pthe police feoderation of englland & walies ce...

POLICEThe Police Federation of England & Wales www.polfed.org

June 2015

Slipping intothe shadowsIs neighbourhood policing the real casualty of continuing budget cuts?

5 EditorialNew funding confirmed for designated places of safety

6 View from the chair: Steve White advocates findinga way to work constructively with the government Neighbourhood policing is now an ‘endangered species’

7 Local Focus: Peter Singleton, chair of MerseysidePolice Federation

8 The Station Sergeant is... Crying wolfService being used as ‘gateway’ for mental health care

9 Officers should see video footage before writing statements, says senior lawyer

11 Posthumous Women in Policing award for PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes

12 Communities could ‘erupt’ if service does not achieve proportionate representation

14 The bigger picture: Home Secretary’s conference address receives muted applause from angry delegates

16 Slipping into the shadowsThe message that more cuts are forcing neighbourhood policing into the shadows was delivered to the Home Secretary at this year’s Federation conference. We look at differing views about the future of neighbourhood policing in Britain.

13 Dogberry: the lighter side of policing

24 Members’ benefits

26 View from the sidelines: Clive Chamberlain, former chair of Dorset Police Federation, takes a different look at life

Nick O’Time cartoon

27 Sudoku

Editor:Syreeta Lund

Federation House,Highbury Drive,Leatherhead,Surrey, KT22 7UYTel: 01372 352000

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07962 370808Email:[email protected]

Every care is taken to ensure that advertisements areaccepted only from bona fideadvertisers. The PoliceFederation cannot accept anyliability for losses incurred byany person as a result of adefault on the part of anadvertiser.

The views expressed within the magazine are not necessarilythe views of the Joint CentralCommittee of the PoliceFederation of England andWales.

ChairSteve WhiteGeneral Secretary:Andy FittesTreasurer:Martyn MordecaiVice-Chair:Will RichesDeputy General Secretary:Andy WardDeputy Treasurer:Geoff Stuttaford

© The Police Federation 2015Reproduction strictly forbidden unless by prior arrangement with the publishers.

Cover illustration:Russ Tudor

www.polfed.org June 2015 POLICE 13

POLICE June 2015 – in this issue:

NEWS & COMMENT

FEATURES

REGULARS

p26

p14

p9

p16

40 POLICE June 2015 www.polfed.org

New funding confirmed fordesignated places of safety

www.polfed.org

Devil will be in the detail of bills proposed inthe Queen’s speech, says Federation chair

June 2015 POLICE 15

Picture © Mark Bou

rdillon

/ Alamy

NEWS n

To say neighbourhood policing is deadmay be going too far, possibly evenbeing a ‘scaremonger’. That’s definedby Collins dictionary as “a person whodelights in spreading rumours ofdisaster”. Like Nostradamus perhaps.

Personally, I don’t delight in spreadingrumour; I also don’t delight in the ideathat the valid opinions of those on theground should be dismissed becausethey may upset someone further up thefood chain.

Neighbourhood policing, based onlistening to officers and reading actualreports by the likes of Her Majesty’sInspectorate of Constabulary and theNational Audit Office (see feature onp16), is under threat. It’s not dead; it’smore like a wounded animal.

Of course there are innovative ways todeal with cuts to neighbourhoodteams, like targeting problem areas,and this edition looks at the issue fromseveral different perspectives. SimonCole, chief constable of Leicestershirewho leads on local and responsepolicing for the National Police Chief’sCouncil, Damian O’Reilly, an award-winning community officer, and NathanConstable, police blogger, all give theirtake on the subject.

Around the country neighbourhoodteams are diminishing or being merged;there is no point painting a false reality,or in scaremongering. Of course it’simportant to be able to speak aboutsolutions to deal with the cuts. But thatmeans both the Federation and anygiven politician in this arena having ameaningful discussion rather thanrunning the other side down.

What do you think? Let us know @SyreetaLund

No point infalse realities

EditorialJune 2015

Follow me on Twitter @SyreetaLund

Syreeta Lund, Editor

The government will inject £15 millioninto delivering health-based places ofsafety for those with mental healthissues in England.

The Home Secretary announced thenew funding at the Federation’s annualconference and gave a “guarantee” thatno person with mental health problemswill be detained by the police due to thelack of a suitable alternative.

Theresa May also revealed measuresto reduce the amount of time the policespend dealing with people sufferingfrom mental health issues.

Last year more than 4,000 peopledetained under Section 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act were held in a police cell as a place of safety, shesaid. This month the proposals were

outlined in the Police Bill during theQueen’s speech.

“The Bill will… include provisions tocut the use of police cells for Section135 and 136 detentions, reduce thecurrent 72-hour maximum period ofdetention for the purposes of medicalassessment, and continue to improveoutcomes for people with mental healthneeds by enabling more places, otherthan police cells, to be designatedplaces of safety,” Ms May told delegates.

Earlier in the session, PoliceFederation chair Steve White warnedthat the police service was “propping upother public services” that had alsobeen the victim of cuts. “We are theservice of last resort, which means wecan’t say no,” he declared.

Officers will need clear guidance on howto enforce legislation around extremistviews but welcome the announcement tobolster mental health provision.

Steve White, chair of the Federation,responded to the bills outlined in theQueen’s speech this month, highlightingthe need for clear guidance for officers.

“The line between extremist views andfreedom of speech is a difficult one,particularly for the police service, whosejob it is to protect both the safety of thepublic and freedom of speech. Officers

will need explicit and clear guidance andlegislation in order to perform that roleeffectively. Currently, how that role willplay out is unclear and the governmentneeds to do more to define the newlegislation to ensure that it isenforceable,” he added.

He also welcomed the government’spledge to introduce standards forpatients’ access to mental health services.There is more information about theQueen’s speech online, at bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32898443

The government haspledged £15m to create more places of safety for those suffering with mentalhealth issues, ratherthan using police cellsand custody suites


“If you want British policing to be thebest it can be, join with me to makethat happen.” Strong words from theHome Secretary during her address atour conference last month.

That same address accused us of“crying wolf” about the impact ofausterity as Ms May warned us of afresh swathe of cuts to come.

A recent report by the National AuditOffice found that there is “insufficientinformation to determine how muchfurther it can reduce funding withoutdegrading services”. It also said thatforces in England and Wales do nothave a clear understanding of thedemands placed on them or thefactors that affect their costs.

So what can we cut? Therein lies thedilemma, but this willingness to worktogether comes at an opportunemoment. Indeed the report supportedthe need to engage with those whoknow about policing.

The fact is, current force structuresand systems do the service aninjustice when it comes to evidencingjust how hard it is out there. We need to join things up, thinkstandardisation, look at cost savingsin other areas.

Something radical, like having onesingle police force may be worthserious consideration. A favourableshow of hands at conference indicateda willingness to discuss suchfundamental change.

The voice of 123,000 officers hassomething to bring to the table andthat is why we need to workconstructively with government.

Just because we aren’t friendsdoesn’t mean we have to be enemies.

Relationshipbuilding

View fromthe chair

Follow me on Twitter @PFEW_Chair

n NEWS

Steve White, chair of thePoliceFederation

Neighbourhood policing is nowan ‘endangered species’Neighbourhood policing is just one of anumber of “endangered species” in thenew policing landscape, the chair of thePolice Federation has warned.

In a speech addressing delegates andHome Secretary Theresa May at theFederation’s annual conference, SteveWhite described this form of policing asthe “foundation of local confidence,trust and reassurances in communities”and one that prevents terrorist attacks.Yet he insisted the approach was underserious threat as a result of the “newstreamlined barren policing landscape”.

“We know that 30 out of 43 forces aredowngrading or reviewing theirneighbourhood policing teams,” hesaid. “Less than a third of people say

they now see police officers on patrol in their local community. And it’s afigure that’s falling fast. A generation ofyoung people is growing up neverseeing their local police unless they arefortunate enough to experience aserious crime. Is that the type of policeservice the public deserve?”

But the Home Secretary hit back at the‘endangered species’ assertion andcautioned against “scaremongering”. “Itdoesn’t serve you, it doesn’t serve theofficers you represent, and it doesn’tserve the public,” she said.

The minister referred to warningsmade by the Federation over the yearsabout officers feeling demoralised orangry. “The truth is that crime fell in

Picture © Alex Se

gre / Alam

y, Peter And

erson


NEWS n

I was left with a real sense of worryafter the Home Secretary’s speech tothe Police Federation conference.

During it she stated that a new Police Bill will allow her to go “Furtherand faster with police reform”. Notwords I want to hear in the samesentence. Ms May continued andwarned all of us that multi-millionpound budget cuts to policing would not stop.

It was no real surprise as we wereexpecting more cuts. But the prospectof having to brace ourselves for afurther loss of police officers onMerseyside – the police and crimecommissioner predicts 400 – is not ahappy one, especially when there willbe a decimation of our PCSOcolleagues at the same time.

Merseyside Police has already lost1,373 members of staff – 805 officers,454 police staff and 114 PCSOs – sinceausterity measures began in 2010, andthe future predicted cuts will result ina total projected loss of 1,116 officers,1,350 support staff and 366 PCSOs.

The Home Secretary liked to talkpercentages, saying 91 per cent ofofficers are now on the front line. Well here are some percentages foryou – the losses I’ve quoted aboveequate to a loss on Merseyside of 25per cent of our police officers, 59 percent of our support staff and astaggering 78 per cent of our PCSOs.

The public aren’t stupid. They knowthat losses on this scale can onlymean they will not get the level ofservice they expect or deserve.

I don’t think we’re “crying wolf”; cutshave consequences – especially onthis scale.

The real impactof reform figures

LocalFocusPeter Singletonchair ofMerseysidePoliceFederation

Neighbourhood policing is nowan ‘endangered species’

each of those years, it’s fallen furthersince – and our country is safer than ithas ever been,” she insisted. “So please,for your own sake and for the thousandsof police officers who work so hardevery day, this crying wolf has to stop.”

#crying wolf The comment sparked the Twitter

hashtag #crying wolf, based on the fableof the boy who keeps pretending a wolfis attacking his flock; eventually no onebelieves him, and when the wolf attacksit devours the flock. Many officers usedthe hashtag alongside evidence of cuts.

Ms May said that over the last fiveyears crime had fallen, the frontlineservice had been protected, and public

Federation chair Steve Whitewarned conference delegates andHome Secretary Theresa May thatneighbourhood policing was underthreat, but the minister accused theFederation of “crying wolf” over theeffect of cuts

confidence in the police was up eventhough spending had reduced, adding:“It is perfectly possible to make savingswithout affecting the quality ofneighbourhood policing.”

She also claimed 4.5 million policehours – the equivalent of 2,100 full timeofficers – had been saved through cutsto bureaucracy and central targets.“The frontline service has beenmaintained and the proportion ofofficers in frontline roles has gone up to91 per cent,” Ms May insisted.

The number of police officers in totalhas been reduced by 17,000 since 2010.You can take part in our poll onneighbourhood policing, atpolfed.org/newsroom/148.aspx


n NEWS

Service used as ‘gateway’for mental health care

Female drink drivers are ‘tip of the iceberg’

The service is increasingly being used asa “gateway” to unscheduled mentalhealth care despite a great deal of timeand effort being spent on street triageinitiatives, a leading inspector in thefield has warned.

Addressing delegates at this year’sFederation conference, Insp MichaelBrown, mental health co-ordinator atthe College of Policing, revealed that hehad been on a number of street triageshadowing exercises where he hadwondered why officers had even been atthe incidents in the first place.

The vulnerable people, he said, wereoften in need of a health careassessment and signposting. In themajority of cases they were alreadyknown to mental health services, yetwithin a few hours the police were beingused as a “mechanism”, he tolddelegates in Bournemouth.

Evidently sensibleSpeaking to journalists after the

session, Insp Brown referred to an“evidently sensible” proposal putforward by former Liberal Democratcare minister Paul Burstow.

“He [Burstow] said we need to legislatenow to remove police stations as aplace of safety but the removal will takeeffect in three years’ time. If you givethem [the NHS] the deadline they haveto work towards it,” Insp Brown said.The Federation is calling for the removalof police stations and custody as a place

of safety under the Mental Health Act.Martyn Underhill, Dorset police and

crime commissioner said the number ofpeople held in police stations for thisreason had fallen nationally from 9,000two years ago to below 5,000 at present.

“I think everybody in policing agreeswith the Federation’s position, but youhave to find somewhere to put thosepeople in places of safety in [times of]reducing austerity conditions.”

Steve White, chair of the Federation,said in his keynote speech: “We can stillcite examples where police officers arerunning patients to hospital in policevehicles – 903 times in the MetropolitanPolice alone last year. That cannot beright. And with dwindling resources thatis not something the police should bedoing, or can do any longer.”


The number of women arrested andconvicted of drink driving is “the tip of the iceberg”, according to a senior officer.

Superintendent Jane Derrick, fromSussex Police, spoke at the Federationconference of the growing problem ofwomen drinking and driving. In Sussex, 21 per cent of those convicted of drinkdriving were women, but the true figure islikely to be higher, said Supt Derrick.

She said: “We’ve seen a huge increase, but it is the tip of the iceberg.

We are stopping people based on ourperceptions. If I see a woman driving a carI may view her differently to a male driverbecause of my professional knowledge,but also my own perceptions.”

Vicki Martin, who sits on the Federation’sroads policing sub-committee, saidofficers had to rethink their approach.

She said: “It’s not just about drinkdriving. When we think of criminals wethink of men, but we need to think ofperpetrators as men and women.”

Picture © Peter And

erson

She is back, and this time she is mad.Mad as in spitting, rather than barking,of course. Basking in the knowledgethat 35,453 of her constituentspreferred her to UKIP, Ms May can relaxknowing that she has five gloriousyears to grind us further into theground. She promptly strode off to theFed conference to kick us in theproverbial rocks.

We ain’t seen nothing yet,apparently, so we had better stopwhingeing and prepare to meet ourdoom. Those were not her specificwords, but it was certainly the gist ofthe love and warmth she chose toshare with us.

We are, she told us, “crying wolf”. We bitch and moan about how awfulthings are and how the streets willsoon be awash with all sorts of bodilyfluids, whereas actually crime hastotally gone out of fashion. Thishappened on her watch, she has beenat pains to point out to all and sundry,despite the fact that she also thoughtwe were lying about the figures.

So, while things are getting betterthanks to her, they are getting worsetoo. Only a career politician could failto appreciate that contradiction. Still,we can move along now, there’snothing to see. I presume that thoseformer criminals are now gainfullyemployed in all the new jobs that sheand her mates have magicked up.They are probably too worn out after ahard day on the local hand carwash togo out a-robbin’.

What she possibly overlooked, as shescornfully equated us with the soon-to-be-consumed boy in the fable, isthat he sent out his warnings too earlyand too often. They were no lessaccurate for all that.

Crying wolf

TheStationSergeantis...

Follow me on Twitter @PFEW_Chair

Insp Michael Brown


NEWS n

Officers should see video footagebefore writing statementsA senior lawyer has called for officersinvolved in fatal or serious incidents to be allowed to view body-worn videofootage before giving their version of events.

Scott Ingram, senior principal lawyerwith Slater and Gordon, told delegatesat the Police Federation conference that the increasing use of body-wornvideo would encourage greaterassessment of officers’ decisions incourt which put them in a “vulnerable

Think tank Reform claims ‘more could still be done for less’Delegates at this year’s Federationconference reacted angrily to suggestionsthe service can deliver more for less.

Officers responded to comments madeby a senior research director with thethink tank Reform who said furtheranticipated budget cuts were notnecessarily “the wrong answer”.

Charlotte Pickles congratulated theservice on doing a “tremendous job” indelivering efficiencies in the last fiveyears, but added “more could still bedone for less”.

The police service is facing a further cutof five per cent in its budget this year. MsPickles said the next five years would see

a greater focus on productivity andcapability, adding that there was morescope for collaboration between forces.

Rethink technology Glyn Gaskarth, Head of Crime and

Justice Unit at the Policy Exchangeagreed, saying further reform could“make things better”. He said the servicehad to “rethink” technology as there wasstill a “shocking amount” of paperwork:“We can reduce the forms and do them innew ways,” he said.

Steve White, chair of the PoliceFederation of England and Wales, saidofficers welcomed technology, but

position” if they are prohibited fromwatching the footage.

He added officers should watch thefilm first and then deal with inevitabledifferences between their perception ofevents and what is captured on film.This would also ensure the bestevidence is achieved in a case.

He also warned that officers preventedfrom seeing the footage would be“naturally cautious” about the amountof detail they put in their accounts.

Picture © Yui Mok/PA Wire

London Mayor confirms city-widecamera roll-outLondon Mayor Boris Johnson hasconfirmed that most Met Policeofficers will be equipped with body-worn video cameras by the end of theyear, following a trial involving 1,000cameras across 10 boroughs.

During the trial the cameras are saidto have illustrated their potential toreduce complaints and increase thenumber of early guilty pleas, helpingto speed up the justice process.

PC Yasa Amerat (left) and PC CraigPearson wearing their body-wornvideo cameras at the launch of theMet’s trial in May last year

Mr Ingram added that allowing officersto watch film footage first would notprevent a thorough investigation.

The Police Federation’s DougCampbell, co-lead on body-worncamera for the Federation, backed thecall. He said: “Our members needconfidence in the post-incident process.They have to have confidence that theywill be treated fairly. It is common sensethey can view body-worn film footagebefore making a statement.”

added its role is to assist the police andnot replace them.

Steve Fraser from Avon and Somersetpolice called the idea of delivering morefor less “a joke”. He said his force couldn’tafford to buy in new technology. Headded: “We can’t go any further. It’sbecoming dangerous for all our officers.”

A Gwent officer said his force currentlyfaces 150 recommendations from HerMajesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary,but had no funding to implement them.He also said any further savings would be“damaging and reckless”.



NEWS n

Posthumous Women in Policingaward for PCs Fiona and NicolaA national award which recognises theoutstanding endeavour and dedicationto duty by female officers has beenunveiled by the Police Federation.

The annual ‘Women in Policing’accolade was presented to the familiesof PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes –the officers killed in a gun and grenadeattack on 18 September 2012. Thewomen died as they investigated a hoaxburglary in Greater Manchester.

“Emotionally it’s a massive thing toaccept the award,” Nicola’s father, BrynHughes said. “I think it should be [seen]as a celebration of Nicola and Fiona’slives and not a concentration on whathappened to them.”

The ultimate sacrificeFiona’s father Paul Bone

described the gesture as a “lovelyacknowledgement”. “It’s a great thing for the Police Federation toacknowledge the role of women in

policing over the years,” he said. “Fiona and Nicola gave the ultimatesacrifice but they were just doing their job.”

The presentation was made during asession which celebrated the work offemale officers over the past 100 years.

Steve White, chair of the Federation,described Fiona and Nicola as “veryworthy” recipients of the award.

“I would like to thank both the Bone and the Hughes families for joining us today and accepting thisaward on behalf of Fiona and Nicola – two courageous officers who gavetheir lives for the communities theywere proud to serve.”

A Women in Policing award winner,nominated from forces throughoutEngland and Wales and selected by ajudging panel, will now be presented atconference every year.


erson

Vicky Bone, Paul Bone and Bryn Hughesreceiving the Award from Steve White

Detectives’ careers at risk if chiefs ignore PIP programmeDetectives raised concerns that chiefs’ reluctance to “embrace” the Professionalising the InvestigationProgramme (PIP) could scupper officers’ careers.

College of Policing representativesoutlined how the PIP programme, which aims to ensure that staff aretrained, skilled and accredited to conduct the highest qualityinvestigations, would be implemented, as they spoke at the Police Federation’sNational Detectives Forum.

During the session, held at theFederation’s annual conference lastmonth in Bournemouth, one officer from Hendon said officers’ careers were “at risk” if a chief opted to ignore the programme.

He added: “If a chief is not signed up tothe content, then officers won’t get tothat level.”

His concerns were echoed by others. A West Midlands detective referred toofficers in his force who are being fasttracked, but have no investigative history.He said: “There is a reluctance to embrace the whole career pathway. That can’t be right.”

Chiefs are autonomousJo Taylor, the College of Policing’s

Policing Standards Manager, admittedthat if chiefs did not buy into theprogramme, officers could not progress,but as chiefs are autonomous there islittle the college could do. She said: “If they are not following the PIPprogramme they [officers] would beblocked from moving on. We can put aprocess in place. We can’t mandate.” She added that the PIP review had gone to the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

For more information on the PIP, visitwww.app.college.police.uk/app-content/investigations/introduction/#pip

Concerns were also raised about thetwo-tier membership the College ofPolicing is planning to introduce. Officerscan join as a basic member free-of-chargeor pay to join as a premium membergiving them access to extra content suchas apps. Officers said the system coulddiscriminate against those who could notafford to pay giving some people anunfair advantage over others.

Fiona Eldridge, Head of Membership forthe College of Policing, said the costs hadnot yet been worked out, but she wantedto ensure that it did not discriminateagainst anyone.

n NEWS


The police service could face a backlashsimilar to the one experienced in theUnited States following the shooting of Michael Brown unless the servicebetter represents the black minorityethnic community.

Speaking at this year’s PoliceFederation conference, Inspector KamBria, from the College of Policing,claimed at least 17,000 BME officerswould be needed by 2024 to achieveproportionate representation.

Of the 128,000 officers in England andWales in March 2014, only 6,715 (five percent) represented the BME community,while female officers accounted for just27 per cent, said Insp Bria, who isworking on the BME progression project2018 which will develop a nationalimprovement programme for therecruitment, development, progressionand retention of BME officers.

Reflecting communitiesOne way to improve the trust and

confidence in the police, he claimed,would be through better representationof minority groups. “If we reflect thosecommunities and physically look likethem they’re more likely to want towork with us,” he said.

He warned that communities never “forget” incidents such as

“disproportionate stop and searches”against BME members. “It simmersunder the surface… it bubbles away andthen you end up with a trigger eventwhere pent-up anger and frustrationsurfaces and communities erupt,” theinspector declared.

He then referred to the incidentinvolving 18-year-old Michael Brown,who was fatally shot while walkingdown a street by a police officer inFerguson, a suburb north of St Louis.Days of rallies, unrest and angryconfrontations between protestors andpolice followed as the local communityexpressed doubts about whether theshooting was justified. “This couldhappen here,” Insp Bria warned.

He called on “everyone” to have anunderstanding of the problem, lookaround their department and takeaction if minority groups were found tobe underrepresented. “Everybody needsto get involved, not just HR or seniorofficers,” he added.

The inspector also called forsustainable one, three and five-yearstrategies, not a “glossy policydocument”, and warned that thenumber of BME officers approachingretirement would be a major challengeover the next five years.

Communities could ‘erupt’ if service does not achieveproportionate representation


erson

A house purchase is likely to be thebiggest and most expensive purchaseyou will ever make, but research hasshown that one in six people in Britainhas no idea about their rights andobligations when buying a home.

Assistance is at hand to steer youthrough the legal jargon andcomplexities of the conveyancingprocess – the procedure which must becarried out to transfer the property.

Commonly misunderstood termsFreehold and leasehold: if you ownthe freehold, you own the building andthe ground it stands on, although therecan be restrictions on what you can doat the property. Leasehold means youhave a lease to hold the property for acertain number of years and youusually need to pay an annual groundrent and a service charge. Leases areused for the sale of apartments andflats or a new plot on an estate, andcontain restrictions on what you can doat your property.Exchange of contracts: this is whenyour sale or purchase becomes legallybinding. You cannot pull out of thetransaction or change the amount youwant to pay for it after exchangingcontracts; if you do, there are seriousfinancial and legal implications.Gazumping: when the seller changestheir mind before exchange and sells tosomebody else. It is legal.Exchange deposit: the amount ofmoney the buyer has to pay the sellerwhen contracts are exchanged (usuallyfive to 10 per cent of the price).Off-plan property: where you contractto buy a property before it is built. Itcan be cheaper in a rapidly risinghouse market but there are risks too.Completion: when you pay theremainder of the purchase price andphysically move in.

Know your property rights

ADVERTORIAL

Inspector KamBria says theservice mustbecome morerepresentative

T: 0808 175 7805W: slatergordon.co.uk/policelaw

DOGBERRY n


Please send your Dogberry entries to: [email protected]

It’s hardly the milk of human kindness

Having recently beenasked to check thequality of a file to theprosecution team, the following sentencecaused some concernfor an acting detectivesergeant based in Doncaster:

“He had not bypassedthe electricity and waspaying £30 a month,while the light was on for 36 hours a day,but this would reduceas the plants requiredless light.”

With them receiving 36 hours of light perday, how much lightwould they need?

Never enough hours in a day...

At Devizes neighbourhoodpolicing team in Wiltshire,

a certain PCSO who shallremain namelessrecently took over

running the tea fundfor the team.

The first day didn’tgo so well. Theindividualconcerned returnedfrom the shopssaying: “Thiscoffee is weird, it’swhite.” They thenshowed us themassive catering-sized containerthey had bought,which was Nestlécoffee mate.Needless to say,the team won’tneed any milk for a while.


Home Secretary Theresa May watched on as Federation chair Steve White gave his keynote speech to delegates at this year’s annualconference in Bournemouth, beforetaking to the podium herself to deliverher own address.

In what was the minister’s most high-profile speech since the Conservativeswon a convincing election victory, MsMay outlines some of the new measuresset to be introduced through a raft ofbills outlined in the recent Queen’sSpeech, including the Policing andCriminal Justice Bill.

However, she clashed with Mr Whiteover the impact of future cuts onneighbourhood policing. TheFederation chair had warned that the scale of cuts threatened the veryfuture of neighbourhood policing. After the conference Mr White said theFederation are “telling it like it is”. Hehighlighted a rise in unrecorded crimesand the £1.9 billion that has been takenout of the police budget over four years.

In previous years the Home Secretary’sspeech has been met by both stonysilence, and passionate, vocalopposition; this year her address drewpolite, if somewhat muted applause.

However, from questions put to theminister by delegates during a Q&Asession after the speeches, it was clearthat many officers felt strongly thatbudget cuts were already having adamaging effect on the service forcesare able to provide to the public, andwere angered by the Minister’saccusations of scaremongering.

You can still watch the full video ofboth Steve White and Theresa May’sspeeches – along with coverage of allthe other main sessions fromconference – on the Police Federationwebsite, at polfed.org

Photograph: Peter Anderson

Muted applause forHome Secretaryafter clashes overcuts to policing

June 2015 POLICE 15www.polfed.org

THE BIGGER PICTURE n


n FEATURES

The National Audit Office, in its Financialsustainability of police forces in England and Walesreport published this month, looked at how forcesare coping with cuts to funding. The report statesthat the Home Office does not have “goodenough” information to “work out how much itcan reduce funding without degrading services, orwhen it may need to support individual forces”.

Ahead of conference, Steve White, chair of theFederation, had already outlined thatneighbourhood police officers are becoming an“endangered species” and that budget cuts couldend with police officers adopting a paramilitarystyle of policing as they are pulled fromcommunities. Home Secretary Ms May respondedby saying: “I have to tell you that this kind ofscaremongering does nobody any good – itdoesn’t serve you, it doesn’t serve the officers yourepresent, and it doesn’t serve the public.”

But the erosion of neighbourhood policing was not first raised by the Police Federation. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) spoke about the risk of neighbourhoodpolicing being “eroded” in their report Policing in Austerity: Meeting the Challenge. The report,published in July last year, found officers werebeing put on other duties, meaning less wereavailable on the streets.

Although the report highlighted how well forces had managed to deal with the cuts, itstated: “We have seen further evidence of thiserosion in this year’s inspection; as a result, ourconcern in this area is growing.” It added thatthe remit of neighbourhood teams is widening and the number of PCSOs declining. HMIChighlighted that leaders in the police servicerecognise the value of neighbourhood policing butcontinuing cuts mean their police service couldbecome increasingly reactive (with a focus onresponding to 999 calls and investigating crime)rather than preventing and reducing crime.

Slipping into the shadowsThe message that more cuts areforcing neighbourhood policinginto the shadows was delivered tothe Home Secretary at this year’sFederation conference. We look atdiffering views about the future ofneighbourhood policing in Britain.

illustration: Russ Tudo

r


FEATURES n

I, like many chief constables, now havefewer neighbourhood police officersthan I had this time last year. Howeverthe public are telling me that they seemore of those fewer officers and thatthey are more involved in problemsolving than they were before. How canthis be?

In the midst of dire warnings of watercannon and Robocop, we have made adecision to free up our neighbourhoodteams and give them licence to try tomanage demand by getting ahead ofproblems. Archbishop Desmond Tutumay never have walked a beat, but he ison the money when he says: “Therecomes a point you have to stop pullingpeople out of the river, get upstreamand find out why they are falling in.”

We are not finding out who has fallenin on our own. Ten square miles of theforce area accounts for over 30 per centof our demand. These areas are beingfocused on by us, with our partners, tosee what can be done to make peoplesafer, thus reducing demand.

Our neighbourhood teams are enabled with mobile technology,refreshed problem-solving training and a remit to make a difference. Othercolleagues now deal with the crimeenquiries that took neighbourhoodofficers away from their beats. Localvolunteers and communities aresupporting the work that they are doing, as is risk-based assessment ofincoming calls for the service.

Of course there are new challenges: while anofficer in a high visibility jacket walking past yourdoor may make you feel very reassured, thechallenge for policing is that, upstairs, your 14-year-old could be being groomed online by

Simon Cole is chief constable of Leicestershire, and became chair forwhat is now the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) Local Policingand Partnerships Co-ordinating Committee in April 2012. This includesleading work on local and response policing.

someone who is completely oblivious to that reassuring presence. As theNPCC Lead on Local Policing andPartnerships, I was very pleased whenthe College of Policing’s first majorcommission was on local policing. Thethree-year programme, led by theCollege, seeks to provide an evidencebase for:n profiling demand and our response

effectivelyn processes for proactive and

response policingn increasing public participation

and engagementn embedding crime reduction.This will help us to ensure that, going

forward, we have the right people in theright places in the right numbers tocreate neighbourhoods that feel safeand are safe.

Society is always changing, so policingmust adapt. One of my illustriousforebears as chief constable here inLeicester, Sir Robert Mark, wrote: “Thepolice are the anvil on which societybeats out the problems and abrasions of social inequality, racial prejudice,weak laws and ineffective legislation.” I reflect on the wisdom of what he saidevery day I do this job. Neighbourhoodpolicing in its widest sense, includingpartners and communities, can still bepart of that beating out of problems.

Of course, a decreasing budget has animpact on how many of us there are. Wemust all ensure that we safeguard the

public by maximising the impact of every pennythat we do get. Effective prevention throughneighbourhood teams is part of that guardianship,and is arguably more important now than it hasever been.

View from a chief constable

Of course, adecreasingbudget hasan impact onhow many ofus thereare. We mustall ensurethat wesafeguard the public bymaximisingthe impact of everypenny thatwe do get.


To work,neighbourhoodpolicing needsresources. Itneeds people – people whoare dedicatedsolely to“walkingabout” and notdistracted bythe constantdemands ofthe radio.

Neighbourhood policing has a positive impact onthe flow of intelligence, says Nathan Constable

The Political Challenge debate at conference thisyear was notable for the differing visions of thefuture offered by the panelists. While the think-tanks spoke passionately about improvingtechnology and the seemingly limitless potentialto do more with less, it was Jack Dromey MP, theshadow policing minister, who repeated hisconcerns about how current government policyrisks eroding “the bedrock of policing”.

Mr Dromey was talking about neighbourhoodpolicing. However, his party did not win theelection and it was clear from that debate and thespeech from the Home Secretary that it is thethink-tanks who seem to have the monopoly onideas for the future direction of the police service– most of which involve plugs or batteries.

There is room within policing for all of thesewonderful and innovative IT solutions; but theysimply cannot replace a human being, in auniform, working in a community.

Anyone who has ever sat at a local communitypriorities meeting will know the differencebetween what the public want the police to doand other demands placed on the service. People don’t worry about the detection rate for acquisitive crime in their area – they worryabout what they can see in front of them.Neighbourhood policing deals with this, and it isthe most public-facing and locally responsive andaccountable element of the service.

Safer communities, saving livesWorking with other agencies, enlisting local

support, and providing a visible presence cansignificantly reduce crime and disorder, deal withthose who cause misery, and divert others fromthe same path. This improves the atmosphere incommunities and makes them safer.

Neighbourhood policing has a positive impact interms of visibility and the flow of intelligence. Thisintelligence can be the off-chance conversationwhich starts a chain of events leading to detectingcrime, saving of lives, providing support or evenpreventing a terrorist incident.

Police chiefs face a tough choice. Many forces areamalgamating their neighbourhood teams withresponse teams, the result being that

neighbourhood teams get quickly sucked intodemands to answer outstanding calls. This isretrospective demand management, not proactiveneighbourhood policing.

In order to work, neighbourhood policing needsresources. It needs people – people who arededicated solely to “walking about” and notdistracted by the constant demands of the radio.It requires people who are free and available totalk to other people – about their concerns, aboutfunding, about ideas, about diversion and aboutteam work. It is about building relationships.Some would say that this isn’t police work. I wouldargue that it is amongst the most effective policework there is if the objective is to reduce crimeand make communities safer.

Neighbourhood policing is at risk and if we lose it in its current guise then British policing willbe the weaker and poorer for it. It cannot bereplaced by facial recognition or predictiveanalytics software. There are some jobs thatcomputers simply cannot do. Neighbourhoodpolicing is one of them.

Some jobs computers cannot do...Nathan Constable is a blogger on policing issues and attended this year’s PoliceFederation conference. He currently works as an inspector and tactical firearmscommander but has extensive experience as a community officer. He writes about theneed for human interaction with the public

Picture © Adrian Sh

erratt / Alamy

FEATURES n


n FEATURES

First and foremost I must say that I was privilegedto have had the opportunity to work with afantastic team of cops and PCSOs in what Iconsider to have been the greatest era ofcommunity policing. While my thoughts mayappear negative at times, I can assure you that Iam passionate about policing and that’s why I amcompelled to tell it how it is.

There seems to be a misconception over whateffective community policing looks like. Someseem to think that it is drinking tea with theelderly, and others, setting up canoeing clubs todivert youths from crime. While these things maybe incorporated, it is actually so much more.

Community policing is fundamentally aboutbeing a visible, credible authority on the street. Itis a multi-faceted role which requires a team ofdynamic, committed local officers to beresponsible and accountable for a specificgeographic area.

Taking the fight to prolific offendersNeighbourhood officers need to have a pride in

the area that they police and a determination tomake a difference. In order to gain initial control itis imperative that you know your prolific offendersand you robustly target them. Taking the fight tothem puts them on the back foot and reducestheir offending. Where necessary, it entails a showof strength and smashing in doors and makingarrests. This is what gets you credibility with thecommunity and helps to generate trust.

The next essential piece of work is to let thecommunity know what you have done. I did thisthrough various communications and throughpersonal accountability at six-monthly meetings,inviting all key people from the community toattend. This provided a forum to update thecommunity on what we had achieved, receiveinformation on concerns, and set priorities for thenext period. These meetings became moreinteractive as they evolved, incorporating guestspeakers, partnership updates and publicrecognition; they also included a social aspectthat made them a pleasure to attend, with 400people attending one of the larger venues.

Along with community engagement wedeveloped and supported diversionary activitythrough a whole host of initiatives to steer youthaway from crime and disorder. The idea was to beahead of the game, building a sense of communityand pride within the area. Whenever we werereactive it felt like we had failed, as there wasalready a victim and we were playing catch up.

Now what do we have? With excessive spendingcuts, it is inevitable that community policingservices will become unsustainable and alreadythat has proved to be the case. We call itcommunity policing but we are really only able topay lip service to what this should be.

My team were heavily involved in integrating theRoma community into the Gorton South ward,following a sudden influx of approximately 1,000Roma. There were considerable issues as theRoma effectively became a community within acommunity, which created massive tension withinthe indigenous population, and there was a veryreal need to undertake a programme of educationabout acceptable standards of behaviour andsocial responsibility. We had to educate all partiesabout cultural awareness in order to assistintegration. Combine all this with languagebarriers and a very transient population, and youhave a complex task ahead of you. Who could dothat now? Even the partners don’t exist anymore.

Eastern European and other immigrantsgenerally gravitate to the inner cities, so who willdo this work and get to know these people now?What about the complex, dysfunctional familieswho have a history over generations ofworklessness, drug and alcohol dependency,criminality, or a combination of these factors? We worked to identify these families in an attemptto break the cycle; who is doing this now?

I had the privilege of working with someoutstanding PCSOs, but the future of communitypolicing cannot be the sole responsibility of theseofficers and their limited powers. Police officersneed to be multi-dimensional in the future, and Ifear for those with limited areas of responsibility.

At conference the Home Secretary accused us ofcrying wolf. There is a degree of truth in that –

The view from the front lineDamian O’Reilly is now an inspector with Greater Manchester Police. He has 27 yearsin the service, won the National Community Police Officer of the year in 2010, and washonoured with an MBE for services to policing and the community of Gorton in the 2013New Year’s Honours list. He writes about the changes to community policing and hisfears that cuts will mean neighbourhood policing becomes a shadow of its former self.

What aboutthe complex,dysfunctionalfamilies whohave a historyover severalgenerations ofworklessness,drug andalcoholdependency,criminality, ora combinationof thesefactors? Weworked toidentify thesefamilies in anattempt tobreak thecycle; who isdoing thisnow?


FEATURES n

anyone who joins the cops will not have to waitlong until they hear those immortal words, “theJob’s screwed”. I heard it when I started, and I’veheard it said countless times over the years, albeitsometimes with a sense of humour. Butundoubtedly, this really is the most challengingperiod in policing for a generation. While certainareas of crime may have fallen, others haveincreased and the demands are as real as ever.

We can’t withdraw from communitiesAt conference the Home Secretary stated: “Our

country is safer than it has ever been.” Really? OnSeptember 18, 2012, our officers Fiona Bone andNicola Hughes were murdered on the street inGreater Manchester in a gun and grenade attack,by the head of an organised crime gang. In May ofthe following year, Fusilier Lee Rigby wasslaughtered in the street in Woolwich by terroriststrying to cut his head off. There have been twofurther convictions for attempted copycat terroristoffences in February and April of this year. Policeand military are feared to be at risk, as are iconiccrowded places. In August 2014 the JointTerrorism Analysis Centre raised the threatassessment to severe, and it has been on the cuspof critical several times since.

Radicalisation is the threat now, and MarkRowley, Assistant Commissioner for specialistcrime and operations in the Met, spoke of thecritical role that community policing has to play intackling terrorism; so how can we possibly affordto withdraw from communities? It’s a time whenwe should be investing in policing, as without theincredible work of the counter-terrorism unitacross the regions there would have been moreatrocities. So is anybody else reassured that ourcountry is safer than it has ever been?

Of course, when the next atrocity takes place,there will either be plaudits for cops doing a greatjob, or criticism of the way things were done; no-one will be holding the Home Secretary to accountfor her outrageous myopic stance on policing.

Neighbourhood policing is a shadow of its formerself, and it looks like there are still significantreductions to come. If I were a local criminal or amember of an organised criminal gang, I would bedelighted. When locally focused communitypolicing is withdrawn to become a bolsteredreactive response team, police lose localownership, accountability and a sense of pride.Cops will not know the local criminals, norunderstand the local issues, so service quality willinevitably suffer, and the public deserve better.

Perhaps the answer might be to put all cops onresponse and just rebrand it as neighbourhood.Then we could all say that we have invested inneighbourhoods. Watch this space.

I feel that the chief officers collectively shouldhave had more to say on the subject of the cuts tokeep the scale of reductions to 12 per cent, assuggested by Sir Denis O’Connor, HM Inspector ofConstabulary, in the HMIC report Valuing thePolice, published in 2010. It argued that any cutsover 12 per cent would have a dire effect on theability of police forces to meet the demands ofpolicing in this country. In many major forces wehave seen officer numbers reduce by a quarterover the past five years. Had that not resulted in areduced service, it would have been testament toa hideous waste of public funds previously.

I have not seen ACPO numbers reduce in linewith this. We saw no substantive promotions tosergeant or inspector over four years and yetsenior officer promotions were plentiful. If thesespending cuts continue we will become anineffective service, a lamb to the slaughter.

The wolf that the Home Secretary mentions isactually now present in radicalisation, organisedcrime groups and major public order issues. If thewolf meets the lamb, the wolf will devour it.

If I were alocal criminalor a memberof anorganisedcriminal gang,I would bedelighted.When locallyfocusedcommunitypolicing iswithdrawn tobecome abolsteredreactiveresponseteam, policelose localownership,accountabilityand a sense ofpride.

Insp O’Reilly isunconvinced by theHome Secretary’sassertion that thecountry is now asafer place Pi

cture © Peter And

erson


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Laughing policeman

View from theSidelines

Police humour can be very dark. It is what somerefer to as ‘gallows humour’, whereas others mightsay that it is downright sick. It can be inappropriate,not so much because it’s distasteful, but more in thesense that it is used as a shield to protect officersand deflect their own feelings – because yes,bobbies are human, and suffer from the samefrailties and vulnerabilities as others.

I have known colleagues joke about the mosttragic of situations with others, only to go home andcry about them when alone. I firmly believe that ifyou try to avoid or bury feelings you actually burythem alive and they can jump up and grab you at atime when you least expect it.

Carrying the psychological scarsThe proper psychological debriefing of traumatic

incidents has undoubtedly helped down the years,but it is a relatively new innovation. Many carry thescars of policing well beyond their time in the jobwhich has often meant an early exit for excellentofficers with otherwise good career prospects.

The mental well-being of emergency serviceworkers is so important, yet still many believe thatbig boys and girls shouldn’t cry, and there is sadly astigma about seeking help. At a time of swingeingcuts to public services, when more is expected from

fewer people, one budget that should not be cutis welfare.

On the subject of humour, I recall many yearsago one chief constable submitting an indignantreport to a divisional commander, saying that he had been in Corfe Castle (a Dorset village) for a whole afternoon and had not seen the local beat officer.

The local bobby, when the report eventuallycascaded down to him responded by saying thathe had been on duty throughout the whole ofthe said afternoon and coincidentally had notseen the chief constable.

I am told that the officer was promptly movedto another post, demonstrating that not all inthe service possess a sense of humour.

Nick O’Time Colin Whittock

You can follow me on Twitter @MrCliveC

n SIDELINES

Clive Chamberlain,former chair of DorsetPolice Federation

At a time ofswingeingcuts to publicservices,when more isexpectedfrom fewerpeople, onebudget thatshould not becut is welfare.

During a period of majorcuts, one budget that mustbe maintained is welfare

Picture © Lisa Gagne / iS

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oto


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pthe police feoderation of englland & walies ce...

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