Policing in the 21st century: The Police Debate - Part 3 of 5 - Have Your Voice Heard

HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD

We have been invited to participate in the debate process for police reform via the police debate group on Linked In. As this is our link to the site, the reader may join Linked In to access the debate. Alternatively, to make participation easier, we will be posting the consultation questions in the key areas asked by the Home Office over a five part series of articles.

We have all witnessed the ACPO betrayal of the rank and file troops with leaking of the "Secret Document" this week. We followed our first article on this subject with "The Case Against ACPO", providing further evidence supporting the growing argument that these questions are too important to be left to ACPO alone and that the front line troops must have their voices heard.

On these pages and on other sites, here and here, we will be posting the consultation questions, collating the responses (anonymous is ok), and presenting them to the panel for inclusion within the debate. We believe the panel should recognise and include the Police Federation in the debate process now, so protecting the interests and presenting the views of the rank and file. The Federation should not be an afterthought, left to fight over policies and strategies already forced home by ACPO. ACPO are the managerial and strategic presence, the Federation should be empowered to stand alongside them in these early stages so that the most balanced and fair outcomes are arrived at.

In the meantime, this is your chance to let the panel know your views about the crucial reforms being considered in UK policing. Either on here, on the other sites we have linked above or directly via the Linked In debate pages, let us know your thoughts and experiences.

The debate process is in five parts, each of which contain a series on consultation questions. To see the consultation questions under each section, click the links below, each of which has been allocated a seperate posting from these pages. From time to time, we will post our own responses and those from other contributors from other sites.

1. Policing in the 21st Century: "The Challenge"

2. Policing in the 21st Century: "Increasing democratic accountability"

3. Policing in the 21st Century: "Removing bureaucratic accountability"

4. Policing in the 21st Century: "A national framework for efficient local policing"

5. Policing in the 21st Century: "Tackling crime together"

So, let's now look at number 3 Policing in the 21st Century: "Removing bureaucratic accountability"

The Home Office consultation paper sets out proposals to tackle the bureaucratic burden on police officers. It asks (in summary):

1. What are examples of unnecessary bureaucracy within police forces, and how can these be removed?

2. How should forces ensure efficient provision of information to local communities?
3. What information should HMIC use to support a more proportionate approach to their 'public facing performance role', while reducing burdens and avoiding de-facto targets?
4. How can ACPO change the culture of the police service to move away from compliance with detailed guidance to the use of professional judgement within a clear framework based around outcomes?
5. How can we share knowledge about policing techniques that cut crime without creating endless guidance?

• We would be keen to hear views on whether the removal of targets and pledges makes a difference if the statistics still need to be collected and performance compared on report cards.

• Will it take the removal of the central performance management machinery to really give back discretion to the police?


What are your views?

WANT TO SEE ALL THE CONSULTATION QUESTIONS - CLICK HERE