Radical police reform proposals outlined

The paper, ‘Policing in the 21st century: reconnecting police and the people’, contains proposals for ways to make police in England and Wales more available and responsive, more accountable, more effective, and deliver better value for money. A new national crime-fighting agency, to replace the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), and the scrapping of Police Authorities in England and Wales are among the proposals.

The paper was described by Home Secretary Theresa May as the “most radical reform of policing for 50 years”.

She said: “We’ll be replacing the bureaucratic accountability that has been for too long police forces looking up to Whitehall, and targets and bureaucracy, with democratic accountability: the election of a police and crime commissioner for each police force. So the people have a say in the individual who can then represent their needs, in terms of ensuring that policing is responding to their needs locally.

“And we’re also going to strengthen the way we deal with serious organised crime and protect our borders, creating a National Crime Agency, which will have within it different commands – border police force and also serious organised crime, and other issues as well. So strengthening, dealing with policing and crime issues, crime fighting at a national level, and restoring the link between police and people for local policing.”

National crime agency
The government will create a powerful new body of operational crime-fighters in the shape of a National Crime Agency. This will build on the intelligence, analytical and enforcement capabilities of the existing Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the Child Exploitation and online Protection Centre. The new agency will aim to better connect these capabilities to organisations such as the police service, HM Revenue and Customs, and the UK Border Agency.

The National Crime Agency will be responsible for improving what is known about the threat from organised crime, provide effective national tasking and coordination of police assets, ensure more law enforcement activity takes place against more organised criminals, at reduced cost, and strengthen the UK’s border policing arrangements.

Elected comissioners
The reforms will introduce directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners, representing their communities and understanding their crime and anti-social behaviour priorities. They will hold chief constables to account for achieving them, and will be able to fire her or him if they do not. Chief constables will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of their police force but will be accountable to the public and not Whitehall. Regular beat meetings will allow people to challenge the police’ performance and accessible street level crime data will shine a light on local crime trends and concerns.

Central targets will be abolished, and the police will be encouraged to use their professional judgment in performing their job.

Association of Chief Police Officers president Sir Hugh Orde said: “The British Policing Model is built upon the twin foundations of operational independence and local accountability. These are challenging times not just for policing but for all public services to improve and do more with less. The police service has a ‘can do’ ethos and we are ready for that challenge. But reform must add real value to the critical service we deliver which keeps our communities safe.

“The consultation document rightly recognises the increasing complexity of modern policing, from the local to the national, from visible patrolling to serious crime and terrorism. There are a number of new elements proposed which will now require careful consideration, in particular the role of the National Crime Agency, and how greater collaboration across the service can be achieved to drive the necessary savings. Today also presents an opportunity to firmly establish ACPO as a professional leadership body, with a governance and accountability structure as we have consistently requested.

“The government’s strong statement of commitment to operational independence is of critical importance. Chief officers absolutely understand the need to be accountable to local communities – policing’s relationship with the public we serve is the source of its legitimacy and consequently its effectiveness. We now need to examine in detail the government’s proposals for maintaining operational independence against the practical reality of directly-elected Police and Crime Commissioners.”

An accountable force
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “It is vital that police officers are free to tackle the crime and antisocial behaviour that matters most to people, not tied down by bureaucracy and form-filling. The fundamental reforms we have announced continue our work to deliver a police service that is visible and accountable to the very people it serves in communities up and down the country.

“By replacing invisible police authorities with directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners, we can forge a direct link between the police and the public, ensuring that the public have a voice in setting police priorities and have the power to hold the police to account for keeping our streets safe and secure.”

The publication of Policing in the 21st Century marks the start of a public consultation as the government is seeking the views of both the public and professionals across the criminal justice system on specific aspects of the reform programme.