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The Metropolitan Police Service produced information on its hopes for police/community partnership through its Sector Working Groups, and this criteria for their establishment is given below.
General
Consultation between police and public is an essential ingredient in any policing strategy. Sector policing provides the means and the opportunity by which local public concerns can be successfully identified. The vehicle for successful public liaison is the Sector Working Group.
Each Sector should establish its own Sector Working Group, which is a voluntary, non-statutory body consisting of people who have an interest in, and a genuine concern about, local policing matters. Those eligible to participate include residents and those whose business or organisation is located within the Sector, and includes those who have an interest in the area because of the nature of their profession, such as representatives of the local council or other statutory agencies. It will meet according to local need, though once every two or three months is probably sufficient.
Purpose
The Sector Working Group exists to fulfil two principal functions. The first is to be a form of "Police Service Users Group" through which the public can raise concerns of an essentially local nature directly with the Sector Inspector who has the knowledge and understanding of local circumstances and responsibility for making local operational decisions.
Often the public have misconceptions about the Police Service's role, abilities and resources, and their assumptions about what is achievable, though flattering, are not always realistic. Not all of their concerns, which at first sight appear to them to be "a job for the police" are in fact so. Many of these issues are more effectively dealt with by other agencies, either in isolation or in conjunction with the police. Once made aware of the facts the public tend to be more understanding and supportive and the Working Group provides an opportunity to address this area.
The second function of the Working Group is to provide a forum for the police to meet with other interested agencies to discuss and implement agreed and co-ordinated solutions to identified local problems. This is where the involvement of other local agencies becomes essential. Without them the police can appear to be engaged in an unsatisfactory "buck passing" exercise whereas with them, each agency's specific role and relative areas of responsibility become apparent and the process gains a sense of purpose and immediacy. The practical value of establishing personal contact with the staff of other agencies cannot be over emphasised.
Ground Rules
The Working Group has a unique character and purpose. The emphasis is on local liaison, and to that end, certain ground rules are necessary to maintain the group's sense of relevance and influence without which it will fail.
Although usually instigated by the police, the Working Group should not be run by them as this may compromise its independent character. The police can offer support by supplying secretariat facilities and a place to meet if practical, but executive positions within the group, particularly those of chairperson and minutes secretary, are best held by community representatives.
Working for a Safer London
The police are represented by local Sector officers and, provided the divisional management team agree, the Sector Inspector should normally be the most senior officer present. This principle helps reinforce the concept that the Sector officers are responsible for local policing and the group members can identify with their police on a personal level. Sector officers should attend Working Group meetings whenever their duties permit. This simple process helps achieve mutual trust and understanding.
Once the Working Group has been set up, the Sector officers are representatives of just one local agency amongst several present. They must be prepared to contribute their knowledge and perspective on local issues, and act in concert with other parties to achieve agreed aims.
The public should be encouraged to offer views on priorities where there are competing demands. They will need factual information to assist them in making informed opinions.
Responsibility for decisions
Although the public have an opportunity to express their views and have them taken into account, this does not affect the responsibility of police to make the final operational decisions. Often these decisions will coincide with the group's wishes and gain strength from having been taken after listening to public opinion.
Setting it up
The job of actually establishing the Sector Working Group will normally fall to the Sector Inspector who has to gather together a number of local representatives to form the nucleus of the group. The hardest part is getting started; once the first few meetings have taken place the group begins to develop its own momentum.
The first step is to list the various organisations and individuals who already represent those eligible to take part; residents, businesses and those who have a professional interest.
In the first category, and clearly requiring representation, are Neighbourhood Watch groups and residents associations. Ward councillors represent the views of those who live and work within their wards and they should be invited. Less obvious are the many small organisations catering for those who live in the Sector, amongst which are rotary clubs, social clubs, churches, schools and youth clubs. Consideration could also be given to inviting local publicans and the proprietors of other places of public entertainment.
Contact with the local council may yield a list of local organisations, both large and small, whose leaders can fairly claim to represent local residents. Some councils appoint an officer to maintain close liaison with the local Police Consultative Committee and therefore likely to be particularly well placed to assist.
The Sector Working Group does not replace established borough based consultative committees, which have a statutory basis and fulfil a different function. However, the Working Group should be eligible for representative membership of it. This also serves the purpose of giving good geographical representation within the Consultative Committee.
Values
Though they do not necessarily live in the Sector, those who run businesses within it form the second category. Local trading associations, chambers of trade and commerce, and business watches, are all bodies appropriate for representation. Certain commercial organisations, such as large factories, supermarkets or prominent department stores, may deserve individual inclusion as a consequence of the number of employees or the nature of the business, which may have an impact on the local environment in some way. The presence in the Working Group of a member of the management staff of a large commercial organisation can frequently be of great assistance in quickly resolving problems, whether crimes or just nuisances, arising out of the existence of that organisation. Furthermore, it can be achieved on an immediate and personal level, which provides the opportunity for prompt, effective action and reduces unnecessary bureaucracy.
The final category includes those whose job in some way affects the lives of those who live and work within the Sector. The role of ward councillors has already been mentioned. In addition, there are a number of council departments with whom close liaison is of immense benefit; principal amongst these are the technical services, Housing and Highways Departments, and the office of Environmental Health.
Close liaison with the Social Services can be of great assistance in dealing with protracted domestic problems. It is here in particular that personal contact pays dividends and achieves results in a way that communication by letter can never do.
Attendance
As this last group is likely to be in demand at many other Sector group meetings, they should only be asked to attend if essential. Provided they are regularly updated and thereby kept abreast of local concerns, their attendance is only likely to be required to advise on the resolution of matters where their particular expertise is of relevance.
There are no strict rules of entitlement to, or prohibition from, membership of the Working Groups and it should be for each group, in some reasonable and democratic way, to decide whom it wants at its meetings.
Once a suitable list has been compiled the next stage is to write a letter to those concerned, inviting them to take part. It may be helpful if the letter explains broadly the changes from "Time Based" to "Sector Based" policing. Most members of the public warm to the idea of having their own "Bobbies on the Beat", and will be more than usually amenable to the idea that they can contribute to a local policing initiative.
The letter should also explain what the role of the Working Group will be, why its formation is desirable, and what it hopes to achieve. It should stress that it will not be a police-run group, nor is it simply a consultative committee. The fact that police retain the right to make operational decisions should also be stressed, although it can be emphasised that the group can expect to have considerable influence on how the Sector is policed. Finally, the letter should give the date and venue for an inaugural meeting. Most of the first meeting will be concerned with explaining the system of Sector policing, describing the proposed role of the working group and electing the executive posts.
The Chairperson
Identifying a suitable chairperson is particularly vital to the group's success. The holder of the post needs to be well organised and to have a personality which commands respect, and who is able to keep a firm grip on proceedings. It is not appropriate that the chairperson be installed at the direct instigation of the police, as that will undermine the group's feeling of independence.
Future Meetings
Any written record of the first meeting should be distributed to all those who were originally contacted, and should indicate the date of the next meeting. Thereafter, the process should be self-perpetuating. It is vital that matters arising are actioned so that there can be a response at the next meeting.
Conclusion
A successful group will be of great support to Sector policing and can be of significant assistance in identifying and dealing with local problems. Above all, it epitomises the notion of policing by consent.
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