This year promises to be one of the toughest for policing for many a year. We are a quarter of the way through the year and the austerity measures of the coalition are staring to bit. Police staff are being made redundant in many forces. Officers with thirty years or more are being forced to retire. The Hutton Report and the Winsor Report have brought uncertainty about the future of police pensions and the recent Neyroud report proposes the most radical shake up of leadership within the police service since it was created by Peel in 1829.
The impact on policing and those involved is frustration,uncertainty and disillusion. Unlike the mid 1980s when Maggy Thatcher knew she would need the police to deal with the miners and inner city disturbances, the police will not escape conservative reform this time.
So a number of forces are taking the opportunity to redesign their service and structure through various 'change projects'. Many are focusing on changes designed to manage the impact of the cuts and identify where savings can be found. Savings will come through ideas such as outsourcing, however, before that becomes effective the police will have to address bureaucratic procurement processes and be willing to 'let go' of some services that they believe are too precious to be given up. The volume of time and effort that is going into this process is huge. Hours of time taken up by lengthy meetings and consultation processes. And we have yet to see the impact on levels of crime and satisfaction with the service delivered.I say service delivered somewhat tongue in cheek as I do not believe that forces will continue to place the same emphasis on this important aspect of policing.
So is it inevitable that crime will increase? If so, what will that do for public confidence in policing and does it matter? The answer to the former is - probably, the answer to the latter is almost certainly. The late 1980s saw a reduction in levels of public confidence and sparked the whole debate on quality service being delivered by the police. A lack of confidence has a broad impact on a society that feels insecure and an increased fear of crime is likely as the public perceive that the police are unable to tackle cime due to a lack of resources or a lack of caring.
The police are shoved into the limelight again when dealing with public unrest due to the government cuts. This level of confrontation has brought great criticism to the Metropolitan Police who cannot seem to win whether they use a softly softy approach or a more dynamic plan. The fact that we are seeing officers having to defend their actions will cause many to question whether they are doing the right thing. It is a no win situation. The public expect the police to manage demonstrations, but when violence erupts they do not want to see the police confront or arrest those who are breaking the law. The fact that the media stand close by and film/photograph acts of wilful damage does not help the situation. It is often forgotten that after the event there is a criminal investigation to identify and prosecute offenders. The criminal investigation and subsequent prosecutions cost a great deal of time and money.
So as police resources are stretched to deal with crime and disorder, one has to consider whether the government will back down and review their plans as they are supposed to be doing with the military. Maybe those who run the country could look at themselves as they reverse their policies for claiming expenses and last week it was reported that MPs claimed over three million pounds in expenses in just two months. How many police officers, PCSOs or members of police staff would that have employed?
For further information on concerns relating to police reform, visit http://www.police oracle.com/news/Concern-Mounts-Over-Pace-Of-Change_32499.HTML
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