Police Chiefs in the UK

Politicians, HR Managers or Cops?

Mark Roycroft

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9783319441047
• eBook ISBN: 9783319441054
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

This book examines the changing police landscape over the past 25 years to establish how Police Leadership has evolved to meet this challenge.Through interviews with 35 Chief Police Officers in the UK, the author explores a range of policing issues such as crime investigation, terrorism, police governance, austerity issues, the role of the IPCC and public order provision. The book also highlights views on key topics such as armed policing, globalisation of crime and the structure of forces.Building on the seminal text Chief Constables: Bobbies, Bosses or Bureaucrats by Robert Reiner, which is this year celebrating its 25th anniversary, this book brings research on policing up to date with the modern world. An engaging and well-researched project, this book will be of great interest to scholars of criminal justice, policing and security studies.

Part I
The Current Model of Policing in the UK

© The Author(s) 2016

Mark RoycroftPolice Chiefs in the UKhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44105-4_1

Begin Abstract

1. How Do the Police ‘Police’ in the UK?

Mark Roycroft¹

(1)

University of East London, Stratford, United Kingdom

End Abstract

The policing landscape has changed dramatically in the UK and this book sets out to explore the major themes affecting UK policing in the early twenty-first century. The main themes elicited from the research were around police governance and the police response to increased demand against a backdrop of austerity measures. New policing organisations, such as the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) along with changing crime demands, accountability and funding measures provided the conditions for the interviews and research. The fallout from recent police scandals, such as Hillsborough and Plebgate, provided a further backdrop for the interviews. The 89 interviewees were concerned about issues such as cybercrime and the police response along with the threat of marauding terrorist attacks as witnessed in Paris in 2015. The research revealed how the structure and model of policing have changed and are now split into local, regional and national responses. The layering of police functions and the tiered structure of modern policing led some interviewees to describe this as a patchwork quilt of arrangements. The major themes that emerged from the research are shown in page 18. The book considers the pressures and demands the PCCs and Chief Constables (CCs) face in providing policing services in the UK. Each policing age produces its own unique challenges but this early twenty-first-century age has seen the scope and scale of demand increase considerably coupled with increased scrutiny and public expectations.

One of the key themes of the Conservative government’s law and order strategy since 2011 has been the introduction of Office of the Police and crime commissioners (PCC). The author’s research examines the effect of these reforms on the model of policing. The central ethos behind the introduction of the Office of the PCC under the Police Reform Act 2011 appears to be to allow increased accountability of the police and place a greater emphasis on ‘localism’. To identify how the role has developed and how the new model of policing has matured, the author undertook an extensive series of interviews with CCs, PCCs and relevant agencies including staff associations. This culminated in a total of 89 interviews with participation from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), the National Crime Agency (NCA), the great majority of CCs and PCCs and five retired CCs. The research is intended as a reflection on the state of policing in the UK today. Every region in the UK is represented within the book. [See Appendix 1 for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), now the National police Chiefs Council (NPCC) regions.] The research examined the scale and scope of policing in the UK and what the present structures bring to the policing model.

The book compares the three different policing styles within the UK model: England and Wales, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Police Scotland. In 2013 Police Scotland was created out of the then eight Scottish Forces and the PSNI was created in 2001, replacing the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) founded in 1922.

The book builds on Robert Reiner’s book Chief Constables: Bobbies, Bosses or Bureaucrats published in 1991 and Bryn Caless’ book Policing at the Top published in 2011. The last 25 years have seen a sea change in policing in the UK. The original 1991 book by Professor Reiner does not mention themes such as information technology (IT), human trafficking or child sexual exploitation. These issues were simply not part of the policing lexicon in the early 1990s. However, these are issues that each Chief Officer and PCC must deal with along with diversity issues and human trafficking. The milieu that policing gods such as James Anderton (of Greater Manchester Police) and John Alderson (1984; Devon and Cornwall) operated within the context of the 1990’s is vastly different and the modern environment is more complex. This book will hope to provide a valuable insight into what is really happening in policing in the UK from the inside of the organisations involved. Many commonplace phrases used within Policing were not the language of 25 years ago when Reiner wrote his original book this was a world pre ‘institutional racism’, austerity cuts, and cybercrime. Since 2010, the Home Secretary has cut UK police budgets by 20 % and England and Wales have low officer numbers per 100,000 of population with 234 officers per 100,000 compared to 534 per 100,000 in Spain, and 312 in France.

This book will provide a reflective view on the policing purpose and attempt to define the police function in the twenty-first century. Are the modern Police Chiefs (PCCs and CCs) politicians, HR managers or cops? One of the CCs interviewed stated that the police do not have the privilege of stripping back to ‘statutory functions’ as these functions have never been fully defined in statute. RCC 4 commented that ‘They (The Home Office) seem to punch Policing about and it (the Police) still does a good job, it is a seriously fragmented approach’. This fragmented approach to IT provision, collaboration and the regionalisation of policing was felt by many to be contributing to a somewhat patchy provision of services. One interviewee asked how do future generations unpick the current model when demand or political views change?

The author’s background as a professional Police Officer allows for a greater insight into the matters raised by the interviewees. The research includes (for the first time in this type of book) interviews with PCCs and the heads of other policing agencies some of whom hold the equivalent of Chief Constable (CC) rank. The research therefore represents a view of policing from the perspective of not only the police and PCCs but also those who inspect police forces and conduct complaint investigations. The research was an attempt to allow practitioners to give their view on the policing world from the inside of their organisations. The modern Police Chief faces a much more transparent and complex world than their predecessors with the advent of social media and 24/7 news, as well as the increase in scrutiny from other policing agencies.

The UK Police Service has faced a radical change in the policing landscape with the creation of elected PCCs, the inception of the NCA and the creation of the new College of Policing. These and other reforms, such as the Association of chief police officers (ACPO) being replaced by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), herald a ‘once in a generation’ set of changes. This ‘perfect storm’ of issues including increased scrutiny of investigations (including historical investigations) along with changes in law enforcement organisations contributes to a metamorphosis in the policing milieu. During the research, a retired CC stated that this had been done with very little consultation, this is ‘government by speech writing’. Crime demands have changed with the advent of increased cybercrime, fraud and indiscriminate terrorism. The government policy was outlined in a press release dated 15 November 2011 as follows:

The police service must be radically reformed in order to meet growing challenges and deliver the most effective service possible. With directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners and the new National Crime Agency our reform agenda will improve policing, delivering better value for the taxpayer, and give the public a stronger voice.

The book tries to reflect the views of the interviewees and their passion and commitment shown during the interview process. The interviewees raised the following main themes during the interview process:

• The changing patterns of crime, especially cybercrime
• The means of policing collaboration, strategic alliances, regional units or a national force?
• The structure of policing in the UK – local, national or regional
• Public order commitments
• Terrorism and meeting the threat of ‘marauding terrorism’
• Reaching out to communities to stop terrorism
• The use of IT to combat crime and streamline the Criminal Justice (CJ) system police. Manning (2008) discussed ‘the explosive potential of technology’. The police need to explore the possibilities that it can bring by the use of mobile data.
• Governance through PCCs, IPCC and HMIC and the performance of these agencies
• Management issues around budgeting, policing structures and complaints investigations
• Privatisation and the use of private companies (see Roycroft 2015 in “The Future of Policing”)
• The reduction in overall police numbers
• Maintaining the skill base of the police service to cope with new demands
• Maintaining the operational independence of the police
• Working with other agencies especially in the areas of mental health, domestic violence (DV) and child protection.
• The selection proceeses of Chief Officer and the lack of candidates for the top posts
• What functions should the police be responsible for? The role of other agencies such as the HMIC, IPCC, the College of Policing and the NCA
• Police recruitment and direct entry at different ranks

The UK Police Service has always experienced change, but the current focus on police activity against a background of financial scrutiny has led to the most significant change in policing since the Royal Commission of 1960. The Winsor report of 2011 into police pay and conditions called for changes in police remuneration, and the austerity measures have led to a reduction in police numbers. The modern police service faces a growing chorus of concern about investigative skills and new crime demands such as cybercrime and human trafficking.

Neyroud (2011) talks of a police service that should move from a ‘service that acts professionally’ to a ‘professional force’. Sklansky (2012) sets out four meanings of police professionalism, one of which is the idea of ‘self-regulation’ in the manner of the legal profession. The other three concepts are

1. 1.
   Dealing with high expectations from the public who demand high standards of conduct
2. 2.
   Dealing with the internalised norms of the profession and evidence based policing
3. 3.
   Ensuring professional policing within a formalised system of oversight.

These issues are not unique to the police but the police operate in a challenging environment and are often seen as the primary social agency. Manning (2008) commented that the police should be built around the core goals of accountability, legitimacy and innovation. Stone and Travis (2011) state that ‘New professionalism’ of policing should be built around the same goals. The police are exploring the possibility of what IT can bring, but there have been delays in implementing a national system. New technology can assist with, in Manning’s (2008) words, ‘crime suppression’ if done objectively and should be centralised and rationalised.

Hutton (2015, p. 37) in How Good We Can Be states ‘The police have been required to cut spending by 20 % since 2010. By 2015 HMIC states that police staffing levels have fallen by 34,000, 16,300 of them Police officers to reduce the Force to 2005 levels “The biggest impact could be on neighbourhood policing.”’ There has been a huge sale of policing assets and Hutton states that ‘Reform is vital’ and that morale is at rock bottom and the police have been hit by a series of ‘disasters’ from Plebgate to the Hillsborough inquiry. Hutton states that ‘the easy to do reductions and restructurings have been done: we are now cutting to the bone. Day to Day order and the delivery of justice are at risk’. Professor Anthony King (2015, p. 137) in Who Governs Britain states that Police Chiefs insist in public – on radio and television and in newspaper interviews – that further reductions in police budgets and the size of police forces can only result in a reduced quality of policing and in corresponding threats to the public’s safety ‘Lobbying of that kind is highly visible. The British police will have to contend with new challenges that in some cases will physically stretch them across international boundaries and internally will change the culture and manner of operation’. Reiner in The Politics of the Police (2000) states that police work is more complex, contradictory and indeed confused than current theories of policing allow.

During the interviews, CC24 stated that from 1990 to 1997 the liberal tradition that prevailed in the police crime and disorder partnerships was very effective; the police changed from going through the back door of the Town Hall to going through the front door. Some CCs (Chief constables) such as CC37 felt that ‘we need to protect the Service and the Service is being de graded’. Some traced this malaise back to the Macpherson report, the treatment of Damian Green MP (2008) and the Plebgate scandal (19 September 2012). One chief also felt that in ‘the recent past under Lord Blair we were seen as New Labour luvvies and that did not help; now we are not taken seriously’.

Current Demands on Policing

The threats and the variety of demands shown in Table 1.1 illustrate the complexity of demand...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Frontmatter
• 1. The Current Model of Policing in the UK
• 2. Crime and Terrorism: The Interviewee’s Views
• 3. The Individuals; the Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs)
• 4. The Policing Structure, the Interviewee’s Views
• Backmatter