Non-Subscriber Extract
Thousands of UK officers 'freed up' in radical policing review
By Eve Pertile
07 February 2008
The Home Secretary's senior police adviser has claimed he knows how to cut enough unnecessary bureaucracy in the service to release the equivalent of 3,000 officers per year back on to frontline operational duties.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said between four to six million hours could be saved each year by streamlining the stop and account process, crime recording, the criminal justice process and better use of mobile technology.
This, he said, would mean the equivalent of 2,000 to 3,000 officers re-focused on frontline duties from these four areas alone.
However, Sir Ronnie also said the police service would not be making the most effective use of its resources if police officer numbers were sustained at their current record level.
In a final draft of his policing review, seen by Police Review ahead of the final report being published, Sir Ronnie said the number of officers needed should be a 'balance between the risks we face, and ensuring that we do not have officers forming large standing armies for the majority of the time, deployed only if there is a major incident'.