Policing: The Future Is Local
Chair of the SWG Lynda King Taylor with two of the Police Community Support Officers on their bikes patrolling public events on the streets at Paddington. This event is the annual Horseman's Sunday - the Blessing of the Horses - which takes place in Hyde Park Crescent. Details from St Johns Church curate@stjohns-hydepark.com
People need to be more than passive receivers of public services and become active participants at a local level, the Home Secretary urged, as he launched his vision of a truly local, accountable and responsive police service. Today, the Sector Working Group for Padington Green Police Division is a 'best practice' example of the latter working with the new Ward Panels and other policing partnerships including the Crime Reduction Unit at Westminster City Council.
To help build safer communities and give local people a stronger voice, policing needs be carried out with the active co-operation of the public. The Government's consultation paper - "Policing: Building Safer Communities Together" - sets out a broad vision of a modernised, representative, more responsive, local police service. The service must be deeply rooted in the community, delivering the high standards that the public has a right to expect, within a national framework which ensures consistently high standards while allowing local flexibility.
The Home Secretary said:
"A programme of reform and change that puts the needs and views of communities at its heart is central to the delivery of high quality public services. In community safety terms, this means moving away from a notion of policing simply by consent, to policing carried out with the active co-operation of the public.
"The public deserves high quality policing, and should have an understanding of what they can expect from the police wherever they live and whoever they are. And in return, the public must recognise their responsibilities in helping to tackle crime - not just their right to live in safer communities.
"I am not interested in reform for reform's sake. Nor do I want 'big bang' structural change for its own sake, but to get the modern service that the public and I want, structural changes may be inevitable. I want to make changes that will make a real, positive difference to people's lives and bring about sustainable improvement. With anti-social behaviour at one end of the spectrum and serious, organised crime at the other, we must bring more criminals to justice and divert drug users away from a cycle of crime and addiction, and the police service has a key role in delivering this goal."
The Government is consulting on four inter-linked elements which are key to a twenty-first century police service which is engaged, responsive, accountable and representative, operating within clearly understood statutory and partnership arrangements. They are:
community engagement; accountability and responsiveness; operational effectiveness; and service modernisation.
In particular, the consultation addresses the future make up and role of police authorities to ensure they are properly accountable and understood - as Home Office research published today shows widespread public ignorance of their role.
The research, commissioned last year, looked at the public's perception of police authorities so as to understand how police authorities consulted with their communities; how they were perceived by their communities; and the views of the public on who was accountable for the policing they experienced. Whilst we are aware of extremely good practice across the country, many of the findings support the impression that police authorities are not visible in their communities and that there is insufficient understanding or awareness of their intended role in holding chief constables to account for the performance of service in their area. It further shows that people want better communication, information and involvement in local policing.
A Home Office survey also found that:
- 79% of respondents thought police in their area should find better ways to find out local people's views; and
- 67% of respondents thought they should have more of a say in how their local police serve them.
We are aware that this is, crucially, a two-way process with communities aiding the police and with community safety partners equally being held to account. It is therefore at neighbourhood and command unit level and not just force-wide that issues need to be addressed.
In helping to build a more accountable and responsive police service at all levels, the Government is consulting on a specific proposal to introduce 'community advocates' to help ensure that concerns from members of the public about the standard of service they receive from the police are listened to and dealt with effectively. This complements the reforms which the Government has already put in place to deal with serious complaints about, for example, alleged misconduct of officers - which will be the responsibility of the new Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which became operational in April 2004.
Strengthening the accountability of the police also involves ensuring that the diversity of communities is fully respected in the culture of the service. The Home Office is already encouraging the use of local members of the community to act as assessors in the process of selecting their own police officers.
The Government published the National Policing Plan 2004 - 2007, which set out clear national minimum standards for the service, and key priorities. These are:
- providing a citizen focused service to the public, especially victims and witnesses, which inspires confidence in the police and recognises the needs of minority ethnic communities;
- tackling anti-social behaviour and disorder;
- continuing to reduce burglary, vehicle crime, robbery and drug- related crime in line with the Government's Public Service Agreement targets;
- combating serious and organised crime, both across and within force boundaries; and
- narrowing the justice gap by increasing the number of offences brought to justice.
Police To Benefit From Stronger Community Role
The Home Secretary has also called for a stronger partnership connection between the UK police and communities, and a move away from policing by consent to policing carried out with the active co-operation of the public. Plans to make police forces more accountable and responsive will give local people a stronger voice he said
"I want members of the public to know who their local police commander is and to be able to get answers to basic questions when things are not up to scratch," said the Home Secretary.
He also said he wants police commanders to have much more power to take the decisions that make a difference on the ground, with the backing of local residents." Local people should feel they can make their voice heard - able to ask sensible questions of their police about local priorities, like the time it takes for someone to attend an incident. Strengthening the accountability of the police also involves ensuring that the diversity of communities is fully respected in the culture of the service. The Home Office is already encouraging the use of local members of the community to act as assessors in the process of selecting their own police officers".
Published Home Office research shows that people want partnership with better communication, information and involvement in local policing. Four out of five respondents said police should have better ways of finding out local people's views. See The Government's consultation on the plans - 'Policing: Building safer communities together' http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ One of the specific proposals put forward by the Home Secretary would introduce 'community advocates' to help make sure that concerns are listened to and dealt with.
Said Home Secretary "We have one of the best police services in the world, and we need to continue to strive for an ever better service with local community partnership at its heart."
The Home Secretary added:
"The National Policing Plan dovetails with our reform agenda. I want to see responsive policing delivered locally, within a set of clear minimum national standards, and I remain committed to seeing the performance of all forces improve for the benefit of all communities. This offers an opportunity to clarify the level at which responsibility should be carried and accountability expected within the tripartite approach of the Home Office, police authorities and police force operations.
"We have one of the best police services in the world, and we need to continue to strive for an ever better service with the local community at its heart - that is what this consultation is about."
For more information on Home Office and Policing visit Home Office at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ and MET Police at http://www.met.police.uk
Home Secretary's speech is Crown copyright material reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland
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