Most people are under the impression that police officers are responsible for policing the UK. So presumably when ConDem minsters get the idea of privatising ‘back-up’ staff, it’ll make little difference to front-line policing?
Wrong. In fact it couldn’t be further from the truth. Most of the ‘front-line’ work is undertaken by people who are not police officers.
Unite reps at West Midlands Police, whose members are under threat of privatisation, give the example of a situation all too common throughout the UK at weekends.
A pub licensee calls the police to a fight. A controller will take the call and then pass the message to a member of staff in the appropriate police station. That person will assess the urgency and seriousness of the incident and dispatch the appropriate number of police – the first time in this case that officers are involved.
If the incident involves a serious assault, the police officers will contact the controller and ask for ‘scene of crime’ personnel to secure the immediate vicinity, none of whom will be police officers.
If the victim of an assault dies, forensic specialists will also be required – all so- called back-up staff. If someone is arrested, non-police detention personnel will guard them.
The people who are overwhelmingly involved in that example are not officers at all, but they are critical to policing. As one Unite rep at West Midlands police remarked, “We are often involved in life or death situations and we make decisions on resources.”
Police staff include: scenes of crimes officers, call takers and dispatchers, sex offender managers, detention officers, front office personnel, police community support officers, drugs referral workers, arrest referral officers, and firearms licensing staff. And they look after witnesses who may be the subject of violence.
So hardly work for private sector organisations aiming to minimise costs and maximise profits rather than conduct such
sensitive and potentially dangerous roles with precision and care.
Up for grabs Yet Chris Sims, chief constable of the West Midlands police service – the second biggest in the country after the Met – disagrees.
Along with Surrey police chief constable Lynne Owens, Sims is planning to launch a dangerous experiment which could see up to 90 per cent of police work privatised. “Everything apart from the power of arrest is up for grabs,” according to Unite reps. It is by far and away the largest privatisation of police work ever attempted.
Together the contracts are worth £1.5bn over seven years, rising to a possible £3.5bn depending on how many other forces get involved.
A ‘bidders’ conference’ took place earlier this year attended by 120 delegates, many of them from other police forces. Dozens of companies are expected to bid.
Among the firms expressing an interest is G4S. One of the private security group’s founding organisations was Group 4 – the company which routinely mislaid cash- filled security vans and dangerous prisoners. As part of their work, police staff have access to confidential personal information about members of the public stored on police computers, say reps.
All have been vetted and security-cleared because of the sensitivity of the material on the system, which includes the names of anonymous informants who might become the victims of violence.
Files on anti-terrorist and other undercover operations can also be accessed. Reps point out that this could all end up in the wrong hands.
Police staff have to adhere to a high standard of behaviour in their private lives. They can face disciplinary action for committing quite minor offences and they are the subject of family and financial checks.
The highly controversial privatisation plans are being opposed tooth and nail by Unite. The union’s lawyers are investigating the
17 uniteWORKS July/August 2012
possibility of legal action to prevent the whole process and industrial action has not been ruled out.
Members of the Commons home affairs committee – most of them Tories and Lib Dems – were contemptuous of the experiment having heard the attempts by Mr Sims and Ms Owens to explain it.
In a savagely-worded report last month the MPs said, “The committee is not convinced that Surrey and West Midlands Police fully understand, or are fully able to articulate, the process they are undertaking.” Rarely has a Commons committee been so dismissive of senior police officers.
The experiment could have a massive impact on Unite members’ terms and conditions and on their union rights. There is deep concern that the national agreement setting out minimum standards would be scrapped.
And West Midlands police staff in particular bring an extremely high degree of dedication to their jobs. Amazingly around half the Special Constabulary in the region are members of ‘civilian’ police staff.
The introduction of the profit motive will hit at the very heart of such a strong and highly unusual relationship.
An independent survey conducted for Unite found that six in 10 people would be less likely to report a crime if they knew a private company was in charge of their personal data.
Unite’s new film, Police Privatisation 999, already seen by thousands on youtube, shines the light on the dangers of bringing a profits-first ethos to the police service. To watch it, visit
http://youtu.be/XFcnraGjBpI
But after mounting pressure from Unite, Surrey and West Midlands police forces recently announced that they were delaying the privatisation plans until after the Olympics, when they would hold a public consultation.
Such consultation is clearly needed. Unite’s survey also revealed nearly 80 per cent of people didn’t realise their
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36