Non-Subscriber Extract
UK inspectors are becoming 'human wrecks', claims Federation
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| 30 January 2001 |
SENIOR investigating officers are dealing with an average of 14 cases each, according to a member of the Met Federation. Dick Slade, the Met Federation's CID representative for inspectors, said last week: 'They have no hope whatsoever of being fully in control of these cases. As the SIO is totally responsible for the conduct of each investigation, they are becoming human wrecks; working an average of 50-60 hours a week.'
Mr Slade said there were 38 SIOs in London, 32 of which were detective chief inspectors with overall responsibility for 481 cases. 'One officer involved in an Operation Trident shooting has 23 other cases to deal with,' said Mr Slade. 'He is a temporary DCI who has been turned down for promotion and 18 of the 24 cases he is dealing with are murders.' Mr Slade was among a delegation of 22 officers from the Met Federation and the City of London Federation attending Parliament last week to lobby London MPs on the problems facing the inspecting ranks.
David Moore, chairman of the Met Federation's Inspectors' Branch Board, coordinated the event. He said: 'In London, we have lost 422 members of the inspecting ranks since 1993. On night duty… there are just 34 inspectors working on the boroughs compared to 62 inspectors who used to cover the old divisions.' Mr Moore said that the reduction in inspectors had enabled the force to make a saving of £20 million in terms of wages. He said that nationally, reductions in the inspecting ranks had continued and 'between March and September last year, another 70 inspectors were lost in England and Wales'.
Last week's lobby is part of the national Federation's on-going campaign to increase the number of inspectors. Commenting on the campaign, Paul Rabbeth, chairman of the national Federation's Inspectors' committee, said: 'The sleeping giant is gradually waking up to the situation. Inspecting ranks know they have to do something. It is getting to the stage where it is damaging the police service.' A Met spokesperson said: 'This is a matter for the Federation, but the commissioner has made no secret that he is fighting for a better pay deal for officers of all ranks in London.'
'Modernisation
is the key'
Police Minister Charles Clarke has a message for the readers of Police
Review: the police service, he says, must modernise to keep pace with
rapid changes in society. Reform of some of its oldest institutions, the
way it is operated and even the way the pay and conditions of its 124,000
officers are negotiated is necessary, he says, to enable the service to
keep pace with these changes. Modernisation, he explains, is the key.
Mr Clarke says we live in 'very challenging and rapidly changing times'
and that 'technological change and social change is happening at a rate
which is much, much faster than was ever the case during our parent's
generations'. And it is the police, he adds, 'who have the really tough
job of dealing with the problems that society throws up'.
He says that whether these changes impact on family structures, economic
conditions, health issues or cause social alienation, the police 'end
up with the toughest job of all'. 'I want to send out two messages to
the police officers who are facing that process of change,' says Mr Clarke.
'Firstly, we want to help officers face those changes and deal with them
in partnership with other agencies so they don't have to do it on their
own. That's the whole meaning of the Crime and Disorder Act.
'Secondly, the police themselves must look at the way they operate and
how they can deal with this rapidly changing society in a way that reflects
the strongest traditions of the force, but which is also applied in a
modern context. That's what we are doing through the police reform process.
There's no threat to anyone: it's about getting things right. The reforms
are founded on strengthening the individual police constable who has an
important constitutional role to play in society.
'There is lots of controversy concerning what we are doing, and people
might be worried about the changes we are looking at. There will always
be arguments about police numbers and police resources floating around
this. But partnership and modernisation are our principles.'
Mr Clarke is referring to the controversy around reforms which include
changes to the Police Negotiating Board and the Police Advisory Board.
The national Federation says these reforms may have the effect of circumventing
and undermining regulations which cover officers' pay and conditions.
The changes, according to the Association of Police Authorities, relate
to the internal processes of the PNB and PAB, with additional powers for
the Home Secretary to consider issues and set deadlines. According to
the APA, the actual impact of the reforms 'will depend on the extent to
which ministers use these new powers'.
The PNB is the negotiating forum for issues concerning police pay and
conditions. Any agreements which the PNB reaches are put forward to the
Home Secretary for ratification. The PNB's remit covers hours of duty,
leave, pay and allowances, and pensions. The PAB advises the Home Secretary
on general issues concerning police ranks, qualifications, appointments
and promotion, probation, retirement, and conduct.
But does Mr Clarke really want to see a radical overhaul of the PNB and
PAB? 'I certainly don't want to sweep away the PNB/PAB process, but I
do want to reform it,' he says. 'It's an important reassurance for the
police who have a "no right to strike position" that they do
have a proper process by which their concerns can be properly addressed.
But I do want to sweep away the confrontational approach. I am making
a distinction between the processes and systems that I do think are necessary
and an approach that I think is based on rather sterile "them and
us" negotiations. There will always be "them and us" situations
ñ employee relations always has an a element of this to it ñ
but the more cooperation and consensus building there is the better, as
far as I'm concerned.'
A Home Office consultation paper is currently gauging opinion on how the
PNB/PAB process can be made more efficient. 'We have a great deal of consensus
around that,' says Mr Clarke. 'I hope we will be implementing the changes
very shortly to get to a more effective way of operating. I think police
officers up and down the country want to see a negotiating procedure that
takes its decisions both fairly, and also rapidly and effectively... Officers
are looking for quick decisions on things that effect their lives, and
reasonably so. It's in the interests of individual officers, forces as
a whole and the Government that these decisions are rapidly determined,
and I'm in favour of having a system that gets those decisions taken quickly,
rather than having them drawn out.'
At a seminar chaired by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, at Lancaster House
in early September, Mr Clarke said the police service was involved in
discussing an 'open agenda' to look at 'where the force is going in the
future'. 'We are trying to proceed with a consensus, and we don't want
to pick any fights with anyone within the police service,' he says. 'There
have been various discussion groups looking at this and they will report
at the follow-up seminar on [Tuesday] where we'll see what progress has
been made. It's very much police-led... It's not a question of politicians,
civil servants or anyone else saying "this is what you should do"...
It's about key issues such as how we develop leadership and deployment
for the police in the most effective way; how we improve performance and
provide reassurance for the community; and how we use IT and science in
the most effective way.'
The national Federation says the Lancaster House seminars mark an attempt
by ministers to push through 'back-door reforms' which 'pose a threat
to the institutions which underpin our security and terms and conditions
of service'. They have now walked out of the talks.
Mr Clarke says there is 'nothing back-door' about the seminars and he
says he is 'very, very disappointed' at the Police Federation's decision
to boycott the talks. 'Their executive decided by a very narrow majority
not to participate in that process. I think it's very foolish for the
Police Federation to take that view because I think any organisation that
seeks to represent its members, benefits from being part of discussions
that are taking place... I have said in explicit terms to the Police Federation
on a number of occasions that I wish to consult with them at all times
in this process. I do believe that their decision not to take part is...
positively against the interests of police officers in this country.'
But Mr Clarke stresses that 'the door is always open' for the Police Federation
to return to the talks. 'I want them to be part of the process,' he says.
'Like everyone else they have been invited to the follow-up meeting on
[Tuesday]. I hope they will come.'
The Airwave radio project remains very much at the top of the IT and communications
agenda, and Mr Clarke is adamant that the system must be adopted by all
forces in England and Wales. He rejects calls from West Yorkshire Police
to boycott the new system. 'The service already has a problem with 43
different IT systems and 43 different communication systems,' he says.
'At the moment the whole system works on the basis that criminals organise
themselves on police authority boundaries. I think this is absolutely
batty. It's absolutely intolerable if a force won't acknowledge this and
it won't be permitted. The fundamental question is: are we going to have
one system for the whole country or 43 different systems? The unequivocal
answer to that is: we are going to have one system.'
So will forces be compelled to sign up to Airwave? 'Yes, we will compel
them,' says Mr Clarke. 'Every force in the country will come in. I've
had these discussions [regarding not signing-up to Airwave] with West
Yorkshire and I think their position is completely ridiculous and is unacceptable.
I don't respect their position in any way. We have said we would much
prefer to introduce the system on a consensual basis, but if the force
refuses to join, we will require them to do so. We have the legal powers
under secondary legislation to do it and we will do it.'
High visibility and single crewing, says Mr Clarke, will also form part
of the debate about how to modernise the service. 'I think the way to
approach high-visibility policing is by a whole number of means, including
targeted patrolling and local police stations... I don't think there's
an answer that is the same for every part of the country. The view of
the police thus far has been that these matters have to be decided operationally:
by the chief constables, at [basic command unit] level and at a far lower
level by officers in charge of beats. I think that's right. I don't think
it's a question of saying that the same solution can apply to the Yorkshire
Moors as it does to inner-city Hackney.
'What I do say,' he continues, 'is that it is an obligation for every
force to address the issue of how visibility can be achieved in every
part of the country. We are discussing precisely how to make progress
in those areas. One of the things that has been put forward is single
[crewing] and that is something we are certainly considering.'
And what about the number of bobbies on the beat? Mr Clarke argues that
the 15,000 people who have expressed an interest in joining the police
service since the launch of the Government's national police recruitment
campaign in August can be sustained over the longer term. 'The whole purpose
of our recruitment campaign has been to raise the profile of, and respect
for, policing as a profession: to emphasis the very tough responsibilities
which police officers bear and to try and convey, in what I think is a
stark and effective way, the commitment that police officers have to make
to go into that profession.'
While he says most forces are not experiencing a recruitment crisis, Mr
Clarke admits that 'in some forces there is a very serious recruitment
issue'. And while he says he has been delighted by the commitment and
quality of the recruits coming through, he admits more must be done to
attract women and people from the ethnic minorities into the service.
Julie Spence, the president of the British Association of Women Police,
recently told Police Review that the number of women who have expressed
an interest in joining the service since the launch of the recruitment
campaign was still not good enough. Mr Clarke says: 'Julie Spence is right:
we do need to do more to recruit more women police officers. But it's
not just a question of expressions of interest; it's also about who we
then appoint to the forces. I think you'll find from those who are appointed
that there is a higher proportion of women than has been the case in the
past.'
Mr Clarke believes the 'the strength of the relationship between the police
and community' is vital for getting more ethnic minority recruits into
the force. 'Strong and positive relationships lead to young people from
our communities wanting to have a profession in the police,' he says.
'I think that's more important than advertising with role models of various
descriptions. The stronger those relationships are, the less there'll
be the kinds of problems of people despairing when they come into the
force.'
The modernisation of the service is also central to getting in more ethnic
minority recruits, believes Mr Clarke. 'The more forces themselves look
at the way they operate and the way they can create an environment where
everyone can be effective as a police officer, the better that will be,'
he says. 'When it comes to ethnic minority recruitment, advertising is
not the answer.'
Reality is also crucial, he says, to the effectiveness of the 'Could you
police?' advertisements which have fronted the current recruitment drive.
'Advertising campaigns or public relations campaigns can never succeed
unless they are based on reality. But it's a question of 'what is the
reality?' I think the reality of policing has not been sufficiently understood
by the population as a whole. So what we have been trying to do is explain
what policing is about.'
Although he believes that the police have a tough job, Mr Clarke no longer
agrees that police officers are in an embattled position taking the brunt
of criticism about the changes in society he talks about. 'I understand
what has been said about police being in an embattled position, and I
think there are possibly one or two cases where that is still true, but
I don't think it's the case across the service as a whole.'
And he says that comments made by senior police figures which indicate
that officers feel in an embattled position over institutionalised racism
are also misplaced. 'I have seen what Glen Smyth, the chair of the Met
Federation, has said about this and I don't accept his rhetoric... Of
course the process of change is difficult but I've been struck by the
extent to which we've been prepared to make these changes. I think Glen
Smyth is making some of his arguments in very much a PR-way and is not
reflecting the real situation on the ground.'
Mr Clarke admits that 'we won't change the attitudes of society to policing
overnight with the recruitment campaign' and that he 'wouldn't expect
it to do so'. But while he recognises that more work needs to be done
to bring in recruits from all backgrounds, he says the service is now
'making steady progress' towards reversing a 10-year decline in police
numbers. Home Office figures for the six-month period to September 30
reveal total officer strength at 124,163 ñ a fall of just seven
officers on the previous six-month period. 'There are those people who
say we should be much faster and other people who say, "it's all
hopeless". I don't accept either of these views,' he says. 'I think
we should just make steady progress. I don't accept these councils of
despair.'