 22 May is a spotlight on the kind of everyday excellence we have come to expect from the police service, attested to by many of our witnesses. This kind of crisis response underlines the deep-rooted faith accorded to the service by the public. Trust in the excellence of British policing is projected on the international stage—the desire to work with British police shown by our colleagues in Romania, on our recent visit to Bucharest, is just one example. We have no doubt that the British police service will continue to shine as one of the most impressive police forces in the world, while maintaining its civilian character and the principle of policing by consent. Behind the reputation, however, there are problems. There is a flip-side to public perceptions of the police prompted by examples of misconduct and criminality within their ranks, including a number of investigations which have come about as a result of historical police failings, such as Operations Yewtree and Elveden, and there is an undercurrent of discontent within the service itself, as reform and spending cuts affect the sense of worth of ordinary officers. The Government has begun a process of fundamental reform of the landscape of institutions that structure British policing. New institutions like the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency (NCA) will be crucial in cutting crime at reduced cost. As Keith Bristow, chief executive of the NCA, told us this is a chance to join up law enforcement, tackle threats more effectively and cut crime. We set out a simplified version of the new division of labour in policing in Annex I. At the same time, however, morale among many police officers has sunk to its lowest ebb in recent memory. A concatenation of crises risks damaging the quality of lawenforcement: public faith in policing has been tested by episodes such as the findings of the Hillsborough Panel Report, the “plebgate” incident, and the first dismissal of a chief constable in 30 years. At the same time, spending cuts have prompted a review of police pay and pensions and a freeze on recruitment which is slowing down efforts to promote diversity and renewal. In addition there has been the use of A19 to require the resignation of service officers with 30 or more years service. When we held our International Conference on Leadership and Standards in the Police on 14 January 2013, over a hundred ordinary officers travelled to London and others wrote to us, many with a message of warning about the future of policing. As many reminded us, policing is a vocation that can sustain officers through all kinds of trials, but there is a limit to what can be asked and waning police morale could have a direct effect on operational effectiveness. The visceral response of many officers to Tom Winsor’s Independent Review of Police Officers’ and Staff Remuneration and Conditions and the London march of more than 30,000 officers on 10 May 2012 were clear demonstrations of discontent. Nor can problems of integrity and morale be addressed easily in a “top-down” fashion. Although the police is a hierarchical organisation, chief constables do not issue orders to be followed to the letter by other officers. The independence of the office of constable means that “policy, law and other forms of direction are refracted through an enduring occupational culture”. Police actions derive from a mix of the professional instincts of officers, the directions of their superiors within a force, the directions of bodies such as the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the culture of policing—“police commonsense”. This means that leadership is spread widely across the police service and its ranks and a high degree of independence and responsibility remains with officers at all levels. Team leaders—sergeants and inspectors—have a powerful influence over the effectiveness and integrity of large numbers of officers, but there is little leadership training at sergeant and inspector level. As Nigel Lloyd put it, “whilst people need a driving license to drive and regular training for taser, firearms and unarmed defensive tactics, you can be in charge of a shift of police officers without any formal training whatsoever”. The police officer is the bedrock of enforcement of English Law: a servant of the Crown, sworn into the Office of Constable. The office entails personal responsibility for the protection of life and property, the prevention and detection of crime, the maintenance of law and order and the detection and prosecution of offenders. While the Government has great vision for the new landscape of policing a number of pieces of the policing puzzle are still missing. It is not yet clear what is happening with the Police IT Procurement Company, what exactly the College of Policing is responsible for and where integrity registers, such as the Chief Constables’ register of interests, will be held. The landscape of policing is being redrawn with great potential to benefit the public. However, amidst this change, the Government risks leaving behind one critical element— police officers themselves. For policing to be effective, change must command the support of police officers and build the capabilities of all officers as independent professionals. It must win the backing of police staff (who are not warranted police constables), who are ever-more integral to policing operations. It must also command the support of the public, whose faith in the police is fundamental to their effectiveness. For these objectives to be fulfilled, the Government must match its reform of the institutional landscape of policing with a renewal of the police themselves: a new emphasis on professionalism, integrity and individual responsibility. The College of Policing will be at the heart of that change. There are three areas where the College will be key to developing an effective service: a) Renewing public confidence by setting out a new code of professional conduct, removing grey areas, with inescapable sanctions for misconduct. b) Rebuilding flagging police morale by elevating the craft of policing to a modern profession with an emphasis on the independence and responsibility of each officer. c) Refashioning the make-up of the police force so that it really represents the public, so that the contract of trust which underlies effective policing can be restored. The College of Policing must create a police service more confident in the professional judgement and discretion of individual officers. To do so, it must unify policing standards for the first time, setting out clear metrics of competency and clear principles of good conduct, at every level from constable to chief constable. New national benchmarks must be laid out for recruitment, so that the same level of performance applies across the land. Partnerships with universities must be regularised and rolled out, so their insights can be shared across the service. Grey areas of conduct must be eliminated and a list of those who are struck off must be established to restore faith in officer integrity. Not only will this help the public to have confidence in the police, it must also improve police professional independence. The lack of clarity in conduct cases has led to a quagmire of complaints, which we described in our Report on the IPCC, leaving officers bogged down in standards cases. Too often, officers go through the motions of policing, following standard procedures to cover their backs, where a commonsense approach would be better. With new clarity set out in a code of ethics, and new confidence and authority from professional training, we expect that the College will empower officers to get on with their jobs. Details: London: The Stationery Office Limited, 2013. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Third Report of Session 2013–14: Accessed July 9, 2013 at: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/home-affairs/HC%2067-I%20Leadership%20Report%20FINAL.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/home-affairs/HC%2067-I%20Leadership%20Report%20FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 129332 Keywords: Police AdministrationPolice LegitimacyPolice PerformancePolice ReformPolice TrainingPolice-Community RelationsPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Chambers, Max Title: The Pioneers: Police and Crime Commissioners, one year on. A collection of essays Summary: One year ago, the first Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) were elected across England and Wales. Charged with setting strategic policing priorities, holding Chief Constables and forces to account and improving public confidence in law enforcement, the 41 new PCCs form an integral part of the Government's wideranging police reform agenda. Policy Exchange has consistently argued that single, democratically-elected figures have the potential for renewing the police governance model and revitalising the relationship between the public and the police. As these important reforms continue to bed in and the pioneers get to grips with their new roles, we asked a cross-party group of PCCs to share their perspectives on their first year in office, highlight the key initiatives they are leading, outline the challenges and opportunities facing policing, and describe how their new leadership can help the service to succeed. Details: London: Policy Exchange, 2013. 89p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 11, 2013 at: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/the%20pioneers.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/the%20pioneers.pdf Shelf Number: 131632 Keywords: Criminal Justice ReformPolice LegitimacyPolice ReformPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Greenhalgh, Stephen Title: The Police Mission in the Twenty-first Century: Rebalancing the Role of the First Public Services Summary: In common with other public services, the policing landscape in Britain has undergone unprecedented structural reform in the last few years. The police reform agenda of the Coalition Government since 2010 has instituted major changes to police governance, training, pay, conditions and pensions, which the Home Secretary is right to describe as the most significant for over 50 years. The reforms have all been controversial but they were necessary to ensure British policing could become more professional, accountable, and locally-driven. Whole new institutions - like the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency - have been created, whilst others have been reshaped or abolished. The most important reform - the introduction of elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) - was also the most contested, largely because both opponents and advocates could foresee how important it would be. Despite a rocky start, PCCs are now well established and forging important new relationships that will improve public safety. To this end it is hoped that PCCs will catalyse much wider changes to policing and other public services, with the opportunities for systemic improvements that strengthen collaboration and enhance customer service only just beginning. Policing is one public service reform programme that has been successfully landed, despite sustained opposition, when others have been scaled back or abandoned completely. But the new settlement we have now is the product of just the first phase of police reform that required new legislation, guidance and lengthy independent reviews. This first phase was all about form, not function. It created new structures; it did not change the culture. It reassigned some personnel; it did not redefine the mission. There was some rhetoric about the police role, but little new policy that actually rebalanced that role. The components of the new policing settlement are easy to identify, with PCCs the most visible part. What has been harder to gauge is what all the reforms mean for the job of policing itself, the mission that drives police officers, and the work that they do each day to deliver the first public service. Now we are entering a second phase of police reform which must be about function, not form. About what the public can realistically expect from the police, what the policing function is beyond fighting crime, and how the police can be equipped to deliver their core mission in an era of complex threats, high public demand, and shrinking budgets. The hardest question facing the police in the next decade is not whether the new settlement is the right form. That debate has ended, and none of the biggest challenges facing policing are addressed by the stale proposal of police force mergers. But rather, given the new settlement, how should the policing function adapt to the pressures of the modern world? A function - or mission - that is getting pulled and probed and tested every day by budget reductions, high public expectations, and new patterns of crime. The report's key recommendations are: - Greater clarity of the police mission which draws some boundaries and gives officers a clearer sense of their role and where they really add value. - A rebalancing of the time and effort of the police back towards crime prevention in line with public expectations, and aided by technology. - An active pursuit by the police of collaboration, to aid them in managing demand better and reducing it in the long-term. Details: London: Reform, 2014. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 7, 2014 at: http://reform.co.uk/resources/0000/1267/21st_Century_Policing_FINAL.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://reform.co.uk/resources/0000/1267/21st_Century_Policing_FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 132267 Keywords: Police LegitimacyPolice ReformPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsPolicing (U.K.) |
Author: Great Britain. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Title: Increasing efficiency in the Police Service: The role of collaboration Summary: Police collaboration is not a new phenomenon. Forces in England and Wales have always looked to share resources and to outsource some parts of their business in order to increase their operational resilience. Sharing resources can also result in significant savings. This makes collaboration - whether with another force, the public or private sector - one option available to the police as they work to close the 20% savings requirement outlined in the October 2010 Spending Review (SR). However, when Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) last asked about this, only 29 of the 43 forces across England and Wales had identified how savings could be made through collaboration. HMIC therefore took a further snapshot of collaborative activity in winter 2011 to see if progress had been made. This report describes what we found, and includes the projected financial savings from collaborative activity over the spending review period - the first time these comparative data have been collected or published. It also includes case studies of how different forces are collaborating (and with whom); and provides data and analysis to enable forces and their governing bodies to make informed choices when considering the value of future collaborations. We end with some key questions that might be useful to forces in making these decisions. Details: London: HMIC, 2012. 79p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 11, 2015 at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/media/increasing-efficiency-in-the-police-service.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/media/increasing-efficiency-in-the-police-service.pdf Shelf Number: 134594 Keywords: PartnershipsPolice CollaborationPolice EffectivenessPolice Policies and PracticesPolicing (U.K.)Resource Sharing |
Author: Great Britain. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Title: Private Sector Partnering in the Police Services Summary: 1 Police forces in England and Wales have contracted with the private sector for several decades. However, this activity has increased over the last two years as the service responds to the budget reductions required by the 2010 spending review,1 with more forces agreeing high‑value, long-term contracts. 2 Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has reported on this increase in police/private sector partnering in three publications: Adapting to Austerity (2011), Increasing Efficiency in the Police Service (2012); and Adapting to Austerity: One Year On (2012). These found that: OO private/public partnerships can help forces develop new and more efficient approaches to providing services, but the service was not yet fully exploiting the benefits, and there are also associated risks (Increasing Efficiency in the Police Service); and OO there is a lack of good quality, comparative information on the potential benefits from different private or public sector collaborations (Adapting to Austerity). 3 As a result, HMIC identified a pressing need to share good quality, comparative information on the potential benefits of different private/public sector initiatives. 4 The National Audit Office (NAO) has produced numerous reports examining arrangements between the public and private sector in providing public services. These range from in-depth examinations of specific private finance initiative (PFI) contracts to wider reviews looking at thematic issues such as financing and tendering. The NAO also has a role in scrutinising the value for money of the grants that central government makes to the police service - for example, the NAO published a report looking at police procurement in March 2013. This report described the various types of collaboration forces entered into, including with private sector providers, and made recommendations for how further savings could be achieved. Details: London: HMIC, 2013. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 12, 2015 at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/media/private-sector-partnering-in-the-police-service-20130705.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/media/private-sector-partnering-in-the-police-service-20130705.pdf Shelf Number: 134600 Keywords: CollaborationPartnershipsPolicing (U.K.)Private SectorPrivatization |
Author: Millie, Andrew Title: Employee volunteering and the Special Constabulary: a reviw of employer policies Summary: The research conducted for this study had three broad aims. The first of these was to examine the attitudes of large employers in the private sector to staff participation in voluntary work. Thus, the study was concerned with the various ways in which employers actively encourage employee volunteering, the extent to which employee volunteering is treated as an integral component of 'corporate social responsibility' (CSR), and the kinds of rationales for supporting voluntary work to which employers subscribe. The second aim of the research was to look more specifically at whether employers have provisions for or actively encourage staff involvement in the Special Constabulary: that is, the voluntary section of the local police force. Hence the research looked at the extent to which volunteering for the Special Constabulary is included within wider voluntary work policies, is specified as a particular goal, or is not covered by such policies. The third aim of the study built on the first and second: that is, the study has sought to use the research findings on volunteering to identify opportunities for the Special Constabulary to widen employer support for the organisation. By reviewing existing policies on employee volunteering, and attitudes of employers to the Special Constabulary, the intention was to consider ways in which employer support for the Special Constabulary might relate to other CSR goals, and to explore the scope for raising awareness of the Specials among both employers and employees. Details: London: Police Foundation, 2002. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 23, 2015 at: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/bitstream/2134/958/1/Millie%20and%20Jacobson%202002%20-%20report.pdf Year: 2002 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/bitstream/2134/958/1/Millie%20and%20Jacobson%202002%20-%20report.pdf Shelf Number: 131824 Keywords: Policing (U.K.)Special ConstabularyVolunteers |
Author: Police Reform Taskforce Title: Policing for the People: Interim report of the Police Reform Taskforce Summary: The central premise of this report is that, in spite of record spending on law and order, crime remains far too high. A more effective criminal justice system and social action will be important components of a new approach to fighting crime. But the police are a vital link in the chain of justice, consuming two-thirds of law and order spending. Their performance over the next decade will be essential in improving the quality of life of millions of citizens. The Government's approach to the police has been a familiar one: higher public spending combined with an ever tighter central grip. Like other public services, the police are bedeviled with national targets, interference and the bureaucracy created by central intervention. The result has been that even as resources for the police have reached record levels, officers feel unable to deliver the service they and the public want - and the gulf between the police and public is growing. The hundreds of meetings we have had with police officers over the past months have reinforced our belief that the service is full of officers with a real commitment to delivering effective policing for the public. Nevertheless, neither politicians nor the police can afford to ignore an undercurrent of public dissatisfaction about the level of policing which they are receiving. Focus groups which we conducted for the Taskforce indicated sympathy for the difficulty of the task which the police face. A general feeling, expressed by one participant, was that "their hands are totally tied - by red tape and political correctness". But there were also harsh words, reflecting an alienation from the service: "Your local bobby used to be known by everyone. He was an authority on the area and a friend. They are now obsolete". A familiar grievance was that the police appeared to pursue motorists with particular zeal: "You get pulled over for a driving offence and get treated like a complete criminal". This qualitative research is supported by quantitative evidence that trust in the police has declined and attitudes towards them are negatively related to personal experiences of the service. The most recent survey, conducted by ICM for the TaxPayers' Alliance, found that while the overwhelming majority of the public respects the police, less than a quarter think that policing in their area has improved, and less than half think that increases in council tax to pay for improvements to local policing in the last ten years have been good value for money. Large majorities of the public agree that the police spend too much time in police stations and not enough time on the beat; their hands are tied by red tape and political correctness, and they prefer to focus on easy targets like speeding motorists rather than deal with antisocial behaviour and local crime. The closure of police stations is emblematic of the withdrawal of the police from the public. On paper, police officer numbers have increased - the police workforce has grown by almost 25 per cent in the last five years. In practice, the public simply do not see it. ICM's survey found that most people think that there are fewer police on the beat than there used to be, and that nearly three quarters of the public know none of the police officers in their neighbourhood. As we demonstrate, vast amounts of police time are spent tied up in stations; the police spend more time on paperwork than on patrol, and less than a tenth of England and Wales' police officers are dedicated to neighbourhood policing. If the amount of time a police officer spends on the beat could be increased from one fifth to two fifths, this would effectively double the police presence on the streets of England and Wales without recruiting a single additional officer. For decades, an expert wisdom prevailed that high crime was inevitable and that policing could do little to prevent it. There was no point in putting police officers on the streets, the argument ran, because it would do little to reduce crime. Today such fatalism, which was never accepted by the public, has been debunked. When more police were put on the streets of central London after 7/7, crime fell. The success of New York City's reductions in crime in the 1990s - recently described by one leading academic as "by far the biggest crime prevention achievement in the recorded history of metropolitan policing" - demonstrates that good policing, which accounted for half of the 75 per cent reduction in crime in a decade, can make our streets safer. The lessons of New York are important ones. Better police performance was achieved by a combination of factors: a significant increase in police numbers on the streets, robust community policing, and powerful reforms which enhanced the accountability of managers. The changes were driven by an elected Mayor who was accountable to the people, and an inspirational police chief who innovated and led his force. Today the British police face the twin challenges of rebuilding community policing to tackle low level crime and antisocial behaviour, while at the same time strengthening the fight against serious crime and terrorism. To meet these challenges it will be vital to ensure that the police are properly resourced in the future. But they have never had so much money, so many officers or such access to technology. Furthermore, the growth of spending on public services is now slowing; indeed the Home Office budget is to be frozen from next year. The police face a new imperative to deliver value for money. Details: London: Policy Review, 2007. 241p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 20, 2015 at: http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/files/policing_for_the_people.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/files/policing_for_the_people.pdf Shelf Number: 135321 Keywords: Community PolicingCosts of Criminal JusticePolice AccountabilityPolice AdministrationPolice EffectivenessPolice LegitimacyPolice ReformPolicing (U.K.) |