This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/04/chance-to-modernise-police-force
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| The police: a chance to modernise | The police: a chance to modernise |
| (about 21 hours later) | |
| When the government came to power, the Home Office made two decisions that explain the "privatisation" agenda for policing that was revealed in Saturday's Guardian. | When the government came to power, the Home Office made two decisions that explain the "privatisation" agenda for policing that was revealed in Saturday's Guardian. |
| The first, a mistake in the face of looming cuts – 20%, more than almost any other service – was to ask Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to determine which police officer jobs could be classified as back- and middle-office tasks so as to protect frontline services. That rather pointless inquiry, which inevitably found most of the jobs could not be separated by that terminology, has delayed the impact of the second and much more important decision: that the political shibboleth of officer numbers would be abandoned and police numbers would be allowed to fall. That is what lies behind the tenders put out by West Midlands and Surrey police forces, central to the claim that the police are being privatised. | The first, a mistake in the face of looming cuts – 20%, more than almost any other service – was to ask Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to determine which police officer jobs could be classified as back- and middle-office tasks so as to protect frontline services. That rather pointless inquiry, which inevitably found most of the jobs could not be separated by that terminology, has delayed the impact of the second and much more important decision: that the political shibboleth of officer numbers would be abandoned and police numbers would be allowed to fall. That is what lies behind the tenders put out by West Midlands and Surrey police forces, central to the claim that the police are being privatised. |
| Once the straitjacket of officer numbers is removed, police forces can modernise their budgets in the way any other institution would do, namely by reducing unit costs. The correct question that should have been asked by the Home Office is, which functions currently carried out by sworn, fully warranted, fully trained police officers do not need to be? On this, swaths of police tasks, such as guarding prisoners in custody, searching woodlands, preparing routine witness statements and providing intelligence analysis to murder inquiries, swing into view. Many forces have employed their own non-police staff to undertake this sort of task but have been unable to do so in sufficient numbers because of the need to employ a fixed and ever increasing number of officers within a set budget. | Once the straitjacket of officer numbers is removed, police forces can modernise their budgets in the way any other institution would do, namely by reducing unit costs. The correct question that should have been asked by the Home Office is, which functions currently carried out by sworn, fully warranted, fully trained police officers do not need to be? On this, swaths of police tasks, such as guarding prisoners in custody, searching woodlands, preparing routine witness statements and providing intelligence analysis to murder inquiries, swing into view. Many forces have employed their own non-police staff to undertake this sort of task but have been unable to do so in sufficient numbers because of the need to employ a fixed and ever increasing number of officers within a set budget. |
| The tender offered by West Midlands and Surrey police signals a shift that would allow the private sector to provide staff who can carry out routine and repetitive tasks at cheaper rates and, perhaps most intriguingly, to provide temporary access to skilled staff – such as murder inquiry teams – which can be hired for incidents that are rare in most forces but for which all forces must permanently retain a group of very expensive staff. | The tender offered by West Midlands and Surrey police signals a shift that would allow the private sector to provide staff who can carry out routine and repetitive tasks at cheaper rates and, perhaps most intriguingly, to provide temporary access to skilled staff – such as murder inquiry teams – which can be hired for incidents that are rare in most forces but for which all forces must permanently retain a group of very expensive staff. |
| This would then allow the chief constable, satisfied that he or she has commissioned these kind of services at a cheaper rate, to spend more of the budget on those parts of the service that require, because of their complexity, their impact on public safety or their centrality to the police mission, to be carried out by fully warranted officers. | This would then allow the chief constable, satisfied that he or she has commissioned these kind of services at a cheaper rate, to spend more of the budget on those parts of the service that require, because of their complexity, their impact on public safety or their centrality to the police mission, to be carried out by fully warranted officers. |
| As examples, while some of the routine enquiries and tasks in a murder investigation can be done by others, the inquiry itself must be led by fully trained and warranted detectives; all armed staff must be under the direct employ of the chief constable; and, if it was me, I would not allow any patrolling to be done by anyone other than a direct employee. Even here, however, unit costs can be reduced by employing in-house staff who are trained only for specific roles. Police community support officers point the way forward here. | As examples, while some of the routine enquiries and tasks in a murder investigation can be done by others, the inquiry itself must be led by fully trained and warranted detectives; all armed staff must be under the direct employ of the chief constable; and, if it was me, I would not allow any patrolling to be done by anyone other than a direct employee. Even here, however, unit costs can be reduced by employing in-house staff who are trained only for specific roles. Police community support officers point the way forward here. |
| There are two important caveats. First, there is a limit: there should be a minimum but sizable number of fully warranted officers who give each force the flexibility to respond to major, unexpected emergencies. Second, outsourced services must still form part of the chief constable's public accountabilities. | There are two important caveats. First, there is a limit: there should be a minimum but sizable number of fully warranted officers who give each force the flexibility to respond to major, unexpected emergencies. Second, outsourced services must still form part of the chief constable's public accountabilities. |
| However, at long last, the opportunities for the modernisation of policing within a public sector ethos are suddenly apparent. It is not a shock, horror idea. I just hope that the incoming elected commissioners will not close it down by campaigning on the tired slogan of raising officer numbers rather than improving results. As the tenders have just been released by two soon-to-be abolished police authorities, that would be an irony. | However, at long last, the opportunities for the modernisation of policing within a public sector ethos are suddenly apparent. It is not a shock, horror idea. I just hope that the incoming elected commissioners will not close it down by campaigning on the tired slogan of raising officer numbers rather than improving results. As the tenders have just been released by two soon-to-be abolished police authorities, that would be an irony. |