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Policing isn't anti-reform – we welcome ways we can improve Policing isn't anti-reform – we welcome ways we can improve
(7 months later)
Martin Kettle makes some significant misjudgments in his evaluation of the home secretary's police reform programme (May has got on with the job. A bigger one may await her, 31 January).Martin Kettle makes some significant misjudgments in his evaluation of the home secretary's police reform programme (May has got on with the job. A bigger one may await her, 31 January).
"Theresa May is building a case to be regarded as the most significant reforming home secretary since [Roy] Jenkins," Kettle says. There is little question that she is committed to reform of police pay, but the movement to more payment by expertise – "that police pay would from now on be skills based, not service based" – has become seriously bogged down in the process of negotiation and arbitration and so has yet to be delivered. The lesson is: before embarking on radical pay reform you need to change the negotiating machinery."Theresa May is building a case to be regarded as the most significant reforming home secretary since [Roy] Jenkins," Kettle says. There is little question that she is committed to reform of police pay, but the movement to more payment by expertise – "that police pay would from now on be skills based, not service based" – has become seriously bogged down in the process of negotiation and arbitration and so has yet to be delivered. The lesson is: before embarking on radical pay reform you need to change the negotiating machinery.
Kettle implies that a system of accelerated promotion for officers of high talent would be an innovation in policing – "the effects will be felt in every force for generations to come", he says – when in fact it has existed for many years. And in welcoming the proposal for direct entry to policing at superintendent rank, he misses the fundamental ethos of UK policing: the routinely unarmed citizen in uniform.Kettle implies that a system of accelerated promotion for officers of high talent would be an innovation in policing – "the effects will be felt in every force for generations to come", he says – when in fact it has existed for many years. And in welcoming the proposal for direct entry to policing at superintendent rank, he misses the fundamental ethos of UK policing: the routinely unarmed citizen in uniform.
This is best learned as a constable experiencing at first hand the exercise of discretion and the extreme vulnerability of many victims of crime and many offenders. It is certainly impossible to replicate in a training course. Completely missed in the article is the most significant change made by this home secretary: the removal of centrally driven statistical performance targets.This is best learned as a constable experiencing at first hand the exercise of discretion and the extreme vulnerability of many victims of crime and many offenders. It is certainly impossible to replicate in a training course. Completely missed in the article is the most significant change made by this home secretary: the removal of centrally driven statistical performance targets.
This performance regime has dominated the working lives of officers for about 15 years. While initially it focused efforts and drove significant improvements in the protection of the public, it developed a life of its own and generated a bureaucracy of recording, audit and inspection. At its worst it led to the unnecessary criminalisation of young people, an overly transactional style of leadership, and a growing gap between action to achieve the target and what local people and indeed individual officers thought should be the priorities.This performance regime has dominated the working lives of officers for about 15 years. While initially it focused efforts and drove significant improvements in the protection of the public, it developed a life of its own and generated a bureaucracy of recording, audit and inspection. At its worst it led to the unnecessary criminalisation of young people, an overly transactional style of leadership, and a growing gap between action to achieve the target and what local people and indeed individual officers thought should be the priorities.
Kettle pays scant attention to the introduction of elected police and crime commissioners, predicting that they may last only one electoral term. In fact they are proving to be a fundamental shift of power and a return to Peel's original ideal of policing being fundamentally locally accountable rather than an arm of state control as happens in much of the rest of the world.Kettle pays scant attention to the introduction of elected police and crime commissioners, predicting that they may last only one electoral term. In fact they are proving to be a fundamental shift of power and a return to Peel's original ideal of policing being fundamentally locally accountable rather than an arm of state control as happens in much of the rest of the world.
Like many other commentators, Kettle characterises policing as unreformed and obdurate, whereas most of the ideas in Tom Winsor's Home Office-commissioned report on pay reform came from the police themselves. In the view of many police chiefs the report was not radical enough.Like many other commentators, Kettle characterises policing as unreformed and obdurate, whereas most of the ideas in Tom Winsor's Home Office-commissioned report on pay reform came from the police themselves. In the view of many police chiefs the report was not radical enough.
The police service has made huge strides in achieving new standards of expertise and professionalism in the science of investigation, the management of critical events, and engagement with complex communities. Working with the home secretary, the Association of Chief Police Officers wants to see the professional status of policing enhanced through the newly created College of Policing and reform of pay, reward and staff development. Meanwhile, our officers' main focus is on the impact of more public spending cuts on their own and other social agencies and on the public they do their best to serve and protect.The police service has made huge strides in achieving new standards of expertise and professionalism in the science of investigation, the management of critical events, and engagement with complex communities. Working with the home secretary, the Association of Chief Police Officers wants to see the professional status of policing enhanced through the newly created College of Policing and reform of pay, reward and staff development. Meanwhile, our officers' main focus is on the impact of more public spending cuts on their own and other social agencies and on the public they do their best to serve and protect.
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