Last updated on October 14th, 2023 at 11:20 am
Last updated on October 14th, 2023 at 11:20 am
Reading Time: 3 minutesIt’s been hard to tell which one of two recent thoughts about Policing has vexed me the most, so my solution was two short pieces for the price of one, or BOGOF
Police Uplift Programme
My first vex was related to the piece I wrote last week about the Police Uplift Programme. The final report on PUP isn’t due until the end of this month (if it comes out on time) so I can only relate to the position as at 31st December 2022.
In terms of numbers PUP has definitely increased the strength of the Police Service, although I still maintain that will have fallen short of their 20,000 target.
I took a look at the latest set of Length of Service stats (March 2022, 2023 will be released about July I think) and brought it up to date as best I could.
In almost every segment there are fewer officers than there were 10 years ago. The obvious exception is officers with less than 5 years service, which is a direct result of PUP. Then there;s a peak in the 15 to 20 year mark, but in almost all other segments the numbers are reduced. This CANNOT be good for Policing. Whilst it might seem obvious to those in the know, there has clearly been a haemorrhage of experience due mainly to the cuts imposed by Theresa May et al
Re-inventing The Wheel
Vex #2 was brought on by an item in last night’s local news on BBC1.
I’m thinking of setting up a GoFundMe page as I find that I need to replace my TV. The screen was mysteriously smashed in the middle of the evening news, when the BBC and the new Chief Constable of West Midlands Police jointly announced plans to introduce a brand new way of Policing.
Apparently it is called Neighbourhood Policing and involves local areas being Policed by local officers from local Police Stations and going into schools.
Sadly the TV is a write off, but the life size bust of Theresa May survived.
“A new local policing model will better serve communities across seven policing areas;
Each local policing area (LPA) will be led by a Chief Superintendent commander who will understand the issues that matter to communities in their area and have greater control over how they use their resources to meet local needs better.
Response and investigation teams will now be based at the same local police hubs as neighbourhood officers, meaning they can work more closely together to prevent and solve crime and keep people safe. This means more officers spending more time understanding and preventing local problems as well as addressing the issues that really matter to communities.
What will be different…
- Increased neighbourhood presence to really understand local issues and work with communities to tackle these
- Response officers (those who respond initially to your calls) are now more local to provide a better service
- Local investigation teams with a renewed focus on areas such as burglary, robbery, vehicle crime and domestic abuse to deliver better outcomes
- Increased use and availability of local custody facilities to support our focus on arresting more offenders
We want this new way of delivering local policing to make local areas safer, by making more arrests for violent crime, especially for domestic abuse. We will also be able to work more effectively with our partners, local businesses, and other agencies to reduce crime and disorder and make the streets safer.”
Is it just me that thinks that it’s a bit misleading to describe this as new?
When I retired from the Police 20 years ago I became a civil servant.
At that time, and for the following 10 years, I watched the same behaviour that we are now seeing in the police. Every nine to twelve months we had a complete change in the way of working, i.e. shuffling of paper.
In the ten years we must have recycled the same three or four methods five or six times. With resulting loss of paperwork, a work force that couldn’t care less, and paperwork deliberately lost in the system.
All because we were being led by inexperienced Managers who had shot up through the system without listening to the people on the ground floor.
I retired 21 years ago and went to work for the Police Authority. That was a real eye opener.
Alan,
No, you are not alone in the dismay at the ‘brand new of Policing’. The new Chief Constable has in effect reversed the way West Midlands Police has policed for over a decade, with centralized resources (response, CID, PPU etc) and the weakening of ‘neighbourhood policing’ the supposed foundation of the British model of policing. More custody blocks will be re-opened; WMP have relied upon two new, large custody suites and a couple of old-style custody blocks. Whether this new approach can transform local policing is a moot point, as for example younger (under 5yrs service) can be posted after their probation to response – which as a force level resource can be deployed miles away from their usual area, e.g. Coventry to Birmingham. How the chief will adjust the budget is very unclear, WMP has lost from memory £28m in Home Office funding this year.
I didn’t smash my TV though and Mrs May has no presence here.