In South Yorkshire the chief constable seems to be backtracking publicly in the face of the row about changes he is proposing to neighbourhood policing teams. This is likely to be the first of many such rows as police forces struggle to find the savings necessary with a 20 per cent cut in funding.
For me the most worrying aspect of his proposals, however, is that they suggest that dealing with the public could be an ‘added extra’ for police officers. We must never let this idea take root again. It is clear that he suggested that police community support officers should be ‘rebranded’ as local beat officers and that they should be the ‘first line of contact’ for the public. Furthermore, he suggested that regular police officers would be grouped into so-called ‘taskable teams’ available to deal with more serious incidents. This sounds very much to me as if the role of interacting with the public is being effectively downgraded and that police officers will be retreating from the streets to play a reactive role rather than to be a consistent proactive presence.
The delivery of neighbourhood policing teams across the country was a major achievement of the last government. The PCSOs introduced in David Blunkett’s reforms are a key part in these teams – and have massively improved the visibility and reassurance provided by policing – but they are not the whole team. I want PCSOs to have greater status and more powers. I worked closely with Unison while I was home secretary on this. Furthermore, I argued often with the Police Federation about their ill-advised denigration of the PCSOs who they rely on to provide the visibility and reassurance that they could never manage alone. Paradoxically one of the arguments used by the chief constable of South Yorkshire for his changes is the need to respond to severe budget pressures. But those cuts have actually reduced the numbers of PCSOs across the country proportionately more with a 5.5 per cent reduction in the last year compared to the 4.2 per cent reduction in the number of police officers. There’s no easy solution to cuts in substituting PCSOs for police officers.
And it would downgrade the significance of neighbourhood policing in a wholly unacceptable way. The role of the neighbourhood police officer is an immensely important one. Understanding the undercurrents of potential crime and disorder in a neighbourhood; recognising local people’s concerns and priorities; gathering and understanding how to use intelligence and information; monitoring persistent offenders; representing the police force and negotiating with other community partners and local people – all of these roles need experienced and trained police officers. This role should be seen as one of the most prestigious and best rewarded in policing – surely it is the epitome of being on the ‘frontline’.
Tackling crime and maintaining order certainly needs officers with specialist skills of investigation and detection, public order, firearms and more. But to police with consent in the modern world; to gain the intelligence necessary to detect crime, to ensure that the witnesses are willing to come forward to ensure prosecutions – all of these require skilled officers in touch with local communities as the leading members of neighbourhood policing teams. Retreating from our neighbourhoods will be disastrous for policing and for the public they are there to protect.
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Jacqui Smith is former home secretary and writes the Monday Politics column for Progress
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South Yorkshire Police’s rebranding of PCSOs would have significantly changed the style of policing in this country, a style that has been much admired and copied the world over.
More dangerous than this though is the work of Surrey & West Midlands Police Forces for they are actively engaged with the private sector to take on aspects of front line policing such as neighbourhood patrol & crime investigation. This would create policing for shareholders not the public.
Add to all this Tom Winsor’s fixation with fitness testing to the level in the PSNI and the future is clear. Police officers will be the equivalent of the CRS in France with the “softer” elements being performed by PCSOs (until they are privatised or outsourced) or by private security companies.
Be warned, this government is privatising policing by stealth, without a transparent public debate.
The prospect of PCSO’s becoming a second tier of policing has always been there and I am suprised it has taken so long before someone has put that into practice. However the real issue has to be the one raised above-privatisation. Where is the public debate on this. They rant when they dont get the service they expect, yet fail to challenge senior police managers when they tinker with the service. We may police by consent in this country but we also reorganise by stealth.
Agree with much of this & wrte about it last monnth in a piece that I wrote for Police Magazine http://www.polfed.org/mediacenter/B59039803C244BE89A86516AE20F317B.asp
The branding of ‘ community policing ‘ began in Devon and Cornwall in the 1970’s. Although it was hardly a new concept, it was a reaction to the reactive panda car policing which had developed at the time and which estranged the police officer from the public. Neighbourhood teams were not invented by the labour party but by John Alderson, then the Chief Constable. He was laughed at for his foresight, but history has proven that it is this style of policing which people primarily want in their own communities. The problem is that no matter how you rebrand them, PCSOs are not Police Officers. They are uniform wearing police imposters who despite their best intentions are not trained or sufficiently skilled to do the job of a Police Officer. Most of them are Police wannabees. Give them the full Police powers and the replacement of the community Police Officer would be complete. They would need lots more training and would suddenly be thrust into many more situations than they have to face at the moment. They would need to learn the law, powers of arrest, statement taking skills, interview skills etc etc etc. They would also become the only front line and the creation of two tier policing would then be complete. Police Officers being distant from the public and the PCSO being the poorly paid front line. Job done! PCSOs however have industrial rights unlike Police Officers. What will the government do when the monster created by them goes on strike, because through natural wastage there won’t be any Police Officers there to fill the void.