Too many police chiefs? - A review of police strength and costs in England & Wales 2010
SUMMARY OBSERVATIONS - ACPO - The Association of Police Officers
•
Scrutinising the continuing value of 349 ACPO officers & 3,408 SMT Ranks, demanding that forces prove beyond doubt, the need for so many Chiefs drawing such a disproportionate percentage of the total staffing cost, both in numbers engaged and the bonus payments that are shrouded in secrecy.
Sir Hugh’s second argument is that voters can’t be trusted. In an unbelievably patronising statement, he claimed that there are “no votes in protecting people from terrorism, from organised crime and from serial rapists that cross the country”. We wonder whether he really believes this, or whether his true concern is that voters might want the police to spend more time on protecting property and less on encouraging diversity.
Either way, while Sir Hugh might have some support among the top brass – those ambitious Chief Officers who, during 13 years of Labour, were promoted because they seemed to believe that the primary purpose of the police was to promote equality – he is not especially representative of the broad mass of police officers, who joined up in order to be crime fighters, not social workers or La- bour activists.
Sir Hugh’s offer to resign should be politely accepted by any incoming Conservative Home Secretary. The same goes for any other Chief Constable who believes that the public cannot be trusted to have a say in how they behave. The sooner we clear the inveterate quangocrats out of policing, the better for everyone.
Sir Hugh complained that the police would become "politicised", yet the group over which he presides has spent years behaving in a quasi-political way, making statements intended to support this government policy or undermine that one. Established in 1948, ACPO – a private company funded by the Home Office together with contributions from police authorities – plays a key role in the formulation of public policy on criminal justice. Yet it is totally unaccountable for what it does. ACPO - rank officers can be found at Home Office press conferences and their comments are often helpfully attached to government press releases. They are up to their necks in politics. Indeed, Sir Hugh's intervention is itself overtly political. So it is a bit rich for him to complain about the politicisation of the police.
MERGING FORCES
Sir Hugh Orde criticises the lack of leadership over this issue, saying: "There is no political enthusiasm whatsoever to even raise this at a discussion level."
53
Chapter 5
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 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111