In Depth: Police In The 21st Century – Part 4

Mon, 06 September 2010 Courtesy of: Police Oracle

With a black hole in the public purse, Force staffing levels under pressure and Chief Constables reviewing their operations to see which services can be cut, it is perhaps unsurprising that the government wants volunteers to play a larger role in law enforcement.

While professionals continue to wait for the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review in October to see what the full extent of the financial damage will be, some senior officers and Police Authority members are already warning that they can no longer give guarantees that jobs will be safeguarded. The reality behind the mantra of "doing more with less" is beginning to bite.

Getting communities – and volunteers – more involved with the police is a practical step that the government puts forward in its Policing in the 21st Century consultation paper. Having already spelt out that Forces should formally collaborate more fully together, achieve commonality in IT and streamline procurement, ministers are well aware that staffing levels are likely to be reduced in future.

“Legislation – in the shape of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill – is only months away”

In the fifth chapter of the blueprint for reform – entitled Tackling Crime Together – the Home Office spells out a package to bolster the Special Constabulary, overhaul the wider criminal justice system and restore pride in police ranks.

It also suggests that stronger partnerships will be needed between Forces and other agencies in future, and that the government will allow more freedom for them to develop by stripping away "unnecessary prescription". In addition, a new crime strategy is being published later this year.

"Over the coming years we will have forged a partnership between people and police – freeing up the police from the bureaucracy and targets that choke real localism and providing incentives, training and encouragement for people to police their communities," the document highlights.

"In partnership with criminal justice partners, we will have implemented radical reforms across the criminal justice system which – as with policing – will be focused more on the needs of local communities rather than Whitehall."

In practical terms for policing, the Special Constabulary looks set to be one of the preferred options for helping to bolster regular Forces beset by cutbacks and recruitment freezes. Ministers have said they want to explore ways of "unlocking the potential" of volunteers by potentially creating "reservists" although this concept is not explored any further in the blueprint.

The Specials option would certainly be practical. The fully-warranted volunteer force is already going through an enhancement process with the roll-out of the NPIA-backed National Strategy, which aims to bring greater consistency in areas such as recruitment, training and professional development.

In addition, the Joint Central Committee of Police Federation of England and Wales has accepted the principle of allowing Special Constables to join its ranks, and discussions are currently underway about how the idea can be taken forward.

However Chief Officer George Cook, Chairman of the Association of Special Constabulary Chief Officers, has voiced concerns at any moves to transform the Specials into a Territorial Army-style organisation, arguing that ethos of volunteering must remain a key component of the force in future.

"You only have to look at recent major events, such as the flooding in Cumbria and the 7/7 London bombings to see that volunteers support Regular colleagues at very short notice and carry out thousands of additional duty hours," Chief Officer Cook said in a recent interview with PoliceOracle.com. "But I would also stress that the Specials should never be a direct replacement for the valuable role of PCSOs, who work full time in their communities.

Chief Officer Cook also believes that the National Strategy framework would be the best way of continuing to "recruit, train and professionally develop officers".

As well as greater community involvement in the law enforcement area, reform of the wider criminal justice arena is also high on the government's agenda. Ministers claim the system is too remote from the public and lacks transparency.

Promoting reform of this area has also been a high priority for Jan Berry, the Independent Reducing Bureaucracy in Policing Advocate, who believes that more joined up processes between those at the sharp end of law enforcement and the courts, custody and probation services are urgently needed.

The Policing in the 21st Century document proposals are underpinned by a proposed reform of sentencing to ensure it has the desired effect of deterring offenders and protecting the public, while providing adequate rehabilitation for those convicted.

"Our vision is that all sentences, whether in prison or in the community, should not only punish but also involve education, hard work and change, so that offenders can integrate into their communities more effectively than when they entered the criminal justice system," the blueprint points out.

The government has also suggested that it would "provide incentives" to professionals in the system and pay "by results" although no further details have been provided on exactly how this proposal will work in practice.

Whatever the eventual outcomes of the Policing in the 21st Century document, however, the next few weeks promise to be an interesting time as organisations including the Police Federation, ACPO and the Superintendents' Association make their representations to the government.

Legislation – in the shape of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill – is only months away and it is likely to be the subject of some fierce debate, both in and out of Parliament. Despite the doubts of some senior members of the wider policing family, the government seems determined that the measures will be put in place.

Few doubt that reform is necessary. The Police Service is creaking under bureaucracy, the structure of governance and accountability is invisible to all but the most persistent members of the public and the relationship between the different elements of the criminal justice system is under pressure.

Just how far the reforms on the table will ultimately go to addressing the key problems is now largely down to the politicians and the advice they take from their discussions with professionals. But there is no doubt that ministers face a crucial task, especially as the consequences of wrong decisions that compromise effective policing could be far-reaching and extremely serious.