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I’m not the only one who says they’ve got it all wrong!

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For some time I have been vociferous in my condemnation of the way in which policing is managed. Some have suggested that I may have some particular axe to grind, or I hold some hatred of senior police officers however, nothing could be further from the truth.

My sole desire has always and will always be; the drive for effective policing for the communities being served. It is what we all deserve, it’s the reason I joined the service and, it should be what we all demand.

And, to prove I hold no general disdain of, or malice towards, those of senior rank, past or present, it was interesting to read a piece on Facebook today by a past Deputy Chief Constable of mine.

Peter Walker, a previous Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police appears to agree with many of the points I have raised previously. The main difference being, he generally views the things that anger me from a more strategic viewpoint. That said, he also appears to hold a desire to see the correct delivery of policing across our county. A service that should be delivered for the benefit of the county and it’s communities, not for the enhancement of some senior officers’ CV or to promote a few local politicians.

Peter Walker says: IT’S TIME PEOPLE REMEMBERED WHAT THE IDEA WAS…

The front page of the Darlington & Stockton Times this week (Richmondshire & Hambleton) describes North Yorkshire Police as “hitting back” at claims from the Country Land & Business Association (CLA) concerning the lack of police response to metal thefts.

The CLA describes the Police response as “usually non-existent”. In turn a “North Yorkshire Police spokesman” says how seriously the force regards the problem. I tend to lose count of how many times such responses are given by the force – whatever the problem, it is being taken “seriously”. That’s OK then. Perceived criticism has been answered, we all move on.

Those of us who keep an eye on policing issues locally can, however, detect a trend.

There are about 150 fewer Police Officers in North Yorkshire and the City of York than a couple of years ago and the North Yorkshire Police Authority‘s financial plan envisages this reduction continuing over the next few years to the point where only 1270 Police Officer posts will exist. The last time the force was made up of 1270 officers was the mid 1970′s.

At that time, North Yorkshire didn’t just have three television channels and transistor radios playing the Bay City Rollers – the population was far fewer, roads were less congested, pubs closed at ten thirty during the week.

The culture was different in society – people didn’t see a life on benefits as acceptable, courts sent Burglars to jail, a sense of personal responsibility balanced the rights of individuals more effectively than today.

These (and other) societal issues reduced the demands on the police in themselves, but the massive increase in bureaucracy, the “target culture” of the last Government and the proliferation of “back office” jobs in policing hadn’t happened either.

It follows that to try and deal with 21st century policing without a critical mass of police officers in the force will lead to depletion of the patrol and detective workforce – to the extent that significant parts of both the city and county will suffer a severe reduction in the delivery of visible, interventionist policing that is necessary to prevent public order offences in the street and in the present context, opportunist crime – particularly in rural areas.

Given the North Yorkshire Police Authority has increased its own budget by some half a million pounds over the past few years whilst police officer reductions have been taking place, one has to wonder whether it has the maintenance of the number of officers at heart. It needs to be clearly understood that in this period of austerity, whilst budgets have been reduced, decisions about the numbers of police are not being taken by Government – these are local decisions, the allocation of the budget for policing North Yorkshire and the City of York is not set in Whitehall, but at the Police Authority office in Melmerby.

Locally, the reductions in police officers are not being matched proportionally in terms of the support staff who maintain the bureaucratic machine. At the same time, I understand that little or no effort is being made to reduce the time spent filling in forms – indeed, new ones have been introduced!

Whilst the CLA’s campaign is to support changes in the law relating to Scrap Metal Dealers, that is a matter for Parliament and the Government are on the case.

In the meantime, opportunist crime in both urban and rural areas is best interdicted by visible policing – Police Officers, with effective powers of arrest, operating with the confidence that when they stop people, reinforcements are nearby. Well trained, properly equipped, intolerant of criminality at any level – and benefiting from the enormous support and intelligence this community will give them willingly, if they only have time away from the police station to find out!

It is essential that the right issues are given priority when spending is being allocated by the Police Authority. The easiest way to do this may be to remember the idea is to deliver effective and efficient policing in North Yorkshire and the City of York – not the best Project Management or being renowned for great HR Policies. Police Officers are the number one priority.

Cut the bureaucrats – not the cops!

Succinct and to the point Peter… Being one of those who has watched and commented on the performance, or lack of it, and the sunshine PR rhetoric of the force, I have to agree with Peter. The strategic direction of policing, particularly (but not exclusively) in North Yorkshire, has lost direction. They appear to have lost sight of what policing is all about. But, it is the leadership and budget management that is failing the process, not the workforce failing the community they serve.

Decisions, of a strategic nature, can only be made effectively when those making them are supplied with accurate and factual information.

The problem often lies within middle management failing to explain to senior management how things actually are. In addition, many have no stomach to admit to their failings, especially to those in positions they aspire to…”All’s OK Sir, I’ve got it under control” when clearly too often they haven’t.

Many priorities in the police service have been skewed (and lost) by the self-important methods of those who actually manage the service. They have little or no real interest in policing per se, only their own career advancement!

Posted in Police, Yorkshire

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Tags: North Yorkshire, North Yorkshire Police, Police, Police authority, Police officer

Reality behind the spin

May 24

Posted by Dave Hasney

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In recent weeks it has become painfully obvious to many; the recent restructuring of police command and control facilities within North Yorkshire Police had absolutely nothing to do with operational efficiency. The whole process (despite the spin) was cleverly and systematically engineered simply to save money. Some would argue that financial issues form a major part of efficiency so it should be commended however; what of the human cost and perhaps just as important if not more so, what are impacts upon the community of North Yorkshire and the safety of those officers who serve them?

Already, in stark contradiction to all the previous rhetoric about falling crime across the country, and the associated ‘feel good stories’ churned out by police PR departments, designed in the main to show the public how good the managers are, we are starting to see an alarming increase in crime across the county…

Crime rising throughout North Yorkshire in the first five months of this year compared to the same period in 2010 seeing increases of more than 15 per cent in Harrogate, 13 per cent in Selby and six per cent in York, and a force-wide rise of nearly six per cent. (MinsterFM)

No body likes to take the smug route and say “I told you so” however; Mark Botham, Chairman of the local branch of the Police Federation has said;

“Cuts of this magnitude are criminal and, despite the very best efforts of police officers, will undoubtedly lead to a poorer service for the residents and businesses in North Yorkshire.”

With many of the proposals put in place by the beleaguered Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell, a great deal of the negative impacts were actually foreseen by the practitioners however; managers and the police authority chose not to listen whilst the public in many respects, have actually been lied to again. And all that before you even start to consider the impacts upon those staff made redundant, or having to work through the mismanaged mess.

Given that a greater number of staff actually applied for voluntary redundancy than the force (reportedly) envisaged or expected, many would consider it strange how the force has already been interviewing prospective staff to fill vacant positions. When you consider the financial issues it’s not as odd as it may originally appear. Most of those already dispensed with (or due to go) were at the higher levels of salary structure for their role. When the lions share of your anual expenditure is people costs, replacing those individuals (eventually) with new recruits realises an immediate financial saving in the region of £5-10k per individual. How smart is that? Even better if you can dispense with all that experience and knowledge and still convince the public there will be no impact upon service. It’s the same methodology that has recently been applied to police officers under Reg. A19 of the Police Regulations; get rid of the expensive ones and replace them with cheaper ones!

Many of those who have left / are leaving are also those who are expected to train and tutor new recruits ergo; poorly trained new staff working with others of limited experience equals poorer levels of service to the public. The extra workload placed upon those inexperienced staff will also have a negative impact upon the whole call handling process. Get ready for longer call waiting times and inaccurate and/or unreliable advice being offered to the public. The previously built-in redundancy factor of two control rooms provided an element of systems resilience. Now any failure within the system has the propensity to be even more catastrophic than previously. All failures within these systems can (and do) have major impacts upon officer safety, let alone service delivery to the public. But hey, it’s ok, the Chief has promised he can do more with less!

The cuts we are witnessing, despite all the political and police chief spin, are impacting upon both officer visibility, availability and their support structures. The reality of decreasing standards in service delivery means; we the public of North Yorkshire are the ultimate victims in all this!