Monthly Archives: October 2012

Police Crime Commissioners – #PCC = ???

November the 15th will soon be upon us and I’m starting to think that the initials PCC should actually stand for Policing Community Conundrum, as opposed to Police & Crime Commissioner…

On that date we will see the first ever elections for 41 new Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), people who we will elect across England and Wales (except London) to give us the public a say about how our police perform. (You can read more about PCCs at the Home Office website).

Perhaps the PCC proposal is actually more to do with what Rt.Hon Theresa May MP told senior police officers when she became Home Secretary? She wanted them to be “crystal clear” that the “mission” of the service was “to cut crime, no more and no less”.

Anyone with even the remotest understanding of police work should know; police officers in reality spend the vast majority of their time and effort dealing with matters and incidents that are not “crime” per se. They are called upon by the public, and their similarly cash strapped ‘partner’ agencies, to deal with anything and everything, whether or not that task actually falls within a policing remit. Most police officers care about providing a service that helps and protects the public they serve.

The police are (were) a ‘can do’ organisation. It’s one of the underlying reasons why the police once enjoyed the high levels of public support they did in the past however; continued government drives that have focused on little more than enforcement, as opposed to providing assistance and service, are responsible for destroying that public support. It has been instrumental in creating that widening rift which now exists between our police and the public.

Police and Crime Commissioners will ensure community needs are met as effectively as possible and will improve local relationships through building confidence and trust…(One Team Policing)

The above statement is all well and good but the introduction of PCCs will also have major consequences for the fundamentals of British Policing. If you listen to the ConDem Government, all of those impacts will be good ones. Conversely, when you listen to others, both commentators external to the process and several who work within the service, many aren’t totally convinced or enamoured about the proposals.

Cameron has created a mechanism that will ensure forces can never be rationalised or reformed, while the police gain a tireless “democratic” advocate demanding ever more manpower and money, despite no close correlation between police resources and crime rates…(Polly Toynbee)

But what is the point of all this continual focus upon crime, again? Crime statistics (for what they’re worth) suggest that offending is falling, additionally many ‘experts’ in the field of Criminal Justice system also say that prison doesn’t work. In reality, most answers to crime and policing from politicians are little more than smart straplines or soundbite rhetoric. As Polly Toynbee pointed out in her article, “Cameron shows he’s also addicted to the quick fix of tough talk.”

David Gilbertson QPM, former Deputy Assistant Commissioner to the Metropolitan Police, former HM Assistant Inspector of Constabulary at the Home Office and author of The Strange Death of Constable George Dixon wrote on the subject recently:-

Recent history shows us that party political loyalties and operational policing do not mix… Sadly, the reality of the electoral process for the first generation of commissioners shows every sign of turning into a slow motion car crash…(the-platform.org.uk)

Mark Botham, Chairman of the North Yorkshire Police Federation Joint Branch Board has clearly outlined an official stance on many of the PCC issues. Mark has also raised some pertinent and very important questions in his blog which require urgent answers.

…there remain some unanswered questions which the public should have answers to from all candidates…(Mark Botham)

Several of Mark’s comments have been seen by some as sitting on the fence however; as Mark and his colleagues have to work with whoever is subsequently elected, it’s right for him to be diplomatic in his stance and open to the opinion of others (irrespective of his own personal views). He is considering his organisational position for any future negotiations he may be required to enter into on behalf of the officers he represents.

That said, Mark’s ‘official’ views can (simplistically) be summarised in the question - will PCC appointments risk politicising the police service, or is it a good way of dealing with lack lustre Chief Officer performance? This is also the main area of debate that many question.

Several articles by Jon Harvey, a leadership and organisational development practitioner, published in the Guardian Public Leaders Network have also raised numerous questions about the PCC role, including some of those already mentioned;

Ten questions for potential police and crime commissioners (30-Jan-2012) – Directly elected PCCs are intended to hold the police to account. Some questions for the candidates.
Police and crime commissioners: 13 more questions (13-Jun-2012) – How will new police and crime commissioners be accountable and what will they do from day-to-day.
Police and crime commissioners: six pre-election questions (23-Oct-2012) – From candidates’ credentials to budgets and outsourcing, six more questions for police and crime commissioners

In addition to all this controversy and argument about the role it is suggested that; PCC elections, along with the creation of associated Crime Panels in each corresponding area, are also designed to make savings in the public money being spent on the governance and accountability of policing. If that is correct, why does it appear the proposals are unlikely to achieve many (if any) of those proclaimed savings?

New crime panels being set up across the region will contain up to 70 per cent of the members of the police authorities they were designed to abolish, with critics condemning the controversial policy as an unnecessary waste of tens of millions of pounds…(yorkshirepost.co.uk)

As recently as this week the Prime Minister and policing minister Damian Green have both spoke publicly about the New Landscape of Policing, something the Home Affairs Select Committee also reported upon (see here).

If you want more tough policing, you can get it. If you want coppers who are on the beat, on your street, cracking down on antisocial behaviour, focusing on the things you care about, then don’t just talk about it, get out on 15 November and vote for it…(Rt.Hon. David Cameron, Prime Minister)

As the PCC election process is now something of a done deal, Cameron’s rallying call to the electorate although partly valid and required is in my opinion, too little too late. It is little more than rhetorical and simplistic hot air. A collection of words cleverly designed to appeal to an electorate showing waning support for him and/or his government.

That electorate is rightly concerned about policing and crime issues, even when they don’t really understand them. As is probably also the case with many of the prospective candidates. Is it any wonder that the police officers are worried too?

The thought that law enforcement decisions in this county will be influenced by a prospective candidates bed time and unhindered by current UK legislation is of great amusement to me. It probably won’t be quite so funny when he can’t deliver, and the bitching and blame-games start…(Inspector Gadget)

The electorate are the people who can’t understand why their government and the police appear to be failing them so often. Failing to effectively combat all the issues that they are fearful of, despite contrived public satisfaction surveys. Fearful of the issues that have a negative impact upon their lives, even if they’ve never been a victim.

In my opinion the creation of PCCs and Crime Panels (in isolation) will never cure any of the fears and concerns that many people hold. But despite many of those ‘fears’ being genuine, they’re also largely unjustified. Not only that but they are interpretations of reallity which are usually compounded (if not originally created), by manipulated statistics and the sensationalism employed in our nation’s media reporting methods.

In short; a PCC is a waste of time, a waste of public money and won’t deliver as intended. But as ever with political sollutions, you’ll have to wait for at least three and a half years (but probably longer) before I can sit all smug again saying – I told you so!

Clashes with elected police commissioners ‘inevitable’ (thetimes.co.uk)
Elected police commissioners should be given greater powers according to think tank (express.co.uk)
Former Met boss Sir Ian Blair tells people not to vote in elections for police and crime commissioners (independent.co.uk)
Police elections leaflets posted (bbc.co.uk)
Does Britain need cop commissioners? (thesun.co.uk)

Posted in Government, Local Authorities, Our Society, Police, Politics, Yorkshire

Angling: Time for some #CrabtreeKit

Oct 23

Posted by Dave Hasney

The other day I had that unfortunately rare opportunity to go fishing but I didn’t. What stopped me I hear you ask? Well mostly time and inclination, I didn’t have a full day available and if I’m totally honest, I really couldn’t be bothered to load all my gear into the car. At this point I was reminded of how simple angling once was and still can and should be today…

Thinking about that simplicity, there can be few anglers brought up in the 50s and 60s who weren’t influenced by Mr. Crabtree, the cartoon character created by Bernard Venables. Crabtree was the reason why I and so many other kids headed off to the riverbank, in search of their very own specimen fish, even if that ‘whopper’ only turned out to be a Gudgeon!

Many anglers today amass so much kit and tackle now, almost becoming tackle ‘collectors’ as opposed to ‘users’ of that tackle to catch their fish. Most of that ‘collection’ is transported to the bankside, often with great strain and effort, for each and every fishing trip, even if most of it is never used but why?

I can partly understand the requirement to set up your piscatorial base station on a randomly drawn peg when participating in a match. I can also get my head around a barrow load of gear, along with your chosen creature comforts, when setting up camp for a weekend big Carp session. In both cases you are stuck to one spot, you’re probably remote from any source of replenishment, or it’s forbidden by match rules. Therefore, to achieve your aim you need to try to cover all eventualities. But is there any need for all this during casual pleasure sessions, especially when river fishing? I don’t think so.

Venables believed that “merely to fish is not to be a fisherman – a fisherman requires a sensitivity to beauty and to the living world.” He also considered the intrinsic philosophy of angling to be a personal affair, developed and nurtured as the fisherman grows and matures.

I make a very close link between our belonging here and the will to fish. There is no natural medium in which the sense of life on earth is more evident than in water . . . Most of the things which are least pleasant about life now are the things which are most antithetical to fishing – Bernard Venables

Venables’ philosophy may have been a little out of step with the signs and developments of modern angling, probably even more so as time passes, however he observed with some disquiet; “fishing isn’t just an absorbing and delightful sport, but also an escape from the cares of modern life and a calm to the soul.”

Perhaps many anglers have lost sight of this simplicity or worse, believe that vast expenditure will bring the enjoyment and results? We may live in times where money can buy you most things however; to rely on that ethos looses the point of the process and satisfaction of the event. I don’t know about other anglers but I still find that I’m normally happiest when Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr. Crabtree.

I have to admit I can also be something of a tackle geek from time-to-time however; I still find enjoyment in the simplicity of angling. I have tackle for most disciplines, coarse, game and sea but like Venables, I don’t really have that much time for the commercialisation, competitiveness and obsession with technical gadgetry which has become such an integral part of many people’s fishing today. Perhaps its time to try to simplify things a little?

It’s time for what I’m going to call my Crabtree Kit, a small selection of easily transportable tackle that will hopefully cover most, if not all, of my coarse fishing requirements. The idea was partly inspired, out of necessity and by my long time fishing pall Alex. Last year whilst fishing, we both concluded that we had lost sight of angling simplicity.

He and I aren’t getting any younger and we both suffer with back problems, but the reasoning mostly came from the words already written above. What we needed was a modern but perhaps more technical version of the old rod, reel, creel and a packet of sandwiches approach, so synonymous with our early fishing years but hopefully still just as simple.

Time to get the thinking cap on and see what existing gear can be utilised. I also need to work out what new gear (if any) needs purchasing and when that’s done, I’ll be back with a post on the contents of my Crabtree Kit. Until then Tight Lines!

Just another Crabtree Kid (bankbabble.wordpress.com)
Obituary: Bernard Venables, Angler, Artist, Writer 1907-2001 (guardian.co.uk)

Posted in Angling, Bankside Bubbles, Hobbies & Interests

British Policing: A Crime In Progress!

Oct 22

Posted by Dave Hasney

As regular readers will know, I’ve banged on about Crime Statistics and Target Driven performance management in policing for what seems like an eternity now. The worrying fact is that I’m not the only one but moreover, those observations are still falling on deaf ears…

For some time The Thin Blue Line has been explaining how books are ‘cooked’ within the crime recording process and how the gaming still continues. The TBL site has produced a useful set of resources in their series of reports on the subject.

A recent article by Inspector Simon Guilfoyle also looked at the effect of numerical targets in public services, with a particular focus on the police in the UK. For those who don’t wish to read over 6,000 words, that article can be summarised as follows:

Priorities are important.
Performance measurement when done properly is useful.
Numerical targets are bad.

Simon has previously pointed out in his blog that; policing is not alone in the public sector with its use of flawed performance measurements and spurious target driven process.

As more of Simon’s ilk become firmly ensconced within the service could the politicians (and senior officers) finally be starting to squirm a bit?

I doubt it, even people like Simon are being ignored, a factor I find strange and worrying in itself. For Simon is one of the ’new breed’ of police officers, the type that is academically qualified and intellectually sound. These are the exact traits or ’virtues’ that our senior officers and political masters have apparently been hankering after for so long.

Despite the raft of evidence based comment from experienced policing practitioners available for all to see, our politicians (and some police leaders) prefer not to listen to us. Why aren’t the politicians listening to the type of “educationally superior” officers that they so obviously crave (see here)? They won’t because unfortunately for the government, many of the observations and concerns being voiced don’t fit their personal and political agenda.

I (and many others) agree that some changes in British policing may be long overdue (see here), but many of those changes currently being implemented have been enforced by ‘observers’ from outside the policing process. I also understand that any external examination of a process can be a good thing when trying to improve a system however; those external to a process rarely have a full and true understanding or comprehension about all the real internal processes involved in that system.

Whilst there are some within policing who have been angered about all the personal impacts of austerity enforced change, as with the pensions and/or conditions of service for individual officers however; there are also just as many (if not more) intelligent and well-educated individuals who are concerned about the impacts of these changes upon our society.

They are concerned how things will impact upon the service delivery of policing. The impacts that will affect our society as a whole, as opposed to just thinking about the financial aspects impacting upon their personal life as police officers, or how they will impact upon the financial future and security for their families.

Whilst we continue to allow all this partly irreparable but mostly political damage to our police service I have to ask; will British policing ever regain the respect and status that it once held in the world? I doubt it?