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People are going to be asked to elect Police Commissioners in England and Wales for the first time in November this year. This is a remarkable change in how the Police are run in this country and we are told it is to make the Police more accountable to the people they serve.
Of course the Police always need to improve the way they operate but I believe that these new Commissioners will cause as many problems as they solve.
It is possible that that any new Commissioner will dutifully seek the views of all local residents and then go about making sure the Police deliver what the pubic want of them but the reality is that the Commissioners are most likely to be Party politicians chasing the votes of their own core voters because few independent candidates will have the resources to run a successful campaign.
A Party politician will want to appeal to his or her party supporters and will want to make sure the Police operate to suit their need to win elections - it is possible or probable that the Commissioners will be aiming to serve only parts of the community - not the whole of it.
Before anyone says that the Commissioners will not have influence on day to day policing - that senior Police Officers are persons of firm resolve and integrity - should remember what influence media bosses have had over the decision making of senior officers in the Metropolitan Police. Then remember that the Commissioners will be able to sack the Chief Officer and will set the priorities for the area, and set a budget. Surely any Chief Officer will be very careful to tell his or her Officers and staff to operate in a way that pleases his or her boss! They will remember what happened to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair under Boris Johnson.
Are people living in areas known for voting for the other Parties going to get the same service from Police - there must be some doubt about this? People - usually the poorer and less articulate - who do not vote at all, will stand even less chance of getting a good service (though to be fair that is often the case now). Those with loudest voices will always do better - those that vote for the 'right' Party will do better still.
We can also expect more 'policing by soundbite' than before. One particular prospective candidate has already said that he wants Police to be 'rat catchers' and not 'social workers'. Which of our fellow citizens are going to be the rats? What social work is he talking about - is it the safeguarding of vulnerable young girls who run away from home he wants to cut back on because that does occupy a lot of Police time? As we have learned recently Police and other services should be spending more time looking after these most vulnerable of people not less.
Getting officers 'back on the beat' will always be a popular idea with the voters - who can blame them - it would be nice to see an Officer patrolling our street every time we step out of the door - but there are too few Officers to do that now - and that's before the current cuts kick in. Be aware of promises made on this topic - the new boss will want the Constables in back offices out walking the beat but there aren't many of them left in offices now. Then there are the specialist squads - yes you can lose a few of those but then when some major investigation goes wrong because of a lack of expertise - who will be blamed then - never mind that justice and the public good will be ill served.
We should also be very worried if we have a prospective Commissioner standing on matters like illegal immigration - promising crack downs. The Police could be directed to stop more people from visible ethnic minorities (they won't be clamping down on Canadian and Australian overstayers of course) - but most of those stopped will be legally here and it will just cause more problems for ethnic groups who are already disengaged and disillusioned with the Police.
I am not saying that nothing can be done to improve policing - there is always room for improvement in any organisation but the Police are part of the justice system - they are the gatekeepers to it and it matters what they do and how they do it. People's lives can be altered for ever on decisions made by police if it puts them into the criminal justice system.
Communities can feel better protected or more neglected depending on the decisions of Police chiefs. Making these decisions subject to the need to chase votes will bring as many problems as cures. It is difficult to see who wanted this change - but we should certainly be careful what we wish for.
I think the desire for an elected political police chief reflects the policitical bodies desire for closer oversight of the police because the political body doesn't trust them. And the political body dont trust them because the master the police serve is not the politicians but the power elite, and the power elite in our country is the crown.
Personal ambitions usurp fairness over there
At present, once an officer of ACPO rank is in place it is extremely hard to get rid of them for poor performance.
With an elected Police Chief we, the voters, would be able to vote them in or out of office based on how they performed in office and served us.
The selection would not be held in a dark committee room by a select few, as at present, but by the populace, the people, who the Police Chief must serve to remain in position.
The elected Police Chief stands alone, regardless of his/her party or politics, they can be judged and will judged by the electorate on achievement and removed for failure.
If they say one thing then do another, they will not be able to claim, it was party policy or a committee led decision.
If this does come to pass then a new crime with a punishment of either life imprisonment or at least loss of all pension and salary and thats using the police to snoop or smear political opponents.
Legalized bribery of the police by governments should be a crime too ref the miners strike.
A phone call from a central control point, manned by an 'arm' of the government, probably even outside the reach of the Home Office, will direct the policy of whichever area force may need a reminder of who is in charge.
Who will then be directing that 'control centre'? A strike at a pharma plant may well result in a pharma industry head to head which culminates in directives to sort out the strike, all well and good if this means a decent negotiated end result ensues, but what if the directive pressurises the Force to stir up the strikers as happened under Thatcher versus the miners in '83?
Will the boys in blue follow orders that conflict with their moral duty to the citizenry?
At the moment it is unclear who drives the police agenda, with the watch committee often saying it is sidelined and the CC is acting on direction from Westminster.
Yet another serious reason for open policing, with full exposure of just where their orders come from.
Now is the time to make sure the cops are not hijacked in the same way other public operations have been.
Commisioners, will they be like Managers in the NHS?, one big chief & not enough indains?.
Because of CUTS to the Policing budget, off duty Police Officers marched BUT the Government say they Will Not Back Track?, "WHY WON'T THEY BACK TRACK"?, is it because Brussels laid down the Laws?. Anyway can anyone tell me who is running this Country?, we have always expereinced cut backs but if Off Duty Police Officer Marching, Alarm bells should be ringing?.