Tuesday 25 May 2010

TOO MANY CHIEFS - PART 3 - THE FULL REPORT


As promised, we are pleased to be able to announce that our report "TOO MANY POLICE CHIEFS" is now available on this site for download or viewing.  It has also been added to the "View Our Reports" sidebar on the right of the page. Click here to view the report now.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Inspector Gadget, whose insightful words and views bring a sense of reality that can so often be lost in numbers and statistics.

The report is intentionally hard hitting, focusing on the profligacy and waste, both financially and operationally that occurs within the higher ranks of British policing.

A widely held view from the front line of policing is that there are “Too many chiefs and not enough Indians on the ground”. Officers report that their forces are top heavy with Chiefs and Senior Management ranks, causing confusion with a blurring of
responsibilities. This causes inconsistencies in strategy with one Chiefs’ flavour of the month project being superseded by another, often opposite viewpoint, sometimes within weeks or months of the first being issued.


Officers feel that their forces employ an unnecessary number of police staff (civilian support personnel), who apparent sole purpose in life is to bury the front line, public facing officer with e mails, administrative tasks, data capture requests, box ticking and apparently valueless instructions that tie them up in administrative jobs, keeping them from front line duties..

Many front line experienced officers openly state that it is not a shortage of people or finances within the force that is the problem. They state there are adequate numbers to do the job, it is just that too many officers are assigned to non operational or clerical type roles when they should be “on the street” helping to reduce the burden of the front line response teams.

It is imperative that a closer examination of existing resources, Chief Officer, non operational and police staff now be conducted. This report is intended to stimulate informed debate by taking a closer look at the numbers and ranks of officers and police staff engaged and highlighting for the first time, the cost by rank incurred by each force, and whether these costs represent the best value for money the tax payers pound can buy.

Over the pages contained in the report, we provide detailed reports on officer numbers, split by rank and force, together with the costs that these numbers create. Interleaved between the reports we provide explanatory notes with the findings, bullet point observations and summaries.

The report contains a 6 page conclusions summary, where we bring all the content together to point out the more obvious, non front line areas where many millions can be saved without compromising essential resourcing.

We are aware that these pages are monitored by all ranks of policing, associated police and criminal justice agencies, political parties and the media. For many of the higher management ranks of policing, some of the content will make uncomfortable reading as it will cause many consciences to be pricked. We make no apologies for that. 

For the powers that be who may read this report , those who have the authority to implement real change and reform within our police service, we would urge you to listen to the heartfelt needs of your front line, grass roots officers. You may be surrounded by advisors, many of whom have little knowledge of front line policing, including civil servants and senior police officers, whose errors and personal agendas have created so many of the problems that now face the service. We would urge you not to always believe  what you’re told by your advisors. 

If you truly desire to bring about the reforms that would most benefit the tax paying public, listen carefully to the views and concerns of the front line officers. You will find that their views and thoughts echo those of the average citizen who you have been elected to represent.

8 comments:

Stressed Out Cop said...

As I receive SPP it's only fair that it should go too - waste of money.

Anonymous said...

Dear Steve @ The Thin Blue Line,

Your voluminous opinions are always well aired on police blogs. You post with such frequency during the day that no time can be left for any real police work.

You venture outside your separate police community, to enlist support from the public when (and only when) it suits your purpose.

Otherwise you are fiercely hostile towards criticism of police and hoist your true colours with tirades of obscene abuse. These tirades are always levelled against honest citizens who have the effrontery to freely express themselves.

You Steve, represent all that is wrong with current policing. Selfishhness, laziness, greed, intolerance, bigotry and arrogance.

Citizens should find a suitable place for the likes of you in the new public stocks, seated adjacent the infamous traitor Gadget.

Dr Melvin T Gray

Crime Analyst said...

Good morning to you too Melvyn!

Thank you for your opinion, to which you are entitled.

However, permit me to make one very minor correction. I am not a serving police officer, I am a retired officer now engaged in the business sector in a related industry, so your fears about my time spent distracted from policing are unfounded.I am fortunate that I have control of my own time so that any articles I may write do not adversely affect other activity.

You are quite right to point out that there is a lot wrong with policing. My efforts focus on raising public awareness about such issues, in an effort to stimulate sensible debate.

As a former serving officer, I can confirm that the job did, and no doubt still does contain elements of selfishhness, laziness, greed, intolerance, bigotry and arrogance. Speaking from first hand experience, I can honestly say that the majority of colleagues were honourable, sensible people, committed to providing the best possible public service.

The police bloggers, from my knowledge of them, are out there doing the job within the difficult contraints imposed upon them, to the best of their ability. They comment frequently about topics that prevent them from delvering the service the public tell them they actually want.

Reform is needed badly within the police service, and that is why most police bloggers write.

The selfishhness, laziness, greed, intolerance, bigotry and arrogance of which you speak is most evident in the upper echelons of policing.

That is where the real problem lies and must be rooted out and reformed if the front line are to have a better example to follow. That, and the negative effects of senior officer and political influence is where my attention and efforts are focused.

The front line is far from perfect. However, the many thousands of good and even great acts of police work do not make good headlines whereas the negative elements are rarely missed.

Bad cops of any rank should be kicked out. There are not many that would argue with that. But there is a danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Some misinformed comments detract from the bigger, more important objective of removing the real obstructions to the best quality of policing the tax payers money can buy.

Yes, I will defend the front line masses from unwarranted, ill informed vitriolic attacks. By the same token, I will not shy away from expressing carefully thought out fair criticism where, in my humble opinion, I believe it is warranted.

Freedom of expression is a right. So is censorship by the authors of sites such as this one. The author may moderate and veto content if he so wishes. That is what the moderate button is for. It his his train set.

I am aware that your comments have been blocked by numerous sites across the internet. Each site owner will have their own reasons for this. Perhaps you should create your own site where you would experience no such censorship.

Hogdayafternoon said...

Killer piece of work, Analyst. I look forward, in the best traditions of academic debate, to a well researched and crafted counter-argument - Roger Graef, Tank Waddington, Scruton or Ray Bull? maybe?

Crime Analyst said...

Thanks for that Hoggie

Fingers crossed it might help the cause somehow.

TWINING said...

I can't open the document.

Crime Analyst said...

Hi T

Just tried both links, the one in the article and the one in the "view our reports" sidebar and both worked ok.

It is a heavy document so you may have to wait a few seconds for it to load.

If you have any problems, paste this source link into your browser line and hit return

http://www.theftprotect.co.uk/library/articles/TooManyPoliceChiefs%202010.pdf

Let me know if you have any difficulty

ATB - Steve

Retired Sgt said...

My old force is cutting the number of civs employed on front desk duties-where there were 3 there will now be 2 "FTE"-this means that most police statons will now be open only during 9/5 Mon-Fri.The force claims this will save them £200K over 5 years.
In the next breath they are looking to appoint a SECOND ACC at 90K pa plus expenses and "benefits"-so that will cost the taxpayer an extra 500K plus over 5 years.Wait i haave an idea that could save taxpayers 300K and provide a better service at the coal face....

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