Too many police chiefs? - A review of police strength and costs in England & Wales 2010

BACKGROUND - POLICE CHIEFS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A force of “robots”

The result of the centralisation of policing practice is police officers who do not use discretion. This has been amplified by the centralisation of operational decisions and technological changes – people now interact with the police by phone, not in person. Force Control Rooms determine the location and response of police on the beat, directing them to the crime scenes which are deemed the most important. But this strategy has transferred management of uniformed patrol officers from police Basic Command Units (BCUs) to civilian control room operators. The result is that BCU Commanders have no real control over the deployment of their patrol staff.

This has led to the creation of a dependency culture amongst patrol officers who now just go where they are told. The prestige and power of junior managers such as Sergeants has been reduced to that of a highly-paid Constable. The proliferation of “civilians” in these areas has further implications. After the Metropolitan Police centralised operations into three control rooms, staff have refused to stay once their hours are up, even if there is an large-scale emergency in progress.

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