THE FINAL REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC REVIEW OF POLICING IN ENGLAND AND WALES

A NEW MODE
OF PROTECTION
Redesigning policing and public
safety for the 21st century

Chaired by Sir Michael Barber,

commissioned and conducted
by the Police Foundation

March 2022
A NEW MODE OF PROTECTION
REDESIGNING POLICING AND
PUBLIC SAFETY FOR THE
21ST CENTURY
THE FINAL REPORT OF THE
STRATEGIC REVIEW OF POLICING
IN ENGLAND AND WALES

MARCH 2022

About the Strategic Review of Policing

in England and Wales
Launched by the Police Foundation in September 2019, the Strategic
Review of Policing in England and Wales set out to examine how crime,
fear of crime and other threats to public safety are changing and assess
the ability of the police to meet these challenges, as part of a wider
strategic response. This far-reaching independent review, the first of
its kind in many years, was chaired by Sir Michael Barber and guided
by an Advisory Board of former senior police officers, politicians and
leading academics. The overall aim of the Review was to set a long-term
strategic vision for English and Welsh policing. This concluding report
presents substantial recommendations for a modern police service
capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

More information about the Review can be found at:

https://www.policingreview.org.uk

The Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales was generously

funded by CGI, the City of London Corporation, the Dawes Trust,
Deloitte and Mark43.

About the Police Foundation

The Police Foundation is the only independent think tank focused
exclusively on improving policing and developing knowledge and
understanding of policing and crime reduction. Its mission is to
generate evidence and develop ideas which deliver better policing and
a safer society. It does this by producing trusted, impartial research
and by working with the police and their partners to create change.

This report was written on behalf of the Strategic Review of Policing

in England and Wales by Rick Muir, Andy Higgins, Ruth Halkon and
Stephen Walcott with contributions from Sir Bill Jeffrey.
ii A new mode of protection
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 4

Foreword 5
A crisis of confidence 5

Summary 9
Part I. The challenge 9
Part II. Policing in a system 10
Part III. Capabilities 12
Part IV. Organisation 17

1. Introduction: a new mode of protection 24

1.1 The aims of the review 24
1.2 How we worked 25
1.3 Structure of the report 27
1.4 Next steps 28

PART I: THE CHALLENGE 29

2. Public safety and security in the 2020s and 2030s 31

2.1 The traditional crime drop 31
2.2 Technological change 33
2.3 Environmental change 34
2.4 Social change 35
2.5 Organised crime groups are exploiting these changes 40
2.6 Public security 41
2.7 Conclusion 44

3. Police performance 45
3.1 Crime detection 45
3.2 Victim satisfaction 48
3.3 Public confidence and perceptions of local policing 49
3.4 Responding to calls for assistance 51
3.5 Policing under pressure 52
3.6 Conclusion 53

PART II: POLICING IN A SYSTEM 55

4. The public safety system 57

4.1 What is a public safety system? 57
4.2 The case for a systemic approach to prevention 58
4.3 Safety systems in other sectors 61
4.4 The characteristics of the public safety system 62
4.5 Conclusion 67

Contents 1
5. The role of the police 69
5.1 The core role of the police 69
5.2 The core functions of the police 73
5.3 A new Statement of Mission and Values 77

PART III: CAPABILITIES 79

6. Legitimacy 81
6.1 Policing with the public 81
6.2 The drivers of police legitimacy 84
6.3 Community policing: building trust and connection locally 87
6.4 Reducing reliance on stop and search 88
6.5 Trust and legitimacy in the digital age 93
6.6 Conduct 94
6.7 Workforce diversity 96
6.8 Conclusion 101

7. Skills and technology 102

7.1 Skills 102
7.2 Technology 107

8. Learning and development 109

8.1 Initial police training 109
8.2 Continuous professional development 110
8.3 Embedding evidence and knowledge-based practice 112
8.4 Conclusion 114

9. Wellbeing 115
9.1 Understanding police workforce wellbeing 115
9.2 The causes of poor wellbeing in the police workforce 117
9.3. Improving workforce wellbeing 118
9.4. Conclusion 119

10. Leadership 120

10.1 The characteristics of police leadership 120
10.2 Problems in police leadership 121
10.3 Strengthening police leadership 122

PART IV: ORGANISATION 125

11. Structure 127

11.1 How we got here 127
11.2 The current structure 128
11.3 The importance of a strong local dimension in policing 128
11.4 The case for change 129
11.5 A reallocation of functions and capabilities 136
11.6 Options for change 138
11.7 A stronger strategic centre 144
11.8 Conclusion 149

2 A new mode of protection

12. Governance 151
12.1 How we got to where we are now 151
12.2 The constitutional basis of the system 154
12.3 Police and Crime Commissioners 154
12.4 The Home Secretary 157
12.5 HMICFRS 158
12.6 The Independent Office for Police Conduct 159
12.7 The College of Policing 160
12.8 The national system of police governance 161
12.9 Conclusion 161

13. Funding 163

13.1 Principles 163
13.2 The existing funding system 163
13.3 Implications for the Review 164
13.4 A new funding model 166
13.5 The resourcing and public value implications of this Review 167
13.6 Conclusion 169

14. Conclusion: a critical juncture 170

References 172

Appendices 189

Contents 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sir Michael Barber and The Police Foundation would •  Professor Ian Loader, who (in addition to serving on
like to thank CGI, The City of London Corporation, the the Advisory Board) wrote an Insight Paper for the
Dawes Trust, Deloitte, and Mark43 for the generous Review on the police mission and purpose.
donations that have made this Review possible.
•  Dr John Coxhead of Loughborough university for
We would also like to express our gratitude to the partnering with us on an international seminar on
Review’s Advisory Board (listed in Appendix D) for the policing innovation, and all those who spoke at it.
time, expertise, wise council, robust feedback, and
•  Martin Hewitt, Dee Collins and Rachel Tuffin who
contributions to lively debate provided throughout our
spoke at the launch of the Review’s Phase One report.
research and deliberations. While the views expressed
in this report are those of Sir Michael and The Police •  All the speakers and participants in the Police
Foundation, the Advisory Board has made a profound Foundation’s 2021 Annual Conference on the future
contribution to our thinking and immeasurably improved police workforce, and contributors to our Leadership
this final product. Symposium, held in May 2021.

Many other people and organisations have shared •  The Scottish Institute of Policing Research and CGI
views, insights, and information with us over the last for partnering with us on a series of seminars with
two and a half years, either by responding to our police stakeholders in Scotland.
Calls for Evidence (listed in Appendix B), taking part in
•  DriveTech who, as part of this review, have supported
interviews (Appendix C), or during numerous meetings
a seminar and report on the future of roads policing.
and informal conversations. All deserve our thanks. In
particular we would like to acknowledge the assistance We are very grateful for the research assistance provide
provided by: by secondees and placement students from the Police
Now scheme, the UCL Crime Science degree course
•  Police officers and staff in Gwent, South Wales and
and, in particular, to Kitty Slater and Hsin-Yi Tseng
Warwickshire Police who hosted Sir Michael’s visits
(post-graduate students from Glasgow Universities
during the Review’s early phases.
Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies programme)
•  The Revolving Doors Agency who convened four who completed extended placements with the Police
focus groups for us, comprising citizens with lived Foundation during summer 2021.
experience of the criminal justice system, and those
This report was written by Rick Muir, Andy Higgins,
citizens for their candid and thoughtful reflections.
Ruth Halkon and Stephen Walcott of the Police
•  The Evidence and Insight Team at the London Foundation, with contributions from Sir Bill Jeffrey
Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, who made (the Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and
available unpublished data from their Public Attitude the Review’s Vice Chair) and with support from our
Survey. colleagues, in particular Catherine Saunders who
oversaw the production of this report and handled the
•  The National Police Chiefs’ Council Workforce Review’s communications. We would also like to thank
Coordinating Committee who shared their Godric Smith and Laura Voyle of Inc London for their
November 2021 Strategic Assessment of Workforce. support with our communications and media planning.

4 A new mode of protection

FOREWORD
the fact that the police response to many crimes such
A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE as burglary had become perfunctory; too often a crime
“The time is come,” Sir Robert Peel argued in the number is issued for insurance purposes but there is no
House of Commons in 1828, “when…we may fairly investigation.
pronounce that the country has outgrown her police
In addition, the world around policing is changing
institutions…” After a vigorous debate, the House of
dramatically, such that our police institutions are
Commons agreed with him, and the following year the
no longer a match for the challenges they face.
Metropolitan Police was established, ushering in a new
Globalisation and technology are currently transforming
era of policing in this country.
our economy and society as profoundly as the industrial
That new era was characterised by the development of revolution and urbanisation did in Peel’s time. Over
a distinctly British model of policing, one in which the 40 per cent of all crime is now fraud, most of which
work of the police depends not primarily on the use of is cyber-enabled. Yet we are tackling the crime and
power but on the trust, confidence and cooperation of disorder of the digital age with an analogue policing
the public. Sadly, almost two hundred years on, there is approach.
a crisis of public confidence in our police institutions.
Moreover, the police increasingly find themselves acting
as a public service of last resort, picking up the pieces
Policing under pressure
where other social services have failed. Mental health
This report finds that the percentage of people who related cases have increased by a quarter in recent
think that the police do a good or excellent job has years. I accompanied two police officers to a call out
been falling steadily in recent years. People report that related to a potentially violent youth; they knew the case
they are less likely than in the recent past to see police and the youth, they even knew his name. They also
officers walking the beat. In London even fewer people knew they would solve the immediate issue but, most
say they trust the police and think that the police will disturbingly, they knew the relevant social service would
treat them fairly. These signs of a deterioration in public not resolve the underlying problem and that a new call
confidence are, no doubt, linked in part to recent high- out sooner or later was inevitable.
profile cases of police misconduct. However, this report
reveals that there are also deeper, more long-standing Similarly missing persons calls are a regular occurrence.
reasons why our policing model no longer seems able Almost half of all young people in care go missing at
to meet the expectations of the public. least once and for some it is much more common. Of
course, it is important to track down missing persons
The public aren’t alone in losing confidence over but it is striking that the police spend three million
recent years. Many police officers have themselves investigation hours per year on these cases. That is
lost confidence. They work hard and desperately want the equivalent of 1,562 full time officers, all day, every
to serve the public to a high standard, but too often day; incredibly that is more police officer time than we
feel unable to. This is what I came to understand from currently allocate to police the whole of North Yorkshire.
my frontline visits where I met dedicated, hardworking
police officers who were frustrated at not always being The police picking up these cases often go far beyond
able to match people’s expectations. the call of duty. For example, two officers told me that
they returned a missing young man to his care home
The impact of austerity between 2010 and 2017 whereupon the home then asked them whether they
undoubtedly ate into the ability of the police to provide could drop him off at his parents’ place which was more
a decent service to the public. Unlike the NHS and than 100 miles away; they said the home didn’t have
schools, the police were not a protected service; over the transport available. The police officers took the boy
those years, police officer numbers fell from an all-time because they wanted to do the right thing by him; but is
high of 143,000 to 123,000. One result of this sharp fall this really what people pay the police precept for?
was the withdrawal of bobbies on the beat – community
policing in the jargon – so that citizens increasingly Despite the hard work and dedication of police officers
complained that they rarely saw police officers and felt and staff, these changes are testing the ability of
less safe, even abandoned, as a result. Compounding the police to deliver their core mission and public
the problem and leading to deep public frustration is confidence has been impacted as a result. Having set

Acknowledgements 5
out the challenges facing policing, this report calls for Third, it is vital that we strengthen local policing. All the
root and branch reform to our police service so that it evidence shows this is the best way to improve the
is able to meet the challenges of the future, provide a confidence of the public. We argue that police forces
decent service and secure the confidence of the public. should deploy a significant number of their new officers
to neighbourhood policing roles, focused on those
A plan to improve public safety and areas where trust and confidence are least.
modernise policing
Fourth, we need to equip police officers and staff with
We have consulted widely and analysed in depth the the tools to do the job. We clearly need more police
available data and research. We have engaged with a officers and the current uplift programme which is
brilliant advisory group who brought well-informed and providing 20,000 more has not come a moment too
diverse perspectives to bear. Matthew Syed argues that soon. Implementation is on track; across the country
“cognitive diversity” is vital to reaching good decisions police officers are being recruited and deployed and
– we have had cognitive diversity in spades; others will already making a difference.
judge how well we made use of it.
But there are major skills gaps that the uplift programme
We have examined trends beyond policing which may be is not currently addressing. There is, for example, a
relevant and sought to bring a fresh perspective to bear national shortage of almost 7,000 detectives; this is
from outside the tramlines of the traditional debates. a significant contributory factor to the often, shocking
Here I will highlight some of our most significant delays in investigating serious crimes such as rape.
recommendations. Specialist skills are required too in relation to, for
example, cyber and economic crime. To address these
First, public safety depends by no means solely on the gaps we recommend a pay supplement for detectives,
police and it would be much better, economically and greater use of direct entry schemes and more consistent
socially, to prevent crime from happening in the first career pathways for allied police professionals, in areas
place than to deal with it after the event. Yet our system like financial investigation, data science and digital
is designed to do the latter not the former. forensics. Policing needs to attract high quality skilled
professionals from other sectors and there should be no
To reverse this state of affairs, we need a radical shift
second-class treatment for those who want to contribute
to a more systemic preventative approach. To achieve
to policing but do not have a warrant card.
this we propose a new Crime Prevention Agency,
whose central task would be to ensure that crime was Our police officers and staff also need modern
significantly reduced through preventive efforts. The law technology to be able to do their work effectively.
that established the Agency would make it a legal duty
for large companies to take the prevention of crime into Yet police technology in general is woefully inadequate,
account in the design of their products and processes. as police officers and staff are well aware. The evidence
The Agency would have strong regulatory powers to is set out in our report; here let me point out just one
enforce this duty and to intervene in, or fine, companies devasting fact; the Police National Computer, on which
that neglected it. Given the shocking extent of fraud we rely daily for critical information about criminal
(and how little of it is ever effectively tackled) the Agency records, stolen vehicles and drivers’ licences, is forty-
should make a substantial reduction of fraud its central eight years old.
priority. Finally, we would significantly strengthen the strategic
Second, we need to considerably enhance our centre in our policing system. We propose a new Crime
capability to tackle cross border and serious and and Policing Strategy Unit within the Home Office that
organised crime, so much of which is beyond the grasp would seek to anticipate trends, identify patterns in
of local police forces. Too often those committing fraud crime and crime prevention and ensure that the Home
and cybercrime believe that they can act with impunity. Office was able to be proactive not just reactive.
This is why we propose a major strengthening of the The College of Policing should be given the task of
National Crime Agency (NCA). Regional serious and revolutionising police education to ensure it is dramatically
organised crime capabilities should be placed under the more effective than currently. It should also have powers to
control of the NCA, so that their funding is placed on a ensure that minimum professional standards are followed,
sound footing and efforts to tackle cross border crime that police IT systems are completely interoperable and
are coordinated by a body with a single priority and data is properly shared and that forces are addressing the
focus. skills gaps we have identified.

6 A new mode of protection

Conclusion citizens of all backgrounds and perspectives can lead
Over recent years, as a result of a number of high- their lives and pursue their aspirations without fear of
profile scandals, dramatic social, technological and crime or becoming its victims. The root-and-branch
economic changes and the effects of austerity up to reform agenda we have set out for policing in this report
2017, public confidence in the police has declined. Now shows how that can be done. What Sir Robert Peel
is the time to take the necessary steps to enable the said in 1828 applies again now. If we want to restore
police to tackle the challenges of the 21st century and public confidence and shift the odds in favour of the
to improve the confidence of the public. We can do that law-abiding citizen, we should not hesitate to usher in a
by building a public safety system designed to minimise new era in policing; “The time is come…”
crime (and the harm it does) in the first place and by Sir Michael Barber
equipping it to tackle crime successfully if, and when, it
does occur. Chair of the Strategic Review of Policing
in England and Wales
As a society we should have the confidence to believe
we can build a low-crime, low-harm society in which 8 March 2022

Foreword 7
8 A new mode of protection
SUMMARY
“The time is come when, from the increase in its population, the enlargement of its resources, and the multiplying
development of its energies, we may fairly pronounce that the country has outgrown her police institutions and
that the cheapest and safest course will be found in the introduction of a new mode of protection.”

Sir Robert Peel, 1828

1. INTRODUCTION storms, heat waves and heavy rainfall. By 2050 climate

change will force more than 143 million people in
The world around policing is changing as radically sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America
as the world in which Sir Robert Peel founded the from their homes, with significant consequences for
Metropolitan Police in 1829. It is in that context that the international migration. In the UK climate change is also
Police Foundation established the Strategic Review of generating an increase in political protest and the police
Policing in England and Wales, chaired by Sir Michael increasingly find themselves having to manage the
Barber. It is the first independent review of policing public order implications.
for many years and is intended to be as influential as
the last Royal Commission on the Police in 1962. This Another form of environmental change is the growing
final report from the Review is our attempt to describe risk of global pandemics. Population growth and
what kind of police service we will need to address the agricultural intensification increase the risk of viruses
challenges of the 21st century. transferring from animals to humans. Poverty, increased
population density and the ease of global travel also
mean that such viruses can spread very rapidly. The
PART I. THE CHALLENGE experience of the coronavirus pandemic has shown
how highly disruptive such events can be, with
2. PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY IN THE significant implications for policing and public safety.
2020s AND 2030s
Traditional crime (all crime except fraud and cybercrime) Social change
has fallen by 75 per cent since 1995. However, these We are living through a period of significant social
traditional forms of crime (burglary, car theft, low level change, characterised in part by the emergence of
assaults and so on) have been replaced by new forms more complex social needs. For example, there was a
of crime and harm. These have in turn been generated 28 per cent increase in mental health related incidents
by three transformations. between 2014 and 2018 across 26 forces. To provide
another example, police devote around three million
The technological revolution ‘investigation hours’ per year to missing persons
The technological revolution has created, via the reports, which is the equivalent of 1,562 full time police
internet, a whole new space in which crime and harm officers per year or the same number of police officers
take place. This has transformed the composition of required to police the whole of North Yorkshire.
crime. For example, in the year to June 2021 53 per
In recent years we have also seen growing demands for
cent of all crime affecting people in England and Wales
previously marginalised forms of violence, abuse and
was just fraud and cybercrime. Despite this we have a
exploitation to be taken seriously by the criminal justice
largely analogue police service in a digital world. Just
system. In particular, there has been increased reporting
0.6 per cent of frauds that are recorded, and just 0.1
of male violence and sexual abuse against women and
per cent of frauds that take place, result in a charge or
girls. For example, between 2016 and 2021 there was a
summons.
50 per cent increase in reported domestic abuse crime.
Between 2013 and 2021 there was a 240 per cent
Environmental crisis
increase in the numbers of rapes reported to the police.
Human activity is transforming the natural environment
in a way that poses new risks to public safety. Global Finally, new forms of social division and tension have
warming is leading to more frequent and more intense emerged creating demands on those charged with
extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, keeping the peace. The number of protest events
has risen steadily over the last decade, going from 83

Summary 9
in 2007 to 280 in 2016 and the number of protests 2020, while the proportion ‘not satisfied’ rose from 26
involving confrontational tactics increased from seven per cent to 34 per cent.
in 2000 to 126 in 2019. The number of hate crimes
Between 2016 and 2020 the proportion of people who
reported to the police in England and Wales rose by
say they have confidence in their local police fell from
194 per cent between 2012/13 and 2018/19. Terrorism
79 per cent to 74 per cent and the proportion saying
remains a serious threat and one that is made more
they thought the police did a good or excellent job fell
complex by the rise of so-called ‘lone actors’.
from 63 per cent to 55 per cent.

Organised crime The time it takes the police to attend a 999 call
Organised crime groups are profiting from each of these has also been getting longer, rising by 32 per cent
transformations, using more sophisticated technology between 2010 and 2018 from nine minutes to 13
to commit crimes and hide their gains, committing minutes on average.
widespread environmental crime and exploiting
vulnerable people with complex needs. Three challenges
This analysis of the future public safety challenges and
Public security recent police performance leads us to the following
How people experience crime and safety is important. three conclusions that shape the rest of the report:
If people feel unsafe then this is likely to have a major
•  The police face a capacity challenge: such is the
impact on their wellbeing. Before the pandemic there
range and complexity of public safety demand there
was an increase in those who thought crime was one of
is no way that the police on their own are able to
the biggest issues facing the country.
tackle it.
Fear of becoming a victim of crime is lower than it was
•  The police face a capability challenge: it is not
in the past but it is not experienced equally. Those on
just that the police lack sufficient resources to tackle
low incomes worry significantly more about crime than
these challenges, but also that the police service
those on high incomes, reflecting real differences in their
lacks many of the capabilities required to do so.
likelihood of becoming a victim. 13 per cent of women
have high levels of worry about violent crime, compared •  The police face an organisational challenge:
to just 4 per cent of men. 22 per cent of Asian people the police service needs a different organisational
and 21 per cent of Black people report high levels of platform so it can deliver the capabilities required to
worry about violent crime, compared to just 7 per cent meet the challenges we have described.
of White people.

3. POLICE PERFORMANCE PART II. POLICING IN A

How well is English and Welsh policing adapting to SYSTEM
a world reshaped by technological, environmental,
and social change? There are worrying signs of a There is no feasible strategy that addresses the range,
deterioration in the performance of the police service. volume and complexity of the public safety challenges
of the twenty first century through the work of the police
Detection rates have almost halved in the last seven alone. In this part of the report we propose a two-step
years: in the year to March 2021 only 9 per cent of all solution to this challenge. First, we need to design a
recorded police crime resulted in a charge or summons, whole system response to public safety that goes way
compared to 17 per cent in 2014. beyond the work of the police. Second, we need to be
much clearer about the role of the police within that
While there are multiple reasons for falling detection
system.
rates (for instance more stringent crime recording
practices and the impact of austerity), it is worrying
4. THE PUBLIC SAFETY SYSTEM
that more victims do not wish to proceed with
cases, potentially reflecting frustration with lengthy The police should be seen as just one part of a wider
investigations and court delays. societal response to crime and harm. What is required
is a broad social response to crime and harm based
The proportion of crime victims (excluding fraud victims) upon a more explicit and institutionally anchored public
who were ‘very satisfied’ with the police response safety system.
declined from 42 per cent in 2014 to 32 per cent in

10 A new mode of protection

A public safety system is a system of actors and
institutions whose aim is to promote safety and to
4. The government should review local
prevent harm. Note its aim is different to that of the and regional government structures with
justice system, whose purpose is to secure the just the explicit aim of promoting increased
treatment of offenders in the interests of society in public service collaboration to prevent
general and victims in particular. complex social problems. Such a review
should consider the benefits of a simplified
The case for prevention local governance framework, place-
based budgets, cross sector workforce
The general case for prevention makes intuitive sense.
It is better to stop a bad thing from happening in the
development, integrated delivery models
first place than to deal with the deleterious effects and how to improve data sharing locally.
afterwards. 5. The government should widen the remit
There is also a strong evidence base showing that
of the Violence Reduction Units to cover
preventative measures can reduce harm in a way that a wide range of local crime types. These
is superior to later interventions and achieves wider Crime Prevention Units should operate in
economic and social benefits. There is now strong every force area, led by a local Director
evidence that the drop in traditional crime described of Crime Prevention appointed by the
above was driven mainly by preventative security Police and Crime Commissioner. They
measures rather than by the actions of the police or the should focus on crime types where
courts. prevention activity is best designed across
a wider geographic area, such as modern
Despite this far too little is currently done to prevent slavery and county lines/serious violence.
crime and wider harm. Most of the state’s direct
Community Safety Partnerships should go
interventions to make the public safe are reactive rather
back to basics, focusing on volume crime
than preventative in nature.
and antisocial behaviour, and on those
The key reason why so many opportunities are currently areas where the police and local authority
missed to prevent crime and harm is that we lack a relationship is critical.
systemic approach to prevention. No one owns the
prevention task. 5. THE ROLE OF THE POLICE
We now consider a further solution to the limits on
To address this, we make the following
police capacity: to clarify the police role so that they
recommendations.
can focus on those tasks where their powers and
Recommendations competencies are most efficacious.

1. The government should produce a cross- We are clear that the police are not just crime fighters:
departmental Crime Prevention Strategy. 83 per cent of calls to police Command and Control
Centres do not result in a crime being recorded.
2. The government should establish a
new Crime Prevention Agency, with It is better to see the core role of the police as being to
responsibility for delivering the Crime resolve conflict and maintain order. They perform this
Prevention Strategy, developing role because of their status as officers of the law with a
monopoly on the legitimate use of force.
regulation and guidance, enforcing crime
prevention duties, developing national and We therefore define the core role of the police as being
international partnerships and relationships to promote public safety by maintaining order
in priority areas, communicating crime and upholding the law, which their unique powers
prevention advice to the public and horizon enable them to do, and to carry out other activities
scanning to identify emerging threats. which enable them to perform this core role
legitimately, effectively and with minimum reliance
3. There should a be new legal duty to
on those powers.
prevent crime which would apply to all
large private sector organisations, enforced To perform this core role we see the police as having
by the Crime Prevention Agency. the following functions:

Summary 11
1.  To respond to calls for help, repair harm and refer fairness and respectfulness, and their trust in police,
cases on to others who can provide support and from early 2020 onwards.
prevent reoccurrence.
•  When we look ahead to the environment in which
2.  To safeguard vulnerable people who they come police can reasonably expect to operate over
across in the course of their work. coming decades, there are good reasons to believe
that legitimacy will be both more challenging to
3.  To prevent crime and harm, either directly where their
sustain and more crucial to achieving public safety.
powers and skills are required or by referring cases,
issues or problems on to others who can help. Recommendations
4.  To investigate crime, disrupt criminal activity and
7. The Association of Police and Crime
bring offenders to justice.
Commissioners, the National Police Chiefs’
5.  To provide victims of crime access to justice and Council and the Home Office should make a
support. first-principle commitment to policing with
6.  To offer community policing that is visible, responsive legitimacy. They should recognise that this
and works with the community and other public is a crucial enabler of effective policing.
services to solve problems that are a concern for This should be expressed as a central
safety. component of a revised Statement of Mission
and Values. This commitment should be
Recommendation
backed up by a national plan for improving
6. In order to clarify the police role within police legitimacy. The other relevant
a changing and complex environment recommendations set out in this report
the Association of Police and Crime should form a part of that national plan.
Commissioners, the National Police Chiefs’
8. Efforts to build and sustain police legitimacy
Council and the Home Office should agree
need to be driven by better data and more
a new police service Statement of Mission
sophisticated analytics. Better data should
and Values.
also be used to drive accountability and
ensure legitimacy is prioritised when faced
PART III. CAPABILITIES with competing imperatives. The Home
Office should fund a substantial uplift in
The police service will require a number of systemic
the Office for National Statistics’ crime and
capabilities if it is to meet the challenges described
policing public survey programme. As
above. We discuss each of these in turn.
part of this a feasibility study should be
carried out into the creation of a ‘legitimacy
6. LEGITIMACY
index’ (potentially combining inspection
At the heart of the Peelian model of policing is the idea and survey-based inputs) to enable
that the police can only successfully carry out their work public scrutiny, performance monitoring
with the support and cooperation of the public. While and comparisons across time, area and
most people trust and have confidence in the police,
between population groups.
there are reasons to be concerned about the health of
police legitimacy: 9. The College of Policing should undertake a
•  People from Black and Mixed ethnic groups, programme to improve the quality of police
particularly those with Black Caribbean interactions with the public, drawing on
backgrounds, are much less likely than White people the principles of procedural justice and the
(and some other ethnic groups) to expect local existing evidence-base about ‘what works’.
police to treat them fairly, with respect, and to agree The programme should aim to both develop
that police can be trusted. knowledge and have sufficient resources
to deliver comprehensive officer and staff
•  In recent years police actions have been contested
training and support widespread practice
to a degree that has particularly tested the
change. Training in interpersonal skills
strength of the relationship between the police and
should be a minimum standard that all police
the public. Data from London shows a marked
forces are expected to meet.
deterioration in Londoners’ assessments of police

12 A new mode of protection

 We believe that the ability to stop and search with
10. As part of a commitment to inclusive public
reasonable suspicion is an important power that should
dialogue and opening the police up to
be available to the police. However, we believe that the
regular and ongoing challenge, Police current pattern of police stop and search use is not
and Crime Commisioners and Mayors justified. It represents a significant barrier to building
should invest in vehicles to promote public trust and confidence, particularly among Black people
participation in decision-making, such as who are disproportionately likely to be stopped and
citizens juries and assemblies. Opinion searched. We are particularly concerned about the use
surveys and elections every four years of Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order
are not sufficient to promote the kind of Act 1994, which is used even more disproportionately
ongoing dialogue that is required. against Black people and does not require an officer to
have reasonable suspicion.
In order to understand the practical implications of
prioritising legitimacy we looked at a number of areas of Recommendations
focus. Despite strong evidence that community policing is
highly effective at improving public confidence in the police,
12. The government’s Serious Violence
neighbourhood policing has been cut back significantly Strategy should be amended to reflect
since 2010. To address this we call for a strengthening of a three-strand commitment to 1. a
neighbourhood policing over the next decade. preventative public health approach,
2. targeted law enforcement activity
Recommendation (‘precision policing’) and 3. an explicit
commitment to legitimacy and working
11. The Home Office should ask police with communities. The last is lacking
forces to deliver a substantial uplift in from current strategies and emphasises
neighbourhood policing, designed a shift to problem solving, partnership
around the need to build and sustain and prevention from ‘blunt’ street level
police legitimacy, public confidence, and deterrence and enforcement.
community resilience. This should involve
deploying a significant proportion of the 13. The College of Policing should issue
additional officers recruited since 2019 into mandatory guidance in relation to stop and
neighbourhood policing. This provision search training. This would be based on
should be: the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme.
This should emphasise the importance
• Concentrated where legitimacy is most
of procedural justice and the need for
challenged.
searches to have strong grounds, including
• Assessed against the objectives of through being intelligence-led, and to align
improving legitimacy, confidence and with wider police priorities. Where a drugs
resilience. search leading to a ‘find’ and a charge
• Implemented in ways conducive to long- of possession would otherwise be made,
term local knowledge and relationship individuals should be consistently diverted
building. toward a social intervention and away from
• Accompanied by sufficient ‘organisational the criminal justice system.
transformation’ to align wider police
14. The Section 60 legislation should be
decision making with local insight,
changed to make clear that this is a
knowledge, and perspective.
power to be used only in extraordinary
• Designed with an emphasis on circumstances, where the police have
promoting local dialogue, deliberation, intelligence that a significant outbreak of
and to encourage broad-based public serious violence is likely to occur. The
involvement in local problem definition, authorisation should be made by a chief
prioritisation and solving. officer. The grounds for the decision
should be clearly communicated to the
public and the impact on police-community
relations considered.

Summary 13
We are living in a digital age and we must consider
17. The College of Policing should instigate
the implications of this change for police legitimacy
a programme of work to ensure that the
and public trust. It is unhelpful that public debate
around police use of technology tends to be polarised
Code of Ethics is deeply embedded into
between critics on the one side and the police acting police training, decision making and
as proponents on the other. It would be better for professional practice. This should include:
the police to subject proposed data and technology • Ensuring that the principles set out in the
initiatives to independent scrutiny. Code of Ethics are core components of all
leadership development programmes in
Recommendation
policing.
15. The Association of Police and Crime • Ensuring that ‘ethical health checks’ are a
Commissioners and the National Police standard part of police officer professional
Chiefs’ Council should establish an development.
independent National Commission for • Ensuring that reflective practice is used
Police Technology Ethics to consider and systematically to promote discussion of
advise on proposals for new technology the implications of the Code of Ethics for
projects. Police forces and law enforcement police decision making.
agencies should work with the Centre on a
18. The College of Policing should ensure
voluntary basis, but a public register of all
that police leadership development
police technology projects should be kept,
programmes are informed by the
indicating each project’s referral/approval
principles of organisational justice. These
status.
programmes should promote a model of
The work of the Commission should be police leadership that understands and
informed by 1. a standing Citizens Panel seeks to address the causes of perceived
on police use of technology, and 2. a unfairness within the workforce.
programme of research, commissioned
19. The Home Office should bring forward
by the College of Policing, to better
legislation to introduce an organisational
understand how police personnel make
duty of candour for police forces.
technologically augmented decisions.

The Commission should work with the Finally, having a more diverse workforce and one that
College of Policing to develop guidance is more representative of society is a key building block
around the proportionate use of intrusive of police legitimacy. At the current rate of progress it
technologies. This should be based on the will take another 20 years for England and Wales to
principle of minimal intrusion, with an ability achieve a representative workforce in terms of gender.
to escalate as circumstances demand. At current rates it will take another 58 years (until 2079)
for policing to achieve a workforce that is representative
Nothing is more corrosive of public trust in the police of England and Wales in terms of ethnicity (using the
than unethical, illegal and immoral conduct by police projected Black and Minority Ethnic population in 2050).
officers. To address this, we make a number of Recommendation
recommendations aimed at improving the misconduct
system and promoting a wider culture of integrity in 20. The government should develop a plan to
policing. improve workforce diversity, setting targets
for female and ethnic minority recruitment
Recommendations
for each police force. In order to facilitate
16. The Home Office should review the use of this the government should legislate to
independent chairs of police misconduct allow police forces to introduce time limited
hearings. Such a review should identify positive discrimination policies until such
whether the recent reforms have made it time as these targets are achieved.
harder to secure the dismissal of officers
found guilty of misconduct.

14 A new mode of protection

7. SKILLS AND TECHNOLOGY
Recommendations
Police officers and staff need the skills and
technological tools to enable them to perform their roles 24. Police forces, regional units and the National
successfully in the face of radically changing demand. Crime Agency should develop standing
arrangements with private sector companies
Future skills so that they can call in staff with high level
digital and financial expertise to work on
The future skills requirement can be broken down into
investigations under police direction.
three categories:
25. Digital intelligence and investigation
•  Relational skills required to manage complexity,
training should be incorporated into
respond to vulnerability, de-escalate social tension,
minimum professional standards regulated
and build and sustain public trust and confidence.
by the College of Policing.
•  Investigatory skills required to investigate
26. The College of Policing should strengthen
increasingly complex areas of crime;
career pathways for allied policing professions
•  Digital skills to operate effectively in a digital in areas such as data analysis/science, digital
environment. forensics and financial investigation.

Turning to relational skills first, while very many police 27. A national police workforce planning unit
officers have excellent people skills, current police should be established within the College of
training does not sufficiently emphasise communication Policing to project future demand, monitor
and interpersonal skills. current and future skill gaps and coordinate
a national response. The College should
Recommendation
have the power to require local forces to
21. The College of Policing should review the address emerging capability gaps and to
National Police Curriculum to increase cooperate with national recruitment and
focus on relational skills covering learning and development initiatives.
themes such as conflict management,
co-production, cultural competency, Technology
victim care, mental health, trauma and Policing is an information business and yet too often
neurodiversity awareness. Officers should police technology is outdated and cumbersome, causing
refresh these relational skills annually frustration to the officers and staff who use it, and letting
alongside officer safety training. They down the public who get a poorer service as a result. In 70
should be made part of a mandatory percent of forces less than half of officers are satisfied with
professional minimum standard regulated their current IT provision. The Police National Computer is
by the College of Policing. 48 years old and will soon be running on unsupportable
technology. The National Digital Strategy and the Police
There is a national shortage of detectives. In 2021 there Digital Service are steps in the right direction, but we need
were 6,851 fewer PIP 2 accredited investigators in post to build on the progress being made and go further.
than was required. These gaps are not being dealt with
Recommendations
through the current Uplift Programme.
28. The government should increase investment to
Recommendations enable a significant upgrade of police IT over
the course of the next two spending reviews.
22. A pay supplement should be introduced
to make detective roles a more attractive 29. English and Welsh policing needs a common
career choice for police officers. set of information and communications
technology (ICT) standards’ to be applied
23. All forces should introduce direct entry
across the country. These should be
detective programmes.
developed nationally and then mandated for
There is a pressing need to improve digital skills and adoption by the College of Policing, which
knowledge across the whole police workforce, both for would be given powers to direct Chief
generalist officers and for specialists. Constables in relation to IT.

Summary 15
 Policing should make greater use of research evidence,
30. The Home Office must prioritise the
scientific methods, and systematically acquired
modernisation of the Police National
knowledge to improve the effectiveness of its activities.
Computer and the Police National
Database. The major national police Recommendations
databases should be housed within the
34. The police service should further promote
College of Policing.
evidence-based practice:
8. LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT • The College of Policing should make
better use of mobile technology to
Police officers and staff need to continually develop and make targeted evidence-based practice
refresh their skills and knowledge to serve the public guidance available to frontline operational
effectively. However, between 2011/12 and 2017/18, personnel.
33 forces reduced their budgeted spending on training
• More police forces should establish
in real terms by a greater percentage than their overall
reduction in spending. 40 per cent of police officers
Evidence Based Policing Units to carry out
say they had not received necessary training to do their research, spread knowledge and promote
job well. The quality of the learning and development an evidence and knowledge based
provided for officers and staff needs to be considerably culture.
improved. We also need to take steps to ensure a • The College of Policing should expand
culture of professional development is inculcated. and accelerate its programme for
generating evidence-based practice
Recommendations
guidelines.
31. The Home Office should establish a • The College of Policing should set
Learning and Development Fund that would mandatory national minimum standards in
be used by the College of Policing to fund guideline areas that are high risk, where
police learning and development. In order the public expect consistency and where
to receive funding police forces would the evidence base is strong.
have to demonstrate that their training • Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
programmes meet standards set by the Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
College. (HMICFRS) should introduce a grading for
guideline compliance into the HMICFRS
32. There should be a minimum set of hours
PEEL police force inspection regime.
per year reserved for each officer’s
learning and development. This will be a
9. WELLBEING
national minimum standard that the College
Having a healthy and motivated workforce should be
of Policing will require police forces to fulfil.
seen as a strategic capability for policing. Between
33. The Home Office should introduce a 2010/11 and 2015/16 the number of officers on long-
Licence to Practise for police officers, term sick leave for physical and mental health reasons
administered by the College of Policing. increased by 14 per cent and the number of those off
The Licence to Practise ought to be sick for psychological illness alone increased by 35
renewed every five years, subject to per cent. 48 per cent of police officers say they have
an officer demonstrating professional low personal morale, compared to 29 per cent of army
development through achieving relevant soldiers. 64 per cent of officers and 55 per cent of staff
had experienced post traumatic stress symptoms.
qualifications, passing an interview or
presenting a portfolio of activities and Recommendations
achievements. Any police officer who
fails this assessment could receive further 35. All police officers and staff should be
support including mentoring. After provided with ongoing clinical support
successive failures they would have their throughout their careers. In practical terms
licence removed and would no longer be this means an annual (physical and mental)
able to practise as a police officer. health check and appropriate ongoing
occupational health support.

16 A new mode of protection

 36. The College of Policing should develop 38. The College of Policing should review
national standards to address unresolved police leadership selection processes and
trauma. This should include the use of should explore whether greater national
regular debriefing sessions. Training in regulation and oversight of these processes
mental resilience should become a core would improve fairness, transparency and
part of both initial police training and competition.
continuing professional development (CPD).
39. The appointment process for Chief
In addition, frontline supervisors should be
Constables should be reformed to increase
trained to recognise signs of trauma and
competition for these vital posts. While
support those who are struggling.
the Police and Crime Commissioner
should continue to make the appointment,
10. LEADERSHIP
they should do so from a short list of
Effective leadership at all levels is a critical condition for
candidates drawn up by a national Senior
enabling policing to meet the public safety demands of
Appointments Board constituted from
the future. There are very many excellent leaders at all
among the relevant national bodies. That
levels of the police service, but everyone in a leadership
Board would have a responsibility, working
role, whatever their rank, deserves the support and
with the College of Policing to actively
development to be the best they can be.
identify suitable applicants.
Recommendations

37. The College of Policing should establish PART IV. ORGANISATION

a Police Leadership Centre which would
have the following responsibilities: 11. STRUCTURE
• To promote the learning and development Appraising the current structure
of police leaders at all levels, from The main benefit of the existing 43 force structure is
Sergeants to Chief Constables. that it provides a strong local dimension in our policing
• To provide structured support to promote system. This is important for three reasons:
the wellbeing of police leaders.
•  Visible, engaged and responsive local policing is
• To directly fund police leadership training
critical for improving public confidence in the police.
and professional development throughout
the system. •  We need local police leaders to have the autonomy
• To ensure that the learning and to work much more collaboratively with other local
development opportunities for police public services to tackle complex public safety
leaders meet national standards. problems.

• To focus in its first two years on a •  A strong local dimension in policing structure also
development programme for police creates the space for innovation.
Sergeants, considerably strengthening the
However, the existing structure has five significant faults
support Sergeants receive and increasing
which need to be addressed:
the learning time available to them.
• To build on the international reputation •  The 43 force structure struggles to deal with the
of British policing by offering courses for rising forms of crime that cross force and national
police leaders overseas. The fees from borders.
these courses would be reinvested to
•  The model does not support the development of
support the work of the Police Leadership
effective specialist capabilities, which have high
Centre. fixed costs, do not always require a local presence
and benefit from concentration of expertise. A
more consistent approach to high-risk areas of
policing would also contribute to improved public
confidence.

Summary 17
•  It is inefficient, because organising specialist and •  The local level, currently organised into the 43
support functions at a higher level would generate forces, should focus on the delivery of local police
economies of scale and reduced duplication. There services: 24/7 response, local crime investigation,
are indications from the experience of Police Scotland neighbourhood policing, safeguarding and offender
that hundreds of millions of pounds could be saved. management.

•  The existing approach of bottom-up voluntary •  A large number of other functions and capabilities
collaborative arrangements has created a patchwork would be organised at the regional level. These
of ad hoc arrangements that lack a stable foundation. include serious and organised crime related
capabilities and uniformed specialisms (dogs,
•  Policing lacks a strong strategic centre, which
horses, public order etc). They also include both
leads to a lack of a clear strategy to meet future
operational support functions such as forensics
challenges, weaknesses in addressing under
and contact management, and business support
performance and an inability to ensure policing has
functions such as procurement and HR.
the people it needs to perform the tasks set for it.
It also means that there is no national platform for •  The national level would focus on serious and
delivering core capabilities, including for example organised crime, counter-terrorism, system
forensics, about which we make a recommendation stewardship functions (strategy, performance
below. management and human capital development) and
the delivery of some high specialist capabilities such
Recommendation as air support and the national IT databases.
40. The Home Office should establish a national Note we do not set out here a defined number of
forensic science service. This would regions, as this is an area where some flexibility and
not necessarily replace existing private adaptation to local circumstances is required. We also
providers but would incorporate most acknowledge that local forces may need to retain a
in-house provision currently provided by proactive investigation capability to deal with more
forces. This would put forensic science locally contained serious and organised crime groups.
services on a stable and secure footing.
The new service would: The reallocation of functions would largely not affect the
Metropolitan Police Service as it already operates as a
• Carry out national procurement of
regional force.
forensics services where these would
benefit from being commissioned once on
Structural implications
behalf of the whole service.
In this report we review a number of options for reform
• Ensure a consistent approach was taken in light of the reallocation of functions we propose. We
to meeting international quality standards. conclude that the status quo (voluntary collaborations)
• Carry out horizon scanning and research will not achieve the pace and scale of change required.
and development to ensure that We think that the alternatives of a smaller number of
forensics capability can keep pace with regional police forces or a single national police force
technological and scientific innovation. would endanger the local link described above.
• Provide for a concentration of specialism For the reasons we conclude that there are two
at the centre, as well as ensuring that desirable structural solutions:
expertise and learning is shared more
effectively. •  The 43 forces remain to provide the local link but
Regional Police Units are established by statute
One option would be to house this service
to deliver most specialist, operational support
within the National Crime Agency, with a
and business support functions. These would be
regional delivery structure.
accountable to regional boards of Chief Constables
and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCS).
A reallocation of functions
The analysis above strongly suggests a reallocation of •  The 43 forces remain and Regional Police Support
capabilities and functions to different geographic levels Units are established to deliver specialist, operational
would improve efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy. support and business support functions, apart from
We propose that: the regional-level investigation of serious and organised

18 A new mode of protection

 crime. These would be established by statute and The national landscape
would be accountable to regional boards of Chief The current national landscape is highly fragmented
Constables and PCCs. Serious and organised crime with a number of organisations performing these
specialist capabilities would be brigaded into regional system stewardship and delivery roles. It is far from
units of the National Crime Agency, creating a national ideal to have such a cluttered landscape as this risks
serious and organised crime network comparable to poor coordination, inefficient duplication, confused
that which exists for counter terrorism policing. ownership and gaps emerging between institutions. If
possible, we should seek to rationalise this landscape.
We conclude that the latter approach has the
considerable advantages of providing clearer In order for the centre to perform an effective system
governance and a stronger national model for delivering stewardship role it requires a number of strategic
serious and organised crime capabilities. capabilities some of which are currently lacking.
These capabilities include: setting the overall strategic
We do not rule out future amalgamations of local forces
direction for policing; horizon scanning, national data
and we acknowledge that the current number of forces
analytics; and workforce planning.
and their boundaries are somewhat arbitrary. However,
we are more concerned with where capabilities should National policing improvement functions are also
sit rather than the question of how many local forces fragmented among a number of existing organisations.
there should be. There is a strong case for having a consolidated
national home for police improvement, which would
Recommendations
clarify strategic direction and could host the necessary
41. The National Crime Agency (NCA) should powers to make things happen.
be given control of regional serious and Recommendation
organised crime assets. Regional NCA
units would host serious and organised 43. The national policing landscape should be
crime capability at the regional level, plus rationalised in the following way:
specialist economic crime teams including
• The Home Secretary should set the
expanded regional fraud investigation
national strategic direction for the service,
teams. These units would be 100 per cent
working in partnership with the Association
centrally funded through the NCA and would
of Police and Crime Commissioenrs and
be accountable to the Director General
the National Police Chiefs’ Council through
of the NCA for delivery. As an existing
the National Policing Board.
regional force, the Metropolitan Police
Service would continue to host its own • This strategic role of ministers would be
serious and organised crime capabilities. supported by a new Crime and Policing
Strategy Unit within the Home Office
42. The government should legislate to which would develop the evidence base
mandate the creation of Regional Police to inform the national strategy, monitor
Support Units. These would host most performance across the system and
specialist capabilities outside of serious horizon scan to ensure the system is
and organised crime, alongside operational always thinking ahead.
and business support functions for forces. • There should be three main delivery
These units would be funded by pooling organisations at the centre: the Crime
local force budgets and a significant Prevention Agency, the National Crime
proportion of the savings made would Agency and the College of Policing.
be reinvested in local policing. The units
• The National Crime Agency should remain
should be accountable to regional boards
focused on serious and organised crime,
made up of the local Chief Constables and
but should take on more of a role in tackling
Police and Crime Commissioners. Local
large scale online scams particularly where
police forces would focus on delivering
these are international in character. It would
local policing: neighbourhood policing,
also be a possible home for other national
24/7 response, local crime investigation,
crime related functions such as a new
safeguarding and offender management.
national forensic science service.

Summary 19
 • The College of Policing should be Recommendations
expanded to become the single home
44. The Police and Crime Commissioner
for all national policing improvement
(PCC) should retain the power to dismiss
functions including learning and
the Chief Constable, but this should be
development, professional standards,
subject to a confirmatory vote of the Police
developing the evidence base, IT and
and Crime Panel, requiring a majority of
national procurement. It would also host
the total membership. The Panel may
a national workforce planning function
ask HMICFRS for a review of the PCC’s
and a data analytics function. The College
decision prior to that confirmatory vote.
would have powers to direct Chief
Constables in relation to national minimum 45. The Home Secretary should put legislation
professional standards, workforce before parliament to introduce recall
planning and common standards in referenda for PCCs. The possibility of a
relation to IT. recall referendum would be triggered
where the Police and Crime Panel has
12. GOVERNANCE
voted by a two thirds majority to express
The fundamental building blocks of the police no confidence in the PCC on the following
governance system remain sound. These are: grounds:
•  The office of Constable: this provides the basis for • Where the PCC has been sentenced to a
a model of policing in which constables enforce the custodial prison sentence.
law impartially “without fear or favour” and in which
• Where the PCC has been found following
they have the discretion to make judgments, subject
an investigation by the Independent Office
to law, regulation and guidance.
for Police Conduct to have breached the
•  The operational independence of Chief Constables: Nolan Principles on Standards in Public
chief officers should make operational decisions, Life.
free from political interference, but they should Following such a vote by the panel there
always be accountable for those decisions would then be a recall referendum where
afterwards. 10 per cent of the local electorate sign a
•  The tripartite system: policy making power
petition to support one.
within policing is shared between the Home 46. Where a police force area is coterminous
Secretary, Chief Constables and Police and Crime with the jurisdiction of a directly
Commissioners.
elected Mayor, the Mayor should
automatically become the Police and
Police and Crime Commissioners
Crime Commissioner for that area. The
We believe that local police accountability and government should also seek where
governance should continue to be performed by possible to promote coterminosity between
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and directly police force areas and the jurisdictional
elected Mayors. Since their introduction PCCs (and boundaries of city-regional or regional
Mayors) have sharpened the accountability of Chief Mayors.
Constables and helped to anchor policing around the
concerns of local people. The alternative of returning 47. The government should consider
to a Police Authority arrangement holds little appeal. extending the remit of Police and
We also consider that in principle there is a case for Crime Commissioners (and their
PCCs playing more of a role in the wider criminal justice mayoral equivalents) to include greater
system, particularly in areas such as youth justice and commissioning of wider criminal justice
probation. services, particularly youth custody and
probation services.
However, we have concerns about the PCC’s absolute
power to dismiss the Chief Constable and below we
set out a number of measures to improve the PCC (and
mayoral) system of police governance.

20 A new mode of protection

The Home Secretary
Recommendations
The Home Secretary should play a leading role in
strengthening the strategic centre in policing. 49. The national policing bodies should
establish a regular forum to share learning
Recommendation from Independent Office for Police Conduct
48. The Home Secretary should use her (IOPC) investigations and HMICFRS
powers to put in place a stronger strategic inspections and agree actions to ensure that
centre in policing. In particular, she should: learning is taken forward.

• Through the National Policing Board set out 50. The IOPC should work with the College
a five-year national strategy for policing. of Policing to look at how lessons learned
through IOPC investigations can be turned
• Develop the Strategic Policing
into learning points and put into the hands
Requirement into a much more detailed
of frontline police officers.
document setting out the nature of the
capabilities the government expects
The College of Policing
regional and local police organisations to
put in place to tackle terrorism and serious Above we set out an expanded role for the College
and organised crime, including fraud. of Policing as the single home for national policing
improvement functions. To perform its function
• Legislate to mandate Police and Crime
effectively the College should possess powers in three
Commissioners to collaborate in Regional areas (see Recommendation 43).
Police Support Units that would provide
specialist and support functions for local First, the College’s powers to issue ‘codes of practice’
forces. should be strengthened so that it can (with the support
of the Home Secretary) issue binding regulations,
HMICFRS mandating compliance with a basket of national
minimum professional standards.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire &
Rescue Services (HMICFRS) plays a critical role in ensuring Second, the College would be given new powers to
that police performance is measured and assessed require compliance with common IT standards across
transparently. The PEEL process is well structured and the policing, so as to ensure interoperability and much more
clarity with which outcomes are presented on its website effective sharing of police data.
contribute significantly to the transparency of policing and
its accountability to the public. Third, the College should have powers to require
police forces to cooperate with national recruitment,
There are two areas where we think change ought educational and learning and development programmes
to be considered. First, HMICFRS should be clearer and to address emerging skills gaps.
as to how it is inspecting against standards set by
the College of Policing. Second, there is a need The national system of police governance
for more systemic lesson learning from HMICFRS
One of the most significant problems with the existing
inspections with the other national stakeholders (see
system of police governance is that it lacks formal
Recommendation 49).
mechanisms for making collective decisions. The legal
entities in the system are the 43 Chief Constables and
The Independent Office for Police Conduct
the 43 Police and Crime Commissioners or Mayors.
We welcome the progress made by the Independent Each of these is a ‘corporation sole’ and cannot be
Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in seeking to conclude bound by any collective decision of the others.
investigations more speedily and this progress needs to
continue. We also welcome its shift away from a ‘blame’ The result is a system which, for the purposes of
focus and to more of a ‘learning focus’. We think that making national decisions, moves at the speed of the
more could be done to ensure that the lessons learned slowest passenger. To address this we considered
from IOPC investigations are considered at a strategic establishing a new legally binding decision-making
level in the police service. In addition, the IOPC ought system, but we concluded that this might not be
to work with the College of Policing to discuss how necessary. Instead we recommend that the Home
learning points from its investigations can get into the Secretary should be more proactive in using her powers
hands of police officers so to inform everyday practice. to ensure decisions are made in the national interest.

Summary 21
13. FUNDING
53. To avoid the kind of protracted negotiation
Given the strong local and national interests in policing over essentially voluntary arrangements
there is a good rationale for retaining a funding system that which has bedevilled the Regional
contains a blend of national and local funding streams. Organised Crime Units, the National Crime
However, there are a number of problems with the Agency regional units should be 100 per
existing system: cent government funded.

•  The current funding formula for the Police Grant is 54. In any redesign of the police grant formula,
an inadequate reflection of the real relative needs of the government should have regard to the
individual forces. need to give PCCs and Chief Constables
•  The ad hoc nature of the Regional Organised Crime good notice of changes, to enable well-
Units’ (ROCUs) funding is a major barrier to ROCUs informed business planning.
operating effectively.
55. A number of earmarked national funds
•  The current funding system is complex and short should be established to ensure that the
term providing a poor basis for longer term business priorities identified in this report are
planning at force level. protected. These funds would be:
•  There is a case for the government using the funding • A Serious and Organised Crime Fund: all
system more proactively to ensure national priorities
funding dedicated to tackling serious and
are addressed.
organised crime, including the funding
•  There is a case for exploring the feasibility of a for the National Crime Agency and its
government grant specifically directed at cross- regional units.
agency work to prevent and reduce crime. • A Counter Terrorism Fund: all funding
Recommendations dedicated to tackling terrorism.
• A Crime Prevention Fund: all funding
51. The funding of local police forces should dedicated to crime prevention activity,
continue to be a mixture of central and including the funding for the Crime
local contributions. Police and Crime Prevention Agency and the funding for
Commissioners (PCCs) and Mayors should local Crime Prevention Units.
have greater discretion to raise further
• A Learning and Development Fund:
revenues for policing via the precept.
most funding for police learning and
52. The government should design and win development would be channelled
support for a fairer and more intelligent through this fund and disseminated by
system for allocating Police Grant between the College of Policing, which would
forces. Such a system would be based commission learning and development
on up-to-date data, revised annually, and from police bodies.
(consistent with this Review) with a focus on • A Technology Fund: to ensure adequate
the social factors influencing policing demand funding for national technology
as well as crime levels. It would take account programmes.
of Inspectorate perceptions and findings
56. We would encourage the development of a
bearing on the capabilities and financial
more consistent and integrated approach to
resilience of individual forces (a source
local government structures in England and
which has become markedly richer in recent
Wales. Under such an approach, we would
years), and of government priorities. It would
recommend a more detailed examination of
aim to secure acceptable minimum levels
the idea of a specific government grant to
of service in all parts of the country, and be
support cross-agency work to prevent and
robust enough to avoid or at least mitigate
reduce crime.
the marked disparities in outcomes which the
combination of a mechanistic formula and the
exercise of local discretion produced during
the period of austerity.

22 A new mode of protection

The resource and public value implications of this We have also set out areas where significant savings
Review could be made. In particular, doing much more
This Strategic Review has been charitably funded procurement nationally would deliver economies of scale
and carried out with the assistance of a small team in areas like uniform, vehicles and equipment. Most
of Police Foundation staff. Without the resources of a significantly, forming mandated Regional Police Support
government department it has not been possible for Units would reduce duplication across local forces in
us to fully cost all of our recommendations. But it is relation to specialist capabilities and support functions.
possible to outline, with a degree of confidence, their
Overall, we consider that the recommendations in this
implications for the resources devoted to policing and
report would generate public value in the following ways:
public safety.
•  They would clarify the overall goals of policing within
The timeframe within which we have cast our
a wider public safety system and align the work of
recommendations is intentionally long, and extends
the police more closely to an assessment of future
beyond a single expenditure planning period. Some
challenges.
recommendations, we believe, are urgent, and where
that is the case we have said so. But elsewhere our •  They would deliver a more efficient use of police
purpose has been to set a long term direction and resources in particular through the reallocation of
argue for a shift in focus over the next decade. functions.

To deliver our recommendations additional resources •  They would achieve greater public involvement in
would be required in the following areas: policing through a revived neighbourhood policing
model and greater use of participatory engagement
•  To create the new Crime Prevention Agency and a
methods by local police.
Crime Prevention Fund.
•  They would strengthen the ability of the service to
•  To strengthen neighbourhood policing, although
plan for the long term.
we see this as being delivered mainly through the
existing additional 20,000 officers. •  They would prevent more crime, leading to less
harm to victims and a safer society.
•  To provide higher quality learning and development
programmes, such as through the new Leadership
14. CONCLUSION
Centre and minimum CPD hours for each officer and
staff member. Policing is at a critical juncture. If it does not embrace
reform it will likely be overwhelmed by the scale and
•  To deliver improved clinical and occupational health complexity of the demands coming down the track. But
support for police officers. if we take the necessary decisions now the prize will be
great: to develop the conditions in which people can
•  To create a larger budget for the National Crime
live freely and safely in the 21st century and to renew
Agency so that it is better able to build up national
for our age the promise of the Peelian model, a form of
and regional capability to tackle serious and
policing that serves rather than oppresses the people
organised crime.
and that can continue to be an example to the world of
•  To deliver much needed investment in police IT. the art of reconciling order with liberty.

Summary 23
1. INTRODUCTION: A NEW
MODE OF PROTECTION
“The time is come when, from the increase in its population, the enlargement of its resources, and the multiplying
development of its energies, we may fairly pronounce that the country has outgrown her police institutions and
that the cheapest and safest course will be found in the introduction of a new mode of protection.”

Sir Robert Peel, 1828

The world is experiencing changes as radical as those In addition to all this we may be reaching a critical
wrought in this country during the Industrial Revolution, juncture in terms of public confidence in the police.
which gave birth to the first modern police service in Many women’s trust in the police has been undermined
1829. by the historic failure to tackle violence against
women and girls, and by cases of male police officers
Technology is transforming the nature of crime, meaning
themselves abusing women. The Black Lives Matter
that offenders living on the other side of the world are
movement has highlighted once again how Black
harming victims in this country on an industrial scale.
people remain disproportionately likely to be the
The relationship between humanity and the natural
subject of police powers, undoubtedly a cause of a
environment is also changing profoundly and in ways
deficit of trust and confidence in the police within Black
that are causing enormous turbulence, leading to
communities.
climate change, biodiversity loss and more frequent
pandemic disease. These transformations not only put It is in this context that the Police Foundation has
the environment and humankind at risk, but also throw been undertaking the Strategic Review of Policing
up a whole range of new challenges for public safety. in England and Wales, launched in 2019. This is the
first independent review of policing for many years
Finally, society is changing too: social needs are
and is intended to be as influential as the last Royal
becoming more complex requiring a response that
Commission on the Police in 1962. Then, as now,
goes beyond traditional professional silos; previously
social change and concerns about how well the police
marginalised victims of crime are rightly demanding that
were adapting to it led to a major review that set the
they are taken seriously by the criminal justice system;
framework in which the police operated for decades.
and new patterns of social division are emerging that
Although we do not have the resources of a review
require sensitive management by those responsible for
supported by the government, we aim to have the
keeping the peace.
same level of impact.
In the context of these transformations, and despite
This final report from the Review is our attempt to
the hard work and best efforts of police officers and
describe what kind of police service we will need to
staff, the police service appears at times overwhelmed,
address the challenges of the 21st century. We started
seemingly lacking either the capacity or the capabilities
the work from the premise that the British Peelian
to address these challenges. Internet crime remains
model of policing remains in many ways an example
largely beyond the reach of police institutions designed
to the world, but one that needs to be renewed and
in the 19th century to control crime and maintain order
reformed if it is to keep pace with social change. Our
in local towns and cities.
conclusion at the end of the Review is that we live in a
The police have struggled to respond to increased moment comparable to that in 1828 when Sir Robert
volumes of sexual offences being reported, never mind Peel told parliament that the country had “outgrown her
being able to proactively look for where the majority of police institutions”. To keep people free and safe in the
unreported harm is occurring. With rising demand for transformed conditions of the 21st century will require
more complex areas of investigation, the service often “a new mode of protection”.
struggles to deliver its traditional level of local service,
meaning that victims reporting a burglary or a stolen car
may receive very little by way of a police response.

24 A new mode of protection

 how society, and the police service in particular, ought
1.1 THE AIMS OF THE REVIEW to respond to those challenges. The Review’s Terms of
The Review was intended to be strategic in two senses. Reference are included as Appendix A.
First, we wanted to think about policing with a long-term
perspective. Far too much policing policy is made in 1.2.1 Calls for Evidence
response to short term political calculation and immediate Each phase of the Review was informed by a public Call
operational imperatives. Moreover, policing as a profession for Evidence. These sought views and information from
tends to have a blind spot when it comes to thinking stakeholders, practitioners, and other interested parties,
about the future. As an emergency service policing’s core in the form of written responses to a set of questions
competency is responding quickly and professionally to relevant to each phase’s themes.
those at immediate risk of harm. It is also a service facing
far more demand than it could ever meet. As a result, it Both calls were made publicly available on the Police
tends to operate very much in the ‘here and now’. Foundation website and advertised and disseminated
via policing networks and our social media feeds.
This Review represented an opportunity to lift our sights In addition, responses were specifically invited from
and consider what kind of police service we will need individuals and organisations with a stake in policing,
as we move through the 2020s and into the 2030s. We including Chief Constables and Police and Crime
considered that a time horizon of 20 years was long Commissioners, law enforcement agencies, charities,
enough to provide a consideration of the foreseeable civil society and community groups and relevant private
future, while not being so far away as to result in sector stakeholders.
speculation.
The first Call for Evidence ran from October to
The second sense in which the Review was strategic December 2019 and received 65 responses. The
was that it aimed to look at the ‘whole system’ rather second took place in February and March 2021 and
than diving into particular aspects of operational received 43 responses. A full list of respondents is
policing. It aimed to fill a gap in public policy thinking included as Appendix B. All responses were read
about how the police service as a whole operates and and thematically organised using the qualitative data
whether it does so in a way that meets the long-term analysis programme NVivo. Unattributed quotations
challenges we have identified. Indeed, we look way are included throughout the report, labelled as CE1
beyond policing itself and explore the place of the police and CE2, denoting Call for Evidence one and two
within a wider system of public safety. This is based on respectively.
the conviction that the police alone cannot tackle the
public safety challenges of the 21st century. 1.2.2 Stakeholder engagement
The aims of the Review were therefore: The Review engaged extensively with stakeholders,
commentators, and subject matter experts, including
1.  To assess the public safety and security challenges academics, campaigners, politicians, police leaders
facing the country as we move through the 2020s and practitioners, and public, private and third sector
and into the 2030s. representatives. This took the form of numerous one-
2.  To consider what kind of response we need to make to-one conversations and meetings held by the Chair,
as a country to those challenges. Vice-Chair, and project team members. In addition, a
set of 16 Key Informant Interviews were conducted by
3.  To consider, as part of that wider societal response, the Police Foundation research team at the beginning
what kind of police service we will require, looking of Phase One, to gain an informed and rounded
at police legitimacy, skills, technology, learning perspective on current policing challenges. A list of
and career pathways, leadership, organisational Key Informants is provided in Appendix C. Unattributed
structure, governance and funding. quotations are labelled KII. Sir Michael Barber visited
Gwent, South Wales, and Warwickshire Police to spend
time observing and talking to police officers and staff.
1.2 HOW WE WORKED
In summer 2021 Police Foundation researchers
The Review was chaired by Sir Michael Barber and conducted four focus group discussions (via video
hosted by the Police Foundation, which acted as the conferencing), convened for us by the Revolving Doors
Review’s secretariat. It took place over two phases: Agency, with participants who had lived experience
first, an assessment of current and future public safety of repeat contact with the criminal justice system,
and security challenges; and second, an analysis of

1.  Introduction: a new mode of protection 25

including one group specifically with women and Ian Loader, explored the history of the policing mission
another with young adults. Their perspectives inform and addressed questions about the purpose of the
Chapter 6 of this report in particular, with quotations police in the 21st century. The third paper, written by the
labelled RD. Police Foundation’s Director Rick Muir argued for the
establishment of a much more explicit crime and harm
1.2.3 Data analysis and secondary reading prevention system. Several further contributory blogs and
During both phases of the Review and under each of articles were published on the Review’s website.1
its headings we conducted a comprehensive review of
the academic and policy literature. We also analysed a 1.2.6 Events
number of publicly available data sets, including data A series of seminars and conferences were held during
on crime trends, incident data, police workforce, public the Review and have informed our deliberations, these
opinion surveys, enforcement data and police outcomes include:
data. We are grateful to the Evidence and Insight
•  The launch event for the Phase One report, and
team at the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and
expert panel discussion, on 29th July 2020.2
Crime (MOPAC) for making available unpublished data
from their Public Attitude Survey and to the National •  The Police Foundation’s 11th Annual Conference,
Police Chiefs’ Workforce Coordinating Committee for between 23rd and 25th February 2021, themed
sharing their November 2021 Strategic Assessment of around the future police workforce, including
Workforce. sessions on workforce wellbeing, learning and
development, recruitment, skills and diversity.3
1.2.4 The Advisory Board
•  An International Seminar on policing innovation held
The work of the Review was guided by an Advisory
on 19th May 2021.4
Board, chaired by Sir Michael Barber, and made up
of serving and former police officers, politicians, and •  A Leadership Symposium, held on 8th June 2021
leading academics. The Advisory Board members used including contributions from senior police and
their expertise to contribute informed views surrounding military leaders, consultants, and academics.
all the issues covered in the course of our work, as
well as providing expert commentary and feedback •  Two seminars with policing stakeholders in Scotland,
on the Review’s published outputs and developing held in late 2021 in partnership with the Scottish
thinking. The Board met (in person or remotely) on Institute for Policing Research and CGI Scotland.
eight occasions during the Review and as several sub-
•  A seminar to discuss roads policing held in
groups, to advise on specific subject areas.
partnership with DriveTech, which will be followed by
The Advisory Board made a huge contribution to the a report on the future of roads policing published in
work of the Review and has considerably influenced February 2022.
its thinking. They are not however responsible for the
Review’s conclusions which are those of the Review’s 1.2.7 Geographic and historical perspective
Chair Sir Michael Barber, the Review’s Vice Chair Sir Bill In this Review we wanted to address three gaps in
Jeffrey and the Police Foundation team led by Dr Rick police policy discussion in this country. First, we wanted
Muir. The makeup of the Board is set out in Appendix D. to break with the parochialism of English and Welsh
policing debates. It is striking that countries all over the
1.2.5 Interim publications world are grappling with the same issues and yet little
The Review published a report on Phase One of the attention is generally paid to experience elsewhere. To
work in July 2020. In addition, the Police Foundation address this, we commissioned a review of international
authored or commissioned three Insight Papers, to experiences of police reform, which particularly informs
inform the Review’s deliberations. The first, by Police the findings in Chapter 11 on organisational structures.
Foundation Research Director Andy Higgins, focused
We were also aware how little policy discussion there
on the public’s perceptions of, and priorities for, today’s
is between the different policing jurisdictions within the
police service. The second paper, written by Professor

1. www.policingreview.org.uk.
2. See: https://www.policingreview.org.uk/events/launch-event/
3. See: https://www.police-foundation.org.uk/events-programme/annual-conference/
4. See: https://www.policingreview.org.uk/events/policing-innovation-international-seminar-19th-may-2021/.

26 A new mode of protection

United Kingdom. To address this, in partnership with •  That the police service alone cannot successfully
the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR) and respond to the range and complexity of the
CGI, we organised two seminars in Scotland specifically challenges identified (we call this the capacity
focused on police reform north of the border. A planned challenge).
trip to Northern Ireland was cancelled owing to the
•  That the police service currently lacks the
Covid-19 restrictions, but we studied the experience
capabilities required to respond effectively to the
of police reform in Northern Ireland and make several
threats, risks and harms of the future (we call this
references to it in the report.
the capability challenge).
Second, we wanted to look to at the long-term rather
•  That the way policing is organised as a system
than just focusing on tactical responses to the ‘here and
cannot deliver the capabilities required in a way that
now’. In doing so our work was particularly informed by
is effective or efficient (we call this the organisational
the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) sixth Global Strategic
challenge).
Trends report The Future Starts Today published in 2018
(MoD, 2018). This substantial piece of work is one of a In Part II we respond to the capacity challenge in two
series published regularly by the MoD’s Development, ways. First, we argue that we need to take a whole
Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) and is intended to system approach to crime and harm. This means we
provide a strategic context for long-term planning, not just should stop thinking that the ‘crime problem’ is owned
for the MoD but across government. Given its pedigree, singularly by the police and the criminal justice system.
its focus on questions of security and its comprehensive Rather we need a more explicit and institutionally
scope it provides a natural starting point for thinking about anchored public safety system focused on preventing
the future of policing. Our work was also informed by the crime and harm from occurring in the first place.
College of Policing’s recent report on the Future Operating
Environment 2040 (College of Policing, 2020). Second, we argue that in the context of the challenges
we have described and of the wider public safety
Although our time horizon was 20 years ahead, throughout system we have called for, we need to bring greater
the report we describe some future scenarios, distinctly clarity to the role of the police. This is so that the police
annotated, to highlight possibilities that lie at the outer limits are focused on those tasks within the wider public
of this time horizon and beyond. Because they are more safety system to which their powers, knowledge and
speculative, these do not lead to hard recommendations, skills are best suited. At a general level the role for the
but illustrate a possible direction of travel. police we describe remains consistent with the historic
mission of the English and Welsh police, but we aim to
Third, just as the police tend not to look to the future, so
provide a sharper focus for police work.
too are they reluctant to spend much time reflecting on the
past. Police history has very little weight in discussions of In Part III we respond to the capability challenge by
policing policy, although it is striking how often the same describing five sets of capabilities that the police service
issues and dilemmas emerge over the years. We are will require to meet the challenges of the 2020s and
convinced that much could be learned if we took police 2030s. These are: legitimacy, skills and technology,
history more seriously. In this report we try where possible learning and development, wellbeing and leadership.
to put contemporary debates in a historical context. These are not operational capabilities as traditionally
understood in policing, but systemic capabilities that will
enable the system as a whole to achieve the outcomes
1.3 STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT we have set for it.
The report comes in four parts. In Part I we outline
In Part IV we argue that the police service needs a new
the challenge facing the country and the police
organisational platform upon which to deliver those
service in terms of public safety and security. This
capabilities. A police force structure that was created
part of the report identifies three sets of changes that
in 1964 is no longer capable of delivering policing in a
are generating new forms of public safety demand:
way that is effective or that provides value for money. To
technological, environmental and social change. We
address this we propose a set of reforms to the system
then outline how successfully the police service is
of police organisation and to its governance framework.
responding to these changes.

Our analysis in Part I results in three conclusions that

shape the rest of the report:

1.  Introduction: a new mode of protection 27

1.4 NEXT STEPS
We do not see the publication of this report as the
end of the process, but merely an important step on a
longer journey. Following the launch of the report we
will begin a programme of discussion and engagement
throughout policing and beyond.

Over the course of the next twelve months we will:

•  Begin a roadshow, visiting police forces in each

English region and Wales, to discuss our findings.

•  Hold events and seminars to discuss the themes

identified in the report with a wide range of people,
from the police service, government, business,
academia and the third sector.

•  Hold direct conversations with policymakers to

identify practical options for taking forward our
recommendations.

•  At the end of that period assess the impact of the

Review, reflect on how our thinking has evolved and
identify further steps.

We would encourage anyone who has an interest in the

themes addressed here to engage with us throughout
this process.

28 A new mode of protection

 PART I
THE CHALLENGE

29
2. PUBLIC SAFETY AND
SECURITY IN THE 2020S AND
2030S
Summary: In this chapter we describe how the public safety challenges facing England and Wales
have been transformed. Traditional volume crime has fallen by 75 per cent since 1995. In its place the
technological revolution has led to an explosion in internet crime. Environmental change is generating
enormous turbulence, from extreme weather events to increased political protest. Social change is leading
to more complex needs, heightened political tension and demands for previously marginalised forms of
abuse to be taken seriously by the criminal justice system. Organised crime groups are exploiting these
technological, environmental and social changes. Public concern about crime is growing, but concerns for
safety are higher among women, Black and Minority Ethnic groups and those on low incomes.

In this chapter we describe how the public safety and

security challenges facing the country have changed
2.1 THE TRADITIONAL CRIME
since the turn of the millennium and how they can be DROP
expected to evolve through the 2020s and into the
Crime, as measured by the Crime Survey for England
2030s.
and Wales (CSEW),5 has fallen significantly since the
We describe three transformations which are creating mid-1990s (Figure 2.1) (ONS 2021a). In 1995, there
new kinds of crime, harm, fracture and tension. First, were an estimated 19.8 million crimes committed, but
there is the technological revolution, which has created this had fallen to just 4.9 million by 2021. These figures
a new venue for crime and harm in the form of the exclude fraud and computer misuse offences, which
internet. This is an arena which is to a significant extent were only introduced into the survey in 2017 and which
beyond the grasp of local policing institutions that were take the 2021 figure to 11.7 million offences.
born as a response to the challenges of the early 19th
That means, if we exclude fraud and computer misuse
century.
offences, ‘traditional crime’ has fallen by 75 per cent
Second, there is the environmental transformation. since the mid-1990s.
Humanity’s over-exploitation of the natural world is
The addition of cybercrime and fraud offences to these
creating enormous turbulence, posing a direct challenge
figures shows that what initially looked like a sharp
to our safety, as well as to our survival as a species.
overall fall masked an increase in crime taking place on
Third, social change is generating new forms of the internet. Nevertheless, the volume and prevalence
complex need, increased social tension and demands of crime is still much lower today than it was in the mid-
for previously neglected forms of violence and abuse to 1990s. According to the Office for National Statistics
be taken seriously. All of this makes the task of creating (ONS), eight out of 10 people in the CSEW did not
public safety and security more complex today than it experience any of the crimes asked about in the survey
was 20 years ago. in the year to June 2021 (ONS, 2021a).

Before describing these three transformations, however, This ‘crime drop’ is driven largely by falls in what we call
we describe one of the most significant social changes ‘traditional volume crime’, the sorts of offences that are
in recent years: the decline of traditional volume crime. less serious in terms of the harm caused but which tend
to affect large numbers of people. Between 1995 and
2021 we can see that (ONS, 2021a):

5. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) ordinarily conducts face to face interviews and provides estimates for adults aged 16 years and over.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these face to face interviews were paused in March 2020 and continued via telephone (Telephone-operated Crime
Survey for England and Wales (TSCEW)) in July 2020. The TCSEW data only relate to adults aged 18 and over. Therefore, throughout this report,
where were refer to long term trends we compare historic data to the year ending March 2020. Where we report crime figures in isolation we use data
from the year ending June 2021.

31
 Figure 2.1 Crime in England and Wales 1981 to 2020 (ONS, 2021a; ONS 2021b)
25,000,000 1,000,000,000
25,000,000
25,000,000 1,000,000,000
1,000,000,000

900,000,000
20,000,000 900,000,000
900,000,000
20,000,000
20,000,000
800,000,000
800,000,000
800,000,000
15,000,000
15,000,000
15,000,000 700,000,000
700,000,000
700,000,000

600,000,000
10,000,000 600,000,000
600,000,000
10,000,000
10,000,000
500,000,000
500,000,000
500,000,000
5,000,000
5,000,000
5,000,000 400,000,000
400,000,000
400,000,000

0 300,000,000
00 300,000,000
300,000,000
Dec-81
Dec-83
Dec-87
Dec-91
Dec-93
Dec-95
Dec-97
Dec-99
Mar-02
'03'03
'04'04
'05'05
'06'06
'07'07
'08'08
'09'09
'10'10
'11'11
'12'12
'13'13
'14'14
'15'15
'16'16
'17'17
'18'18
'19'19
'20'20
Dec-81
Dec-81
Dec-83
Dec-83
Dec-87
Dec-87
Dec-91
Dec-91
Dec-93
Dec-93
Dec-95
Dec-95
Dec-97
Dec-97
Dec-99
Dec-99
Mar-02
Mar-02
Mar '03
Mar '04
Mar '05
Mar '06
Mar '07
Mar '08
Mar '09
Mar '10
Mar '11
Mar '12
Mar '13
Mar '14
Mar '15
Mar '16
Mar '17
Mar '18
Mar '19
Mar '20
Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
MarMar
81 83 87 91 93 95 97 99 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

All CSEW Crime excluding fraud & computer misuse

AllAll
CSEW
CSEWCrime
Crimeexcluding
excludingfraud
fraud&&computer
computermisuse
misuse
All CSEW Crime including fraud & computer misuse
AllAll
CSEW
CSEWCrime
Crimeincluding
including fraud
fraud& &
computer
computermisuse
misuse
All RECORDED crime (including fraud & computer misuse)
AllAll
RECORDED
RECORDED crime
crime(including
(includingfraud
fraud& &
computer
computermisuse)
misuse)
All WEIGHTED (by crime severity) RECORDED crime excluding fraud & computer misuse (right hand axis)
AllAll
WEIGHTED
WEIGHTED(by(by
crime
crimeseverity)
severity)
RECORDED
RECORDED crime
crimeexcluding
excludingfraud
fraud
&&computer
computermisuse
misuse(right
(right
hand
handaxis)
axis)

•  Violent crime fell by 77 per cent. •  By 46 per cent and 40 per cent (respectively) in the
United States
•  Theft fell by 75 per cent.

•  Domestic burglary fell by 81 per cent. •  By 25 per cent and 54 per cent in Germany

•  Vehicle related theft fell by 84 per cent. •  By six per cent and 44 per cent in France

•  Other household theft fell by 55 per cent. These trends suggest that the causes of the crime drop
are likely to be common across developed countries.
There are some qualifications that ought to be made
Indeed, there is strong evidence that much of the fall
in relation to this crime drop. First, the most harmful
in domestic burglary and vehicle crime was due to
offences fell by a smaller degree than the least harmful
improvements in home and vehicle security during this
offences. So, the Cambridge Harm Index (which
period (Tseloni et al, 2017).
weights offences by the harm they cause) fell by 21 per
cent between 2002/03 and 2011/12, compared to a 37 Another area of high-volume public safety demand
per cent in the raw crime count (Sherman et al 2016). that was prominent in the early 2000s was antisocial
behaviour. Here too we see some significant change, at
Indeed, some of the most harmful forms of crime appear
least at the level of reporting and public perceptions. As
to have increased in recent years. According to the ONS
shown in Figure 2.2, the proportion of people reporting
(2021a), police recorded knife offences increased by
a high level of perceived antisocial behaviour has fallen
32 per cent between 2011 and 20216 and homicides
from 21 per cent in 2003 to just 7 per cent in 2020.
increased by 18 per cent between 2014 and 2021.7
Similarly, the number of antisocial behaviour incidents
Second, the traditional crime drop is not unique to recorded by the police has also been in steady decline,
England and Wales but occurred across the developed although we do not know if this reflects a decline in
world. According to the UNODC (no date), between incidents, a decline in the willingness to report or indeed
2003 and 2018 (or 2016 for France) burglary and car a shift in police focus away from this area of work
crime fell: (Strategic Review of Policing, 2020).

6. A 47 per cent increase between 2011 and 2019, for a pre-Covid-19 pandemic comparison.
7. A 28 per cent increase in homicides between 2014 and 2019, for a pre-Covid-19 pandemic comparison.

32 A new mode of protection

 Mar '02 Mar '03 Mar '04 Mar '05 Mar '06 Mar '07 Mar '08 Mar '09 Mar '10 Mar '11 Mar '12 Mar '13 Mar '14 Mar '15 Mar '16
19 21 16 17 17 18 16 16 14 14 14 13 12 11 10
Figure 2.2 Percentage of Crime Survey for England and Wales respondents reporting a high level of perceived
antisocial behaviour (ONS, 2021a)
Percentage of crime survey respondents reporting a high level of percieved antisocial behaviour (ONS, 2021)
25%
25

20%
20

15
15%

10%
10

5%
5

00
Mar
Mar '02 Mar
Mar '03 Mar
Mar '04 Mar
Mar '05 Mar
Mar '06 Mar
Mar '07 Mar'08
Mar Mar'09
Mar Mar'10
Mar Mar'11
Mar Mar'12
Mar Mar'13
Mar Mar'14
Mar Mar'15
Mar Mar'16
Mar Mar
Mar '17 Mar
Mar '18 Mar
Mar '19 Mar
Mar '20
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

More recently there was an uptick in police recorded Fraud offences, many of which are cyber-enabled or
antisocial behaviour incidents during the coronavirus cyber-dependent crimes, made up 40 per cent of crime
pandemic; despite falling by 63 per cent between in 2021, the most common type of crime. Fraud involves
2008 and 2019, police recorded antisocial behaviour a person dishonestly and deliberately deceiving a victim
increased by 23 per cent in the two years to June 2021 for personal gain of property or money or causing loss
(ONS, 2021a). This is almost certainly because people or risk of loss to another. It has existed as a criminal
were confined to their homes, resulting in both more offence for centuries, but while in the past it was seen as
neighbourhood nuisance and more people being at a largely ‘white collar’ crime affecting large businesses, it
home to report it. There may also have been occasions is now a volume crime affecting ordinary people, with 5
where police were called out to deal with breaches to million offences occurring in the year to June 2021.
the coronavirus regulations but ended up dealing with
The reason for this explosion in fraud is the internet,
incidents through antisocial behaviour legislation.
which has enabled people to commit fraud on an
industrial scale. According to a Police Foundation
2.2 TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE analysis, 69 per cent of fraud cases investigated by
the police in 2016/17 included at least one element of
The creation of the internet and the spread of digital cybercrime (Skidmore et al, 2018).
technology has transformed the nature of crime,
creating an entirely new venue (cyberspace) in which Far from being a victimless crime, fraud not only harms
crime and harm can take place. Moreover, it is a space UK institutions but can have a devastating effect on
that operates across national boundaries, meaning that victims, nearly half of whom feel their financial loss has
offending is generally beyond the reach of local police affected their emotional wellbeing (Skidmore et al, 2018).
forces or even national law enforcement agencies.
Compared with the scale of fraud perpetrated in England
The scale of internet crime is obvious from the CSEW, and Wales, the police response to it is extremely limited.
which was amended from 2017 to include, for the first In the year to March 2021 while there were 4.6 million
time, computer misuse and fraud offences (see Figure frauds reported in the crime survey, just 806,637 were
2.1). Fraud and computer misuse offences made up 53 reported to Action Fraud, CIFAS or UK Finance. Of those
per cent of crime detected in the survey (Telephone- reports just 3 per cent (24,805) were disseminated to
operated Crime Survey for England and Wales police forces for investigation. In the same period just
(TCSEW)) in the year to June 2021. 4,853 fraud cases resulted in a charge or summons,
which represents just 0.6 per cent of those recorded that
Computer misuse offences made up 14 per cent year and just 0.1 per cent of those frauds that took place
of crimes against households in 2021 (they also make in that period (Home Office, 2021a, ONS, 2021a).
up a large proportion of crimes against businesses).
Computer misuse crime covers any unauthorised Another crime type that has been transformed by the
access to computer material. It includes offences such internet is the sexual abuse of children. Whereas
as spreading computer viruses, hacking and distributed in the past the availability of child sexual abuse (CSA)
denial of service (DDoS) attacks (the flooding of imagery was limited to all but the most committed
internet servers to take down network infrastructure or offenders, with the growth of online communications
websites). and social media, it is now relatively easy to access.

2. Public safety and security in the 2020s and 2030s 33

The volume of CSA imagery online is vast (some 8.3
million unique images were added to the Child Abuse
2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
Image Database in the four years to 2019) and this We live in the geological epoch known as the
number is growing. The number of industry referrals Anthropocene, an era defined by the degree to which
regarding CSA imagery to the National Crime Agency human activity is transforming the natural environment.
(NCA) increased from 1,591 in 2009 to 113,948 in This has led to a loss of biodiversity, an accelerated
2018. Since 2016, between 400 and 450 people are rate of species extinction, changes in the distribution
arrested every month in the UK in relation to online CSA of organisms around the world, deforestation and most
(IICSA 2020). significantly of course, climate change.

Looking ahead, the degree to which public safety is Few of these matters are traditionally thought to
shaped by the digital environment will only increase. concern the police, but they will increasingly pose
In the years ahead we will see exponential growth in significant risks to public safety. We highlight two forms
processing power, the volume and variety of data and of environmental change that will pose an increased risk
the degree of connectivity between devices. Ever more to human safety in the years ahead: climate change and
information will flow across national boundaries, much pandemics.
of it generated by machine-to-machine communication.
As more and more human activity takes place online 2.3.1 Climate change
we will become more exposed to internet crime. In The global temperatures are rising as a result of human
particular, the rise of smart sensors, wearable tech and activity. Global warming is likely to lead to more frequent
the Internet of Things will create new opportunities for and more intense extreme weather events such as
cybercrime. floods, droughts, storms, heat waves and heavy
Whether and how to regulate this information space rainfall. Drought and heat stress will be disruptive for
will be a central public policy question over the next agriculture, causing problems with food supply.
20 years. Within that broader debate policymakers will Between 2005 and 2014 there was an average of 335
need to decide what the role of the police (and others climate and weather-related disasters globally per year,
such as the large technology companies) should be in which is an increase of 14 per cent compared to the
enforcing rules and laws on the internet, and what skills period 1995-2004, and almost twice the level recorded
and competencies those working within policing will during 1985/95 (CRED and UNISDR, 2015). For the UK
require if they are to successfully perform such a role. specifically we will see changing rainfall patterns, rising
The police will need to invest in the digital tools required sea levels and a greater likelihood of extreme flooding.
to operate effectively in this new environment. The The summer 2007 floods claimed 13 lives, led to 7,000
police will also have to be mindful of their legitimacy people being evacuated by emergency services and
as they operate in these new spaces, in particular in cost the UK economy £3.2bn, or droughts such as
striking a balance between keeping people safe and that in 2003 which led to 2,000 deaths (Cabinet Office,
respecting their privacy. 2017).

Finally, there is a growing risk that if formal and The College of Policing states that this creates a
politically accountable forms of rule enforcement, such “potentially significant operational and financial risk for
as public policing, cannot adequately provide protection the service” (College of Policing, 2015). For example, it
on the internet then it seems likely that alternative is estimated that the 2015-2016 winter floods cost the
non-state actors will emerge to fill the vacuum. This emergency services £3m (Environment Agency, 2018).
will be in the shape of private sector cybersecurity and In addition to extreme weather here, climate change
investigatory bodies, but also potentially through new will also make some parts of the world less habitable
forms of cyber-vigilantism. causing millions of people to move. Rising sea levels
are already forcing coastal communities in countries
such as the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Sierra Leone
to relocate. The World Bank estimates that by 2050
climate change will force more than 143 million people
in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America
from their homes (Bharadwaj et al 2021).

34 A new mode of protection

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49317060
Police flagged mental health incidents (36 forces) (thousands)
2014 385200
2015 412400
2016 445200
2017 450000
2018 494200 2.3 Number of police
Figure flagged mental health incidents (36 forces) (Jones, 2019)

600,000

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Climate change is also generating political protest

and we should expect that to intensify as global
2.4 SOCIAL CHANGE
temperatures rise and citizens become frustrated We are living through a period of significant social
with the scale and pace of the political response. The change, characterised by the growing complexity of
Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain protests have social need, a demand for previously marginalised
shown that people are willing to engage in more militant forms of violence, abuse and exploitation to be taken
forms of direct action to make their views known. more seriously by the criminal justice system and the
The police will increasingly find themselves seeking development of new forms of social tension and political
to balance the right to peaceful protest with their polarisation.
responsibilities to uphold public order.
2.4.1 Complex needs
2.3.2 Pandemics The College of Policing noted in 2015 that “Non-crime
Research has found that that the risk of global incidents account for 84 per cent of all command and
pandemics is increasing (Penn 2021). This is thought control calls.8 Local police data suggests in some
to be the result of population growth and agricultural forces, ‘public safety and concern for welfare’ incidents
intensification which increase the risk of viruses now represent the largest category of recorded
transferring from animals to humans. Poverty, increased incidents. As with crimes that related to vulnerability,
population density and the ease of global travel also public protection and safeguarding, these incidents
mean that such viruses can spread more rapidly. are likely to consume more resource effort as they can
be more complex, many involving combined agency
The experience of the coronavirus pandemic has shown
responses” (College of Policing, 2015).
how highly disruptive such events can be. The world
economy has been shut down for prolonged periods. An increasing amount of police work involves responding
Governments have instructed their citizens to stay in to incidents linked to mental health problems. A survey
their homes and have given the police extensive powers of 36 police forces by the BBC shows a 28 per cent
to enforce tight restrictions on liberty in the name of increase in incidents flagged as mental health related
protecting public health. The way we live and work has between 2014 and 2018 across 26 forces (Figure 2.3).
been transformed, probably permanently. Police use of their powers to detain a person under
Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 increased by
If there are to be more frequent pandemics,
33 per cent between 2017 and 2020.9
consideration will need to be given to how we become
more resilient in dealing with them. We will also need to This increase in the number of police recorded mental
learn the lessons from the response to Covid-19 (see health incidents has been attributed to a number of
Box 2.1). causes, including reductions in funding for mental

8. We should note that some of those incidents that did not result in a crime being recorded may nevertheless have been linked to crime.
9. Excluding Lancashire, Warwickshire and West Mercia for comparability due to changed recording systems.

2. Public safety and security in the 2020s and 2030s 35

 Box 2.1 The police response to the coronavirus pandemic
Recent research by the Police Foundation and Crest Advisory into how successfully the police responded to the pandemic
has come to the following conclusions:

There was widespread support for the Covid restrictions and considerable public sympathy with the police task in
enforcing them. Although public support for the police held up during the pandemic, in London there are signs that public
confidence has eroded. The ’four Es’ approach (engage, explain, encourage and enforce) was felt by most policing
stakeholders interviewed to have helped the service maintain public support.

While overall recorded crime fell sharply in the earliest stages of the March 2020 lockdown it returned to pre-pandemic
levels after just 12 weeks. There is little evidence that the police got more time to proactively investigate more serious
offences as a result because increases in non-crime demand, often associated with Covid-19, offset reductions in crime
demand.

Overall, it appears that the pandemic has accelerated pre-existing trends of crime moving online and becoming more
complex, higher harm and harder to solve. For example, shoplifting declined sharply while stalking increased significantly.

Policing demonstrated considerable resilience by continuing to provide core services and stepping into gaps left by other
agencies during lockdown.

Central coordination of the police operation to respond to the pandemic was essential and proved effective in relation
to the sourcing and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) for officers and staff, working with government,
issuing guidance and collating and analysing data.

There were limited productivity gains through the use of technology to enable more agile working. It remains to be seen
how much of this technology-enabled innovation will be sustained or whether there will be a return to previous modes of
working.

For more detail see Aitkenhead et al (2022).

health services, leading to fewer beds and less out- Another driver is the care system. Nearly half of all young
of-hours support, greater reporting due to increased people in care go missing at least once compared to one
awareness among members of the public and better in 10 of the general population (Babuta and Sidebottom,
understanding and recording of mental health incidents 2018). One respondent to our Call for Evidence argued
by the police (HMICFRS, 2018). that under-investment in children’s services has led to
increased use of private, unregulated care homes in
Police devote upwards of three million ‘investigation
lower cost areas miles away from family networks. This
hours’ per year to missing persons reports in England
leaves children in these homes vulnerable to exploitation.
and Wales, which is the equivalent of 1,562 full-time
Indeed, a large proportion of missing child incidents
police officers per year or 36 officers per force.10 The
originate from a small number of private care homes
average cost per investigation can range from £1,870 to
(Shalev Greene and Hayden, 2014).
£2,415, and the total annual cost of these investigations
is estimated to be between £394m and £509m or Although self-reported drug use has declined
between three and four per cent of the 2021/22 in England and Wales over the last two decades
£13.7bn police budget (Babuta and Sidebottom, 2018). (largely driven by reduced cannabis consumption) the
proportion of people using Class A drugs has increased
According to the National Crime Agency (NCA) the (Figure 2.5) (ONS, 2020a).
number of missing incidents recorded by police
increased by 65 per cent between 2013/14 and There is also evidence that use of some of the most
2019/20 (Figure 2.4). addictive drugs has been rising. The estimated number
of opiate and crack cocaine users in England rose 4.4
Increased missing persons incidents is partly linked per cent between 2014/15 and 2016/17 (O’Connor,
to the pressure on mental health services, with eight 2019). Recorded deaths linked to drug misuse rose
in ten adults going missing because of diagnosed or 83 per cent between 2012 and 2020 (ONS, 2021c)
undiagnosed mental health reasons (Home Affairs and hospital admissions for drug-related mental and
Committee, 2018; Holmes, 2017). behavioural disorders in England have more than
doubled in a decade (NHS Digital, 2019).

10. This assumes each officer works 1920 hours per year (40 hours per week, 48 weeks of the year).

36 A new mode of protection

2014/15 282066 210632
2015/16 337649 242317
2016/17 387930 286763
2017/18 405798 329748
2018/19 382960 320715
2019/20 359240 325171
Figure 2.4 Missing related calls and missing incidents between 2013/14 and 2019/20 (NCA, 2019a; NCA, 2021)

450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
Missing persons calls Missing persons incidents

Figure 2.5 Proportion of 16 to 59-year-olds reporting use of drugs in the last year (percentage)
14%
14

12%
12

10%
10

8%
8

6%
6

4%
4

2%
2

00
96

98

00

9
/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1
19

19

20

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18
20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20
All drugs     (Trend) Any cocaine     (Trend)

Looking ahead, many of the factors that have driven the required during the coronavirus pandemic will only limit
rise in the number of people presenting with complex further the fiscal room for manoeuvre.
social needs look set to continue or intensify. Most
long-term forecasts predict that income inequality and If these trends hold we can expect the police to
relative poverty will worsen in the years ahead unless continue to dedicate a large amount of time responding
action is taken by government to tackle it. to the needs and problems of people who suffer from
multiple and complex disadvantages. This will require
While the latest Spending Review increased the budgets the police to work in an increasingly collaborative and
of almost all government departments, there are reasons integrated way with other public services. We address
to think that in the long-term public spending may how they might do this in Part II of this report.
continue to be constrained. Even before the coronavirus
pandemic the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was 2.4.2 Violence against women and girls
forecasting a tight fiscal context as we move through
In recent years we have seen growing demands for
the 2020s and 2030s (OBR 2018). This is a result of
previously marginalised forms of violence, abuse and
the need to spend much more on health, social care
exploitation to be taken seriously by the criminal justice
and pensions as the population becomes steadily older.
system. In particular, there has been increased reporting of
The additional fiscal challenges that will result from the
male violence and sexual abuse against women and girls.
economic downturn and huge increase in state support

2. Public safety and security in the 2020s and 2030s 37

Figure 2.6 Police recorded domestic abuse: violence, other crime and incidents (ONS, 2021e)

1,600,000

1,400,000

1,200,000

1,000,000

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000

0
Mar 16 Mar-17 Mar-18 Mar 19 Mar 20 Mar 21
All DA violence All other DA crime All DA incidents (not resulting in crime)

Most violence experienced by women is domestic Despite improved crime recording and increased
abuse perpetrated by a current or former intimate reporting, conviction rates for the most serious offences
partner or another family member. For female victims of remain low. Of the approximately 128,000 victims of
violent crime, the offender was an intimate partner in 49 rape a year, only 1.6 per cent resulted in someone
per cent of cases, compared with 22 per cent of cases being charged, down from 8.5 per cent in 2015 (HM
for male victims (ONS, 2021d). Government, 2021; Home Office, 2021a).

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) reports

2.4.3 The physical and sexual abuse of
a gradual downward trend in the prevalence rates of
children
domestic abuse against women aged 16 to 59 over the
last 15 years from 1.7 million incidents in March 2005 to It is estimated that approximately 8.5 million adults (21
1.3 million incidents in the year ending March 2020 survey per cent of the population) experienced abuse before
(ONS, 2020b). However, at the same time, we have seen the age of 16 years and an estimated 3.1 million adults
increased reporting of domestic abuse, which is thought were victims of sexual abuse as children (ONS, 2020c).
to be linked to increased confidence among victims that NSPCC research shows that police recorded child
the criminal justice system will take cases seriously (Holder, sexual abuse (CSA) offences rose from 32,821 in
2001; Keeling et al, 2015). As Figure 2.6 shows, there was England and Wales in 2014/15 to 59,793 in 2019/20,
a 50 per cent increase in reported domestic violence and an 82 per cent increase (NSPCC, 2021).
other domestic abuse crime between 2016 and 2021.
Only 4 per cent of child abuse reports made to the
23 per cent of women have experienced sexual police end in a charge or summons and this is thought
assault in since the age of 16, compared to five per to be due to the difficulty in collecting evidence
cent of men (ONS, 2021a). In the year to March 2020, especially in non-recent cases (ONS, 2020d).
773,000 adults aged 16 to 74 were victims of sexual
assault (including attempts), of whom 80 per cent were A major challenge for the police in the years ahead is
women (ONS, 2021f). how to meet the demand for non-recent abuse to be
investigated. With constrained resources and large
In recent years, there has been a major increase in the volumes of unreported demand, difficult decisions will
number of victims reporting sexual offences to the police. inevitably need to be made about the balance between
For rape, this figure increased from 16,374 to 55,709 investigating the crimes of the past and the need for
between March 2013 and March 2021, a 240 per cent immediate safeguarding.
increase. For other sexual offences this figure increased
from 37,225 to 92,174 in the same period, a 148 per
2.4.4 Social tension
cent increase (Figure 2.7) (ONS, 2021a). The launch of
Since the foundation of the police service in the
Operation Yewtree in 2012 and the birth of the #MeToo
19th century, the police have always played a role in
movement in 2017 are believed to have contributed to
ensuring public order and managing social tension. This
this huge rise in reporting (Bowcott, 2019).

38 A new mode of protection

 1,000,000
Figure 2.7 Crime Survey for England and Wales sexual assault and police recorded rape and sexual assault from
1,000,000
March 2005 to March 900,000(ONS, 2021a; ONS, 2021g)
2021
1,000,000
1,000,000 900,000 6%6
000 800,000 6
900,000
900,000 800,000
000 700,000
800,000
700,000 5 5%5
000 800,000 600,000
700,000
700,000 600,000
000 500,000
600,000 4 4%4
500,000
000 600,000 400,000
500,000
500,000 400,000
000 300,000 3 3%3
400,000
400,000 300,000
000 200,000
300,000
200,000 2 2%2
000 300,000 100,000
200,000
200,000 100,000
000 0
100,000 Mar 05 Mar 06 Mar 07 Mar 08 Mar 09 Mar 10 Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 14 1
Mar 15 Mar 16 Mar 17 1%1Mar 19
Mar 18 Mar 20 Ma
100,000 0
000 Mar 05 Mar 06 Mar 07 Mar 08 Mar 09 Mar 10 Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 14 Mar 15 Mar 16 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 19 Mar 20 Ma
0 Police recorded rape
Mar 05 Mar 06 Mar 07 Mar 08 Mar 09 Mar 10 Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 14 Mar 15 Mar 16 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 19 Mar 20 Ma
0 0 Police recorded other rape 15sexual offences 0 00
Mar 05 Mar 06 Mar 07 MarMar
08 05 MarMar
09 06 MarMar
10 07 MarMar
11 08 MarMar
12 09 MarMar
13 10 MarMar
14 11 MarMar
15 12 MarMar
16 13 MarMar
17 14 MarMar
18 MarMar19 16 MarMar
20 17 MarMar
21 18 Mar 19 Mar 20 Mar 21
Police
CSEW:recorded
Any sexual rape
otherassault
sexual(incidence)
offences (right axis)
Police recorded rape Police recorded rape Police CSEW:recorded
Any sexual other sexual
assault offences (right
(prevalence
(incidence) - menaxis)
16-59) (right axis)
Police recorded other Police sexual recorded
offences other sexual CSEW:offences
Any sexual assault (prevalence
(incidence)
(incidence -(right menaxis)
-women 16-59)(right
16-59) (rightaxis)
axis)
CSEW: Any
CSEW: Any sexual assault (incidence) (right axis) sexual assault
CSEW: (incidence)
Any (right
sexual axis)
assault (prevalence - men 16-59) (right
(incidence - women 16-59) (right axis) axis)
CSEW: Any sexual assault CSEW: Any sexual
(prevalence assault
- men CSEW: (prevalence
16-59) Any
(rightsexual- men
axis) 16-59)
assault (right axis)
(incidence - women 16-59) (right axis)
Figure 2.8 Frequency of types of protest
CSEW: action
Any since
sexual 1985
assault
CSEW: Any sexual assault (incidence - women 16-59) (right axis) (Bailey,
(incidence 2020)
- women 16-59) (right axis)

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0
85

87

89

92

94

96

98

00

02

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19
19

19

19

19

19

19

19

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

Confrontational Informational Strike

section explores how these tensions have manifested actively promoted civil disobedience as a way of calling
themselves in three areas in recent years: the policing of for stronger action on climate change. These forms
protest, hate crime and terrorism. of protest look set to intensify as the climate crisis
accelerates.
The number of protest events has risen steadily over
the last decade, going from 83 in 2007 to 280 in 2016. The number of hate crimes reported to the police
While the vast majority of these protests have been in England and Wales rose by 194 per cent between
peaceful, there has been a rise in more confrontational 2012/13 and 2018/19, when 114,958 hate crimes were
protest tactics. Figure 2.8 shows a dramatic spike in recorded (Figure 2.9).
the number of confrontational protests, increasing from
This increase is likely to reflect an increased willingness
seven in 2000 to 126 in 2019. This is linked to the
among victims to report, alongside a reduced tolerance
Extinction Rebellion protests in 2018 and 2019 which
for prejudice and discrimination. It also reflects an

2. Public safety and security in the 2020s and 2030s 39

strand 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2020/21
Race 33,116 34,874 39,666 45,440 58,294 64,829 72,051 76,158 85,268 12
Religion 1,421 2,067 3,006 3,962 5,184 7,103 7,202 6,856 5,627 -18
Sexual orientation 3,960 4,278 5,168 6,700 8,569 10,670 13,311 15,972 17,135 7
Disability 1,844 1,953 2,354 3,393 5,254 6,787 7,786 8,465 9,208 9
Transgender 352 538 572 820 1,195 1,615 2,185 2,542 2,630 3
Figure
Total number of39,130 Hate
crimes
48,567 recorded
2.941,406
offences 57,676 by the police,
74,967 by monitored
86,254 97,474 strand 114,958
105,362 2011/12 to 2020/21
9 (excluding Greater
Manchester) (Home Office, 2021b)
Chart Title
140,000

120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0
2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21
Race Religion Sexual orientation Disability Transgender Total number of offences

increase in incidents which take place via social media.

Looking ahead, managing the growing numbers of
2.5 ORGANISED CRIME
hate incidents online will be a major challenge for social GROUPS ARE EXPLOITING
media companies, regulators and the police. THESE CHANGES
In total, 3,411 people have died as a result of terrorism So far, we have described three transformations that
since 1970 in the UK. Most deaths between 1970 and will shape the context for public safety in the 2020s
1990 were a result of the conflict in Northern Ireland, and 2030s. One common thread that runs through all
but since the turn of millennium a large number have three is that they are each being exploited for profit by
been the result of Islamist attacks. Al Qaida claimed organised crime groups.11
responsibility for the deaths of 56 people, during the
London bombings of 7th July 2005, while, in 2017, 42 Organised crime groups have been particularly adept
people were killed in Islamist terror attacks in London at exploiting the potential of the technological
and Manchester (Allen and Harding, 2021). revolution. They are using ever more sophisticated
technology to trade criminal commodities via the dark
There is also a growing threat from far-right groups. web, launder profits through virtual currencies and
Each year between 2018 and 2021, the proportion conceal communications using encryption technology
of White people arrested for terrorism-related activity (NCA, 2019b, 2020).
exceeded the proportion of Asian people (Home Office,
2021c). The former head of MI5, Sir Andrew Parker, They have also been exploiting environmental
was quoted in the Financial Times as saying that half of change. In many parts of the world organised crime
the terror attacks foiled in 2019 involved those on the groups are profiting from resource shortages and
far-right (Barber, 2020). environmental crime. This includes cartels taking control
of local water supplies in countries such as Pakistan
It is predicted that the demand on the police generated and Kenya. Armed groups are also exploiting the boom
by terrorism will continue to increase, even if the in demand for rare earth and precious metals. Electric
number of attacks does not. This is because the vehicle (EV) production is increasing demand for the
methodology and sophistication of terrorist plots are lithium and cobalt used in EV batteries, which in turn
expected to continue to evolve and, according to police is fuelling labour exploitation including child labour.
responses to our Call for Evidence, there will continue Organised crime is also involved in fraudulently taking
to be “self-radicalising lone actor terrorists who can the recyclable waste from developed countries and
cause huge disruption with relatively small-scale disposing of it through dangerous processes in the
attacks”. CE1.29 Global South (Walker, 2021).

11. We note that the definition of ‘organised crime group’ is contested. Here we use the definition in statute of three or more people working together for a
criminal purpose (Section 45 of the Serious Crime Act 2015).

40 A new mode of protection

According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), children through modern slavery and human trafficking
organised crime groups also moved quickly to both (MSHT). The police recorded 8,730 offences in the year
adapt to and exploit the conditions of the coronavirus to March 2020 with 10,613 potential victims referred to
pandemic:12 the National Referral Mechanism (Modern Slavery Unit,
2021). Although these figures represent an increase
•  The pandemic made it harder to use conventional
on previous years, this is believed to reflect growing
money transfer services such as Money Service
awareness and law enforcement activity. The scale of
Businesses (MSBs). Organised crime groups
offending is much greater than official figures suggest,
therefore turned to covert digital transfer methods
with one estimate suggesting there are more than
such as crypto-assets or currencies to engage in
100,000 victims in the UK (Centre for Social Justice,
money laundering.
2020).
•  During the pandemic there was an increase in
Organised crime groups have also been exploiting
cyber-enabled fraud. This included a ‘boom’ in the
vulnerable children in order to expand drug markets
sale of counterfeit healthcare and sanitary products,
outside of the big cities. The County Lines distribution
PPE and pharmaceuticals (Europol, 2020a). There
model involves the supply of drugs, principally crack
were also attempts to exploit the UK’s track and
cocaine and heroin, by city-based networks and
trace app, using vishing, phishing and bogus calls to
organised crime groups, into smaller towns and rural
obtain personal data from victims.
areas, and the use of dedicated, branded mobile phone
•  The threat from cyber-dependent crimes ’deal lines’ to take orders and arrange delivery. More
increased, particularly criminal ransomware attacks than 3,000 such lines were identified in 2019, with 800
targeting organisations. The rise in remote working to 1,100 believed active at any one time (NCA, 2020).
and the use of unfamiliar online services (e.g.
The County Lines model relies on the exploitation of
video conferencing applications) brought new
children and young people to move consignments of
opportunities to infiltrate networks.
drugs, make deliveries, collect payment and carry out
•  The fact that children and young people were other related criminal activities. They might threaten
spending more unsupervised time on the internet a young person or their family, or else offer rewards
is considered likely to have increased opportunities such as money, food, alcohol, clothes and jewellery, or
for child sexual offenders to contact children improved status, but in such a way that the child feels
via gaming sites, chat groups in apps, phishing in debt to their exploiter (Stone, 2018).
attempts via email or approaches on social media.
Vulnerable adults are also sometimes exploited, for
During the first lockdown referrals of child sexual
example through the ‘cuckooing’ of accommodation for
abuse material from the technology industry to
use in drugs activity (NCA, 2019c). Due to the increased
Europol rose sharply from under 200,000 in January
availability and aggressive marketing tactics used in
2020, to over one million in March 2020 (Europol,
new territories, Class A consumption appears to have
2020b).
grown more rapidly away from urban markets (Hales et
•  Social distancing and other restrictions on al, 2020). The rise of the County Lines model has also
movement reduced the ability to engage in street been linked to the increase in knife crime in the last
drug dealing. Drug users increasingly turned to few years (see Box 2.2).
open web and darknet markets, as well as to secure
encrypted communication applications. This may
have been a catalyst for longer term changes at the
2.6 PUBLIC SECURITY
retail end of supply. In this section we turn to the subjective aspects of
security. How people experience crime and safety is
Finally, organised crime groups have been exploiting
important. If people feel unsafe then this is likely to have
many of the social changes described above,
a major impact on their wellbeing and is therefore a
particularly through the criminal exploitation of those
legitimate focus for public policy.
who have complex needs.
Here we focus on people’s levels of concern about
Organised crime has been heavily involved in the
crime and how these have changed in recent years.
exploitation and abuse of vulnerable women and
In the next chapter we discuss how people view

12. These were NCA sources interviewed by the Police Foundation as part of a joint project with Crest Advisory on how the police responded to the
coronavirus pandemic. See Aitkenhead et al. (2022).

2. Public safety and security in the 2020s and 2030s 41

 Box 2.2 Knife crime
In recent years we have seen an increase in serious and weapon enabled violence, (NCA, 2019b; NCA 2020; Hales et al,
2020), which has become one of the most pressing and high-profile policing and public safety challenges facing the country.

Overall, the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) shows that levels of violence have fallen significantly since the
peak of crime in 1995, from an estimated 4.5 million incidents in 1995 to approximately one million in 2021.

However, police crime records and NHS data (ONS, 2021a), show a marked increase in levels of serious violence,
particularly violence involving knives, since 2015 (Figure 2.10). Knife homicides, most notably of younger male victims
(Figure 2.11), have also increased over the same period.

Figure 2.10 Trends in police recorded violence involving knives and NHS hospital admissions for assault with
sharp objects (ONS, 2021a)

25,000 6,000
6000

5,000
5000
20,000

4,000
4000
15,000
3,000
3000
10,000
2,000
2000

5,000
1,000
1000

-0 0 0
Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 14 Mar 15 Mar 16 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 19 Mar 20 Mar 21
Police recorded assault with injury/assault with intent to cause serious harm
Police recorded robbery
Police recorded other violent and sexual offences (attempted murder, threats to kill, rape, sexual assualt)
Hospital admissions in NHS hospitals in England and
and Wales
Wales for
for assault
assault with
with sharp
sharp objects
objects – right axis

Figure 2.11 Homicides by sharp instruments by age and sex of victim (ONS, 2021h)
140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
Mar 09 Mar 10 Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 14 Mar 15 Mar 16 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 19 Mar 20
Male - under 18 Male - 18-34 Male - 35-54 Male - 55 and over
Female - under 18 Female - 18-34 Female - 35-54 Female - 55 and over

The most significant immediate driver behind this increase in serious violence is changes in the drug market. The link
between drug market dynamics and spikes in serious violence is well-documented internationally (for a recent summary
see Morgan et al, 2020).

The timing and locations of recent increases in England and Wales is consistent with the hypothesis that county lines
activity is a significant driver of serious violence. For instance, although continuing to concentrate in urban areas, knife
crime and robberies have increased fastest in more rural police force areas (Hales et al, 2020), and the number and
proportion of homicides identified as being ’drug related’ have also all increased (ONS, 2020e).

42 A new mode of protection

 and experience policing, which is also an important One reason for the apparent tension between a
contributor to people’s sense of security. perception of rising crime and a broadly flat overall
crime rate may be the rise in serious violent crime
Ipsos MORI regularly ask the public what they see as
in recent years (see Box 2.2), which has received
the most important issues facing the country. In January
substantial attention in the news media. Such serious
2020, before the coronavirus pandemic, 20 per cent
incidents affect relatively small numbers of people
of the public cited ‘crime, law and order and antisocial
directly but because of their seriousness receive
behaviour’ as one of the top issues facing Britain today.
substantial coverage in the media and permeate the
Of greater concern were Brexit, healthcare, climate
public consciousness.
change and poverty and inequality. However, crime has
been rising as a public concern since 2015 and in 2019 Fear of crime is not experienced equally. Those on low
reached the same level of salience in the Ipsos MORI incomes worry significantly more about car theft, race
Issues Index as during the August 2011 riots (Figure attacks, robbery, being attacked, burglary, rape, online
2.12). crime and identity theft than those on high incomes
(Cuthbertson, 2018). Those who live in deprived areas
This pre-pandemic increase in the public salience of
are up to almost three times more likely to be fearful of
crime is most likely linked to the fact that more people
violent crime (ONS, 2021a).
think that crime is going up. Figure 2.13 shows that
there has been an increase since 2015 in the numbers Indeed, if we look at victim data, they are right to be
of people who believe that crime is getting worse locally more fearful. In the latest Telephone-operated Crime
and nationally. Survey for England and Wales (May 2020 to March
2021) 3.5 per cent of people living in the most deprived
These figures are at odds with the findings from the
areas in England and 4.7 per cent of those living in the
CSEW which show that overall crime has continued
most deprived areas in Wales were victims of personal
to go down or stayed broadly flat in recent years. We
crime (excluding fraud and computer misuse). These
should note that these perceptions also seem to be at
figures were 2.9 per cent and 1.3 per cent for people in
odds with people’s perceptions of the likelihood that
the least deprived areas, respectively (ONS, 2021a).
they themselves will become a victim of violence, car
theft and burglary. Perceived likelihood of victimisation Fear of crime is also unequally felt among different
of those common crime types has declined steadily ethnic groups. 22 per cent of Asian people, 21 per
since the mid-1990s. cent of Black people, 13 per cent of people of mixed

Jun 97 2.12JulIpsos
Figure 97 MORI
Aug 97 Issues
Sep 97 Index: How the
Oct 97 publicDecsee
Nov 97 97 crime/law
Jan 98 and
Feb 98order/antisocial
Mar 98 behaviour
Apr 98 May 98 as an
Jun issue
98 Jul 98 Aug 98
Crime/Law & Order
facing24the country23
(Ipsos27
MORI,282021) 26 22 16 19 14 13 21 20 21 19 21

60%
60

50%
50

40%
40

30%
30

20%
20

10%
10

00
Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun
97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

2. Public safety and security in the 2020s and 2030s 43

Figure 2.13 Public perception of crime. Percentage of people saying crime has gone up ‘a little’ or ‘a lot’ (ONS, 2021a)

90%
90

80%
80

70%
70

60%
60

50%
50

40%
40

30%
30

20%
20

10%
10

0 0
Dec Dec Dec Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar
96 98 00 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

A little/lot more crime than two years ago: National A little/lot more crime than two years ago: Local
Crime has gone up a little/lot in last few years: National Crime has gone up a little/lot in last few years: Local
Worry about: Burglary Worry about: Car crime
Worry about: Violent crime Worry about: Fraud

ethnicity and 4 per cent of people from ‘other’ ethnic Environmental change is creating much greater
groups (down from 22 per cent in the previous turbulence, from more frequent extreme weather
year) report high levels of worry about violent crime, events to mass migration, from more frequent disease
compared to seven per cent of White people (ONS pandemics to more widespread civil disobedience.
2021a).
We are also living through social changes that all have
Similarly, for burglary, 22 per cent of Asian people, an impact on the work of the police and the safety
16 per cent of Black people, 8 per cent of people of and security of citizens. We have seen the rise of more
mixed ethnicity and 13 per cent of people from ‘other complex social needs that tend to require a police
ethnic groups have high levels of worry about burglary, response when they escalate into crisis. We have seen
compared to 8 per cent of White people (ONS 2021a). growing demands for previously neglected forms of
crime and harm, particularly those committed by men
There are also marked gender differences in the fear of
against women and children, to be taken more seriously
crime. 13 per cent of women have high levels of worry
by the criminal justice system. And we have seen rising
about violent crime, compared to just four per cent of
social tensions and increased political polarisation,
men. Women also report higher levels of worry about
which play themselves out in terms of levels of protest,
burglary and car crime than men (ONS, 2021a).
hate crime and terrorism.

Organised crime groups are taking advantage of these

2.7 CONCLUSION changes, directly exploiting technology, environmental
In this section we have described how three forms of crisis and vulnerable people to make illicit profits.
change have transformed the nature of the public safety We have also seen growing insecurity as the public has
and security challenges we face. The technological become more concerned about crime in recent years,
revolution has led to an explosion in crime on the alongside major inequalities in how people experience
internet, making fraud and cybercrime now more than harm and insecurity, with those on low incomes, women
half of the offences experienced by people in England and those from BME groups being much more likely to
and Wales. be a victim of crime and to feel insecure.

In the next chapter we examine how well the police

service has been responding to these challenges.

44 A new mode of protection

3. POLICE PERFORMANCE
Summary: Despite the extensive efforts of dedicated police officers and staff across the country our
policing model is failing to tackle the new public safety challenges we have described. Detection rates
have halved in the last seven years, meaning the police now solve just 9 per cent of crimes reported. The
detection rate for rape has fallen from 8.5 per cent to just 1.8 per cent in the last six years. The detection
rate for fraud stands at just 0.6 per cent. Fewer victims are satisfied with the service they receive. Although
most people trust and have confidence in the police, public confidence has declined in recent years.

How well is English and Welsh policing adapting to a traditional crime since 1995 was improved home and
world reshaped by technological, environmental, and vehicle security, not policing. So, we focus here on
social change? In this chapter we look at measures of indicators that are at least to some extent within the
recent police performance to assess the extent to which control of the police.
our current policing arrangements are coping with the
Third, we should note that there are many reasons
dramatic shifts in the public safety and security context
why some key measures of police performance have
we have described.
deteriorated in recent years. We particularly need to
We do this by looking at four measures of police highlight one: austerity. Between 2010 and 2014 total
performance: funding for the police fell by approximately 14 per
cent, and by a further 2 per cent by 2018 (Institute for
•  Detection rates: the proportion of crimes reported to
Government, 2019). Spending has since increased
the police that lead to a charge or summons.
to fund the Prime Minister’s pledge to recruit an extra
•  Victim satisfaction: how satisfied victims of crime are 20,000 police officers by 2023. Despite this we are
with the service they receive from the police. undoubtedly still living with the consequences of
a decade of significant cuts to police budgets and
•  Public confidence: how well the public as a whole that needs to be taken into account as part of any
think the police are doing. assessment of police performance.

•  Response times: how quickly the police are able to

attend calls for assistance. 3.1 CRIME DETECTION
We also look at the results of HMICFRS inspections Detecting crime and bringing offenders to justice
and note an important difference between the direction are core police functions. The available data shows
of travel identified by the inspectorate and what is a substantial deterioration in police performance at
happening to the four measures identified above. bringing offenders to justice over the recent period.
Detection rates have almost halved in the last seven
We should clarify three points at the outset. First,
years: in the year to March 2021 only 9.3 per cent of all
nothing we say about the performance of the system as
recorded police crime resulted in a charge or summons,
a whole should be seen as a criticism of police officers
compared to 17 per cent in 2014 (Figure 3.1).
and staff, who work extremely hard, often in difficult and
dangerous circumstances, to serve the public. As we •  These reductions apply to all types of crime but are
shall see many of the problems we describe below are most striking for sexual crime, violent crime and
a result of our policing institutions not keeping up with robbery (Figure 3.2):
social change, rather than the performance of individual
officers and staff or even the performance of the •  Only 1.5 per cent of rapes reported to the police
organisations they work for. We explain this point more in the year to March 2021 resulted in a charge
fully toward the end of the chapter. compared to 8.5 per cent in 2015.

Second, we do not use crime rates as a measure of •  Just 7 per cent of violent offences resulted in a
police performance. Police presence and tactics can charge in 2021 compared to 22 per cent in 2015.
play a role at the local level in affecting crime, but
Just 8 per cent of robberies recorded resulted in a
the overall national crime rate is the product of many
charge in 2021 compared to 17 per cent previously.
social and economic drivers. As we saw in Chapter
2 the overwhelming cause of the 75 per cent drop in

3. Police performance 45
 y.e. Mar
Outcome type 2004 y.e. Mar2005 y.e. Mar2006 y.e. Mar2007 y.e. Mar2008 y.e. Mar2009 y.e. Mar2010 y.e. Mar2011 y.e. Mar2012 y.e. Mar2013 y.e. Mar2014 y.e. Mar2015 y.e. Mar2016 y.e. Mar2017 y.e. Mar2018

Charge/summons (Type746130
1) 693934 695634 669799 653359 676255 647588 654689 629874 581255 602390 592418 561556 519946 493289
Total number of offences7
5843549 5476771 5425691 5322377 4881140 4630383 4265036 4078475 3903581 3510669 3506545 3574552 3899090 4325320 4891905

Figure
Mar-04 3.1: Percentage
Mar-05 Mar-06 of offences
Mar-07 recorded
Mar-08 in year resulting
Mar-09 Mar-10 in charges/summons,
Mar-11 Mar-12 Mar-13 year endingMar-15
Mar-14 March Mar-16
2004 to Mar-17 Mar-18
Charges/summons 12.8% 12.7% 12.8% 12.6% 13.4% 14.6% 15.2% 16.1% 16.1% 16.6% 17.2% 16.6% 14.4% 12.0% 10.1%
March 2021 (Home Office, 2021)

20%

18%

16%

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%
4%

2%

0%
Mar Mar-
Mar- Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar Mar-
Mar
0403 0504 0605 0706 0807 0908 1009 1110 1211 1312 1413 1514 1615 1716 1817 1918 2019 2120

Figure 3.2: Percentage of offences recorded in year resulting in charges/summons and otherwise ‘detected’13 by
crime group year ending March 2015 to March 2021 (Home Office, 2021)
20%
20 9
18%
18 8
16%
16 7
14
14% 6
12%
12 5
10%
10 4
8%
8 3
6%
6 2
4
4%
1
2%
2
00
Mar-15
Mar 15
Mar-16
Mar 16
Mar-17
Mar 17
Mar-18
Mar 18
Mar-19
Mar 19
Mar-20
Mar 20
Mar-21
Mar 21

Mar-15
Mar 15
Mar-16
Mar 16
Mar-17
Mar 17
Mar-18
Mar 18
Mar-19
Mar 19
Mar-20
Mar 20
Mar-21
Mar 21

Mar-15
Mar 15
Mar-16
Mar 16
Mar-17
Mar 17
Mar-18
Mar 18
Mar-19
Mar 19
Mar-20
Mar 20
Mar-21
Mar 21

Mar-15
Mar 15
Mar-16
Mar 16
Mar-17
Mar 17
Mar-18
Mar 18
Mar-19
Mar 19
Mar-20
Mar 20
Mar-21
Mar 21

Mar-15
Mar 15
Mar-16
Mar 16
Mar-17
Mar 17
Mar-18
Mar 18
Mar-19
Mar 19
Mar-20
Mar 20
Mar-21
Mar 21
Criminal
Criminaldamage
damageand
andarson
arson Robbery
Robbery Sexual
Sexualoffences
offences of of
which: Rape
which: Rape Theft offences
Theft offences

Charged/summonsed Other 'detected'

90%
90
80
80%
70%
70
60%
60
50
50%
40
40%
30%
30
20
20%
10
10%
00
Mar 15
Mar 16
Mar 17
Mar 18
Mar 19
Mar 20
Mar 21

Mar 15
Mar 16
Mar 17
Mar 18
Mar 19
Mar 20
Mar 21

Mar 15
Mar 16
Mar 17
Mar 18
Mar 19
Mar 20
Mar 21

Mar 15
Mar 16
Mar 17
Mar 18
Mar 19
Mar 20
Mar 21

Mar 15
Mar 16
Mar 17
Mar 18
Mar 19
Mar 20
Mar 21
Mar-15
Mar-16
Mar-17
Mar-18
Mar-19
Mar-20
Mar-21

Mar-15
Mar-16
Mar-17
Mar-18
Mar-19
Mar-20
Mar-21

Mar-15
Mar-16
Mar-17
Mar-18
Mar-19
Mar-20
Mar-21

Mar-15
Mar-16
Mar-17
Mar-18
Mar-19
Mar-20
Mar-21

Mar-15
Mar-16
Mar-17
Mar-18
Mar-19
Mar-20
Mar-21

Drug
Drugoffences
offences Misc
Misc. crimes
crimes against
against society Possession
Possessionofofweapons
weapons Public
Publicorder
orderoffences
offences Violence against
Violence against the
the
society offences
offences person
person
Charged/summonsed Other 'detected'
13. In addition to those resulting in a charge/summons some ‘detected’ crimes are dealt with by way of (formal or informal) out of court disposal or are
Taken into Consideration.

46 A new mode of protection

For fraud, only one charge was brought for every We should be clear that not all of the blame for these
166 offences recorded by Action Fraud, CIFAS and lengthening investigation times can be placed at
UK Finance in the year to March 2021 (0.6 per cent), the door of the police. The increased complexity of
compared with one for every 69 (1.4 per cent) in 2015. the caseload, combined with enormous capacity
constraints in a service affected by austerity, play a
Detection rates must be interpreted carefully in the context
significant role. In addition there are significant capacity
of changing reporting behaviours and recording practices;
issues within the rest of the criminal justice system,
however it is concerning that one of the main drivers for
affecting the courts and the Crown Prosecution Service.
falling detection rates appears to be the withdrawal of
victim support for further action. The proportion of total
“It should be acknowledged that the criminal
cases with an identified suspect, but where further action
justice system reflects directly upon the police
was not taken due to victims not wishing to continue,
with the public often making the link between
tripled between 2015 and 2021 (from 8.7 to 26.3 per cent
police actions and activity and convictions.
of all cases). This increase applied across all crime types,
The conviction rates for domestic abuse and
with particularly notable jumps for rape (20 per cent to 42
rape being worryingly low and not inspiring
per cent), robbery (8 per cent to 21.5 per cent), violence
confidence in police investigations is a good
(24 per cent to 44 per cent) and criminal damage/arson (5
example where media attention tends to focus
per cent to 17 per cent).
solely on the police. We have seen and continue
An important driver of victim disengagement is how to see significant court backlogs, extended and
long it takes to complete an investigation and to charge protracted court processes and an increase in
a suspect. The average length of time taken for the demand on the whole system at a time when
police to charge offences has increased from 10 days investment has been receding” (CE2.06).
in 2015 to 23 days in 2019 (Institute for Government,
2019). Sexual offences (69 days) and rape (97 days) We should note a further driver behind falling detection
take the longest to be assigned a criminal justice rates, which is more stringent crime recording
outcome, although these have reduced by 30 and 14 standards. As HMICFRS has required forces to record
per cent since 2016, respectively (Home Office, 2021). crime much more accurately, this has almost certainly
led to more offences being recorded, very many of them
Delays between a crime being reported and a suspect
being minor offences where the victim would not wish
being charged negatively impacts the mental and
to see the case progress.
physical health of victims, witnesses and the accused,
who are often vulnerable (HMICFRS, 2021).

Figure 3.3: Percentage of offences recorded in year assigned selected outcome codes (Home Office, 2021)

60
60%

50
50%

40
40%

30
30%

20
20%

10%
10

00
Mar-15 Mar-16 Mar-17 Mar-18 Mar-19 Mar-20 Mar-21

Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim supports action) Evidential difficulties (victim does not support action)
Investigation complete - no suspect identified Other (outcome assigned, 'not detected')

3. Police performance 47
 Box 3.1 Key relationship: policing and the Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) advises the police on the most serious and complex cases for possible prosecution,
reviews cases submitted, determines charges, prepares cases, and presents them at court. Aside from central casework
divisions that require specialist expertise, it is divided into 13 geographical areas in England and Wales each led by a Chief
Crown Prosecutor (CCP) while CPS Direct provides charging support and out-of-hours decision making.

The police are responsible for detecting and investigating crime but then also play a pivotal role in the prosecution process.
As a case passes through the sequential steps of the justice system the police have three key responsibilities: keeping
victims informed about progress, collecting witness statements, and ensuring witnesses attend court. The police will also
gather evidence for prosecutors working on a charge, who remain independent; a prosecutor must not interfere with an
investigation or direct police operations, but providing advice to the police is a core function.

In short, the relationship between the police and the CPS involves informing, consulting and advising (CPS, 2018) and is
fundamental to the effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice system. Doing this effectively saves time throughout
the criminal justice process and improves outcomes and experiences for victims, witnesses and defendants.

Below we explore a number of challenges to the way the relationship currently works and make suggestions for
improvement. First, capacity constraints can prevent cases from being progressed and cause considerable frustration to
victims and witnesses.

Second, there are real pressures on the police around the disclosure process, particularly given large volumes of digital
evidence and poor police technology. During the R v Allan investigation the police had no method for analysing the
victim’s mobile phone and no recording of the search. The mobile phone was not listed in the disclosure schedule and
had previously been reported to the CPS as containing no relevant data. Such practice risks breaching privacy laws and
undermining victim trust. A recommendation has been made to implement a nationally agreed joint CPS/police protocol
and a process for the examination of digital media (CPS and MPS, 2018).

Third, legal practitioners can make unrealistic demands of the police and digital forensic examiners due to a lack of
understanding of digital evidence. The CPS does not always understand police technical capabilities, whether that is due
to resource constraints or outdated equipment. Improved training for prosecutors in digital forensics ought to help with
this.

Fourth, there is a need for much greater joint working from an early stage during the course of a case. A joint file quality
improvement plan has been made between each police force and the relevant CPS area (as well as the introduction of
a National File Standard). Also, the CPS recently announced that police and prosecutors will work more collaboratively
to increase the numbers of rape cases reaching court (CPS, 2021a) by making greater use of Early Advice to consult on
investigative strategy, reasonable lines of enquiry and discuss the evidence needed to strengthen a case. This will save the
police and CPS time and resources, increase rape referrals to the CPS and reduce the time taken for a charging decision
to be reached.

Fifth, as the CPS (2021b) suggest, oversight and management of work volumes should be proactive (moving away from
a culture of working to trial dates). Prosecution Team Performance Meetings should ensure local accountability for local
outcomes regarding case progression.

Victim satisfaction differs by crime type; 71 per cent

3.2 VICTIM SATISFACTION of victims of violence were ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied,
The police responsibility towards crime victims extends compared to 61 per cent of criminal damage victims.
beyond bringing perpetrators to justice; victims also It also differs by ethnicity (67 per cent of White victims,
want to see a thorough investigation, to be treated compared to 59 and 57 per cent of Black and Asian
fairly and with respect, to be given practical assistance victims, respectively were ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied with
and reassurance (Hibberd, 2021). According to the the police) and by area-level deprivation (77 per cent in
Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), after the least deprived areas, compared to 56 per cent in
improving markedly around 2008/09, the proportion the most deprived) (ONS, 2021).
of all crime victims (excluding fraud victims) who were
Unsurprisingly investigative outcomes are associated
‘very satisfied’ with the police response declined from
with victim satisfaction: 71 per cent of victims were
42 per cent in 2014 to 32 per cent in 2020, while the
‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied where the police had found
proportion ‘not satisfied’ rose from 26 per cent to 34
out who committed the crime against them, compared
per cent (Figure 3.4).

48 A new mode of protection

Figure 3.4: Victim satisfaction with the police (ONS, 2021)

45%
45

40%
40

35%
35

30%
30

25%
25

20%
20
Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar
03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Not satisfied

to 63 per cent where this was not the case, and

where there was a charge, a caution, or court case,
3.3 PUBLIC CONFIDENCE
satisfaction was greater still (80 per cent or more). AND PERCEPTIONS OF LOCAL
Irrespective of outcomes however, satisfaction was POLICING
greater where victims felt well informed (91 per cent)
compared to those who were ‘not well’ informed (31 As a public service it is also important that the public
per cent) (ONS, 2021). as a whole feel that they are getting good value from
policing. While public views and attitudes about the
One private citizen responding to the Call for Evidence police are often complex, they can be summarised into
reflected on the way some victims felt the service a general confidence indicator, often operationalised
offered to ‘volume’ crime victims had been withdrawn in opinion surveys as a rating of overall local service
to deal with priorities elsewhere. quality (Jackson and Bradford, 2010; Bradford and
Jackson 2010).
“Whilst there is a general public acceptance that
some minor crimes cannot be pursued in the From a high-point of public approval in the mid-20th
lack of evidence, there is anger and dismay that century – when Royal Commissioners (1962) found that
reported crimes are assessed at point of contact four in five Britons expressed “great respect” for their
or that investigations are closed without the police service – public confidence is widely thought
victim ever having physical contact with police to have deteriorated over subsequent decades, as
and despite victims providing additional evidence the reputation of policing was hit by a succession of
themselves by what they see as necessity in the corruption scandals, miscarriages of justice and civil
lack of police interest. The general complaint disruption (Reiner, 2000). Despite this, a bedrock of
is that Police show no interest, merely handing public support endured, with approximately half of
out Crime Numbers as a response … Police are British adults at the turn of the millennium, rating their
currently losing public confidence in failing to deal local policing as at least ‘good’ (Loader and Mulcahy,
effectively with the everyday crimes” (CE1.37). 2003; Bradford and Jackson, 2010).

Since then we can identify two trends in the Crime

Survey for England and Wales, set out in Figure
3.5 below. There was a rise in public confidence
between 2006 and 2012, followed by stabilisation
and then a decline after 2016.14 These changes seem

14. The CSEW public perceptions module was suspended in early 2020 due to Covid-19 and no more recent national data is available. The London
Public Attitude Survey (PAS), conducted by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), switched to a telephone methodology during Covid
and shows that public confidence (as measured by agreement that ‘police do a good job in the local area’) has continued to fall in London during 2020
and 2021. During the 12 months to September 2021, 52 per cent of Londoners agreed that local police did a good job, compared with a high of 69
per cent in 2016/17 and 58 per cent in early 2020. See https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/mayors-office-policing-and-crime-mopac/data-and-
statistics/public-voice-dashboard

3. Police performance 49
 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
n the police in this area 63 64 65 67 69 72 75 75 76 76 79 78 78 75 74
Figure50 3.5: Public
excellent job in this area 51 confidence
53 in53 local police,
56 years
59 ending
62 March622006 to63March 2020.
62 Crime
63 Survey
62 for England
62 58 55
that matter in this area 45 49 51 52 61 59 61 62 62 61 59 55 52
and Wales (ONS, 2020).
90%
90
85%
85
80%
80
75%
75
70%
70
65%
65
60%
60
55%
55
50%
50
45%
45
40%
40
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
% strongly/tend to agree that I have confidence in the police in this area
% strongly/tend to agree that police are doing a good/excellent job in this area
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
nderstand local concerns 60 % strongly/tend
60 to
62 agree that
66 police 67
and local67council are
73 dealing71with the 72
crime and70ASB issues
71 that matter
70 in this
70 area 67 66
relied upon when needed 2006 47 2007 47 2008 48 2009 48 2010 50 2011 54 2012 59 2013 59 2014 61 2015 61 2016 61 2017 61 2018 62 2019 58 2020 58
nderstand
deal with local
local concerns
concerns 60
49 60
49 62
51 66
54 67
56 67
58 73
62 71
61 72
62 70
62 71
62 70
61 70
59 67
55 66
53
relied
uld treatupon
you when needed
with respect 47
82 47
83 48
83 48
84 50
84 54
85 59
86 59
86 61
86 61
86 61
87 61
87 62
88 58
88 58
87
49 58 62 62
deal
ce with treat
would local you
concerns
uld treat youPolice
fairly
in this
with respect
Figure49
633.6: Perceptions51
82 83
64of local 54
83
62
police, years
65
84
56
65
84
ending
85
March
67 2006 61
62
86
to March862020. Crime
65
86
67
86
Survey
62
67
87
for England
61
68
87
and
59
68
88
66 66 55
67
88
53
67
87
80 80 81 80 80
area can be
ce would treat you fairly
Police in this Wales (ONS, 2020) (percentage strongly/tend to agree)
63 62 64 65 65 67 67 65 66 66 67 68 68 67 67
80 80 81 80 80
area can be
90%
90
90
85%
85
85
80%
80
80
75%
75
75
70%
70
70
65%
65
65
60%
60
60
55%
55
55
50%
50
50
45%
45
45
40%
40
40 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Police understand
Community connectedness measures
local concerns Policetreatment
Personal would treat you with respect
measures
Police
Police understand
can be reliedlocal
uponconcerns
when needed Police would treat
Police would treat you
you with
fairly respect
Police can be relied upon when needed Police would treat you fairly
Police deal with local concerns Police in this area can be trusted
Police deal with local concerns Police in this area can be trusted

to be linked to a rise and then a fall in indicators of What is the best explanation for these trends? Figure
community connection (reliability, local understanding 3.7 compares the rise and fall of these perception
and dealing with local problems). They are less directly indicators with the rise and fall of the numbers of
linked to perceptions of police treatment (fairness, officers in neighbourhood policing roles. We can see
respectfulness, and trust) which have remained more that broadly speaking as the National Neighbourhood
consistent.15 Policing Programme was rolled out after 2008 indicators
of police visibility rose and so too did public confidence.

15. Although, as we describe in Chapter 6, London PAS data suggests these treatment indicators have been in decline since early 2020, raising concerns
about police legitimacy.

50 A new mode of protection

Figure 3.7: Confidence in local police, police visibility (ONS, 2020) and police officers and PCSOs in
‘Neighbourhood Policing’ roles (years ending March 2008 to March 2020.16

40,000 65%
65
60%
60
35,000
55%
55
30,000
50%
50
25,000 45%
45
20,000 40%
40
35%
35
15,000
30%
30
10,000
25%
25
5,000 20%
20
0 15%
15
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Neighbourhood Policing strength: (police officers and PCSOs in 'Neighbourhood Policing' roles) - left axis
Confidence: (% Strongly/tend to agree that police/council dealing with the crime and ASB in area) - right axis
Visibility: (CSEW: % seeing police patrol on foot/cycle at least once a week) - right axis

Once neighbourhood policing numbers started to

decline we see a fall in visibility and public confidence.
3.4 RESPONDING TO CALLS
FOR ASSISTANCE
This interpretation is consistent with research showing
links between public confidence and police visibility, Arguably above all other functions, responding to calls
and with overall police officer numbers (Sindall and for urgent public assistance, defines the police role (see
Sturgis, 2013), with both relationships mediated by the Chapter 5). The available data indicates that between
quality and quantity of local police engagement. It is 2016 and 2019 the volume of 999 calls increased
also consistent with our analysis of variations in public by 14 per cent, while the number of non-emergency
confidence across police forces, where we found a calls to 101 fell by 13 per cent.18 This meant that the
positive correlation between changes in the numbers combined volume of calls reduced by around 5 per
of neighbourhood officers and PCSOs in a force and cent in this timeframe. HMICFRS (2020) has suggested
public confidence.17 that the public is losing confidence in 101 due to
poor responses and are therefore calling 999 instead.
We conclude that if the police systematically seek to Volumes of online reporting are far lower.
engage, listen and respond to local concerns, this
tends to improve public confidence in the police. When, The publicly available data indicates that between
as over the last decade, the police do less of that, 2016/17 and 2018/19 13 per cent of 999 calls and
public confidence tends to decline. We return to the 24 per cent of 101 calls were not answered within the
implications of this insight in Chapter 6. waiting time target (within 10 seconds for all but two
forces).19 On average, 0.8 per cent of 999 calls and
12 per cent of 101 calls were not answered at all or
dropped (CoPaCC, 2020).

16. Home Office workforce data is used for years ending March 2012 to 2020, see: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-
england-and-wales. The 2008 figure is derived from a set of HMIC inspections of Neighbourhood Policing and Developing Citizen Focus Policing
conducted in that year, for full methodology see Higgins (2017).
17. Comparing 2015/16 with 2019/20, a weak positive correlation (0.42) was found between force-level changes in (‘single’ measure) public confidence
and workforce numbers allocated to ‘neighbourhood policing’ (for police officers only, the correlation was 0.40). No relationship was found with overall
police officer numbers, or total workforce, or with the numbers allocated to ‘local policing’ (neighbourhood and response functions combined).
18. These figures are based on data from 35 police forces.
19. These figures are based on data from 30 police forces.

3. Police performance 51
09:55 09:55 10:03 10:21 10:55 11:42 12:08 13:05 13:03

9.55 9.55 10.03 10.21 10.55 11.42 12.08 13.05 13.03

2010
2010 2011
2011 2012
2012 2013
2013 2014
2014 2015
2015 2016
2016 2017
2017 2018
2018
09:55 09:55 10:03 10:21 10:55 11:42 12:08 13:05 13:03

9.55 14.009.55 10.03 10.21 10.55 11.42 12.08 13.05 13.03

2010 2011 3.8 Average
Figure 2012 response
2013 times for
2014 immediate
2015 2016 9992017
calls 2018

14:00
14.00
13.00

13:00
13.00
12.00

12:00
12.00
11.00

11:00
11.00
10.00

10:00
10.00
9.00

09:00
9.00
8.00
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Source:
8.00 see References (page 175) which shows the data sources for the response times analysis.
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Turning from call handling to attendance, Figure 3.8 However, we also note that HMICFRS judge that police
indicates that the speed of police response to the most forces are more consistently achieving ‘good’ standards
urgent 999 calls has slowed. Between 2010 and 2018 of effectiveness (see Figure 3.9). Despite the pressures
response times increased by 32 per cent.20 they are under, the inspectorate finds that most forces
continue to use the resources they have efficiently
and in responsible ways. It appears then that police
3.5 POLICING UNDER forces are doing better with what they have, under the
PRESSURE circumstances they find themselves in – but the results
of that performance are increasingly poor.
This chapter has found strong indications that police
performance is going backwards: decreasingly able to This indicates that the problem is not principally with
secure justice for crime victims, very rarely being able to how police forces are managed but rather that they are
do so for victims of rape, cybercrime and fraud, less often struggling because of the circumstances in which they
meeting victims’ expectations, decreasingly visible within find themselves. For one thing, the police (and the other
communities, losing public confidence and responding public services they depend upon) have been subject
less quickly to public calls for urgent assistance. Whatever to a period of unprecedented austerity which has eaten
the cause it is noteworthy that all of these traditional into their ability to provide a service to the public. This
indicators of police performance are going backwards. has now started to be reversed, but the consequences

Figure 3.9 HMICFRS PEEL police force ratings 2015 to 2018/19 (HMICFRS, no date)

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0
201520152015
2015 201620162016
2016 20172017
20172018/19
2017
2018/19
2018/19
2018/19 201520152015
2015 201620162016
2016 20172017
20172018/19
2017
2018/19
2018/19
2018/19 201520152015
2015 201620162016
2016 20172017
20172018/19
2017
2018/19
2018/19
2018/19
Effectiveness Efficiency
Effectiveness
Effectiveness
Effectiveness
Effectiveness Efficiency
Efficiency
Efficiency
Efficiency Legitimacy
Legitimacy
Legitimacy
Legitimacy
Legitimacy
Inadequate
Inadequate
Inadequate
Inadequate Requires
Requires
Requires
improvement
Requires improvement
improvement
improvement GoodGood
Good Good
Outstanding
Outstanding
Outstanding
Outstanding

20. This is based on a collation of existing FOI data. Data was found for 14 forces, with some missing values.

52 A new mode of protection

of such significant cuts to police and other public We can also see this capacity challenge in relation
service budgets will be with us for some time. to the way the police have had to shift to focusing
more on high harm cases and less on volume crime.
But perhaps more significantly still the police are
With increased focus on sexual and domestic abuse
operating in a world that is changing radically,
offences, generally requiring complex and lengthy
generating more complex cases and a wider range of
investigation, the police response to victims of
demands. It is likely that declining police performance
traditional volume crime is often minimal.
is less of a management problem and more of a
sociological one. The world has changed and our Part II of this report focuses on addressing this capacity
traditional model of policing has not kept pace. challenge, first, by looking at the role wider society
should play in public safety and, second, by bringing
greater clarity to the role of the police.
3.6 CONCLUSION
Second, there is a capability challenge. It is not
There are three main implications from our analysis so just that the police lack sufficient resources to tackle
far and responding to these provides the structure for these challenges, but also that the police service lacks
the rest of this report. many of the capabilities required to do so. In Part III
First, there is a capacity challenge: such is the range of this report we show how these capability gaps are
and complexity of public safety demand there is no way impacting on the ability of the police to protect the
that the police on their own are able to tackle it. We can public.
already see this with the response to surging levels of Finally, there is an organisational challenge. The
internet crime. Very few of the fraud offences reported police service needs an organisational platform that can
to the police result in a person being charged. If one of deliver the capabilities required to meet the challenges
the most basic expectations of the police is that they we have described. Part IV of the report focuses on
catch criminals and bring them before the courts, when addressing this organisational challenge.
it comes to the largest category of crime affecting the
people of England and Wales the police are simply not
able to perform that function.

3. Police performance 53
54 A new mode of protection
 PART II
POLICING IN A SYSTEM

55
56 A new mode of protection
4. THE PUBLIC SAFETY
SYSTEM
Summary: The police cannot tackle the range and volume of the public safety challenges we face on their
own. We need to do much more to prevent crime and harm from happening in the first place. We need a
public safety system as well as a criminal justice system. A public safety system must be anchored around a
new Crime Prevention Agency, backed up by a new duty on business to prevent crime.

There is no feasible strategy that addresses the range, is just one element in a wider strategy for promoting
volume and complexity of the public safety challenges public safety. What is required is a broad social
of the 21st century through the work of the police and response to crime and harm based upon a more explicit
the criminal justice system alone. and institutionally anchored public safety system.

The technological revolution is a transformative event In what follows we do four things: first, we define what
which means that the single largest categories of we mean by a public safety system; second, we make
crime affecting people in England and Wales (fraud the case for a systemic focus on crime and harm
and cybercrime) are very largely beyond the reach prevention; third, we describe how other sectors have
of the police and the courts. If the public’s traditional successfully adopted harm prevention approaches;
expectation is that we deal with crime by catching and and finally we outline what the public safety system
punishing the perpetrators, this is simply not happening should look like, making a number of recommendations
in relation to internet crime. whose aim is to shift the focus of our response to crime
and harm away from simply reacting to it and towards
Added to this is the need to address vast swathes of
preventing it from happening in the first place.
unreported harm, particularly violence against women
and girls and child sexual abuse. Currently police forces
are simply unable to proactively focus on the most 4.1 WHAT IS A PUBLIC SAFETY
harmful offenders and the most vulnerable victims,
many of whom will not report to the police. Instead, the
SYSTEM?
police struggle to cope with the minority of cases that Public safety can be defined as the protection of the
are reported to them. public from various forms of harm, including crime, fire,
medical emergencies, natural disasters and antisocial
Then there is the need to provide a more effective
behaviour. In this chapter we exclude the work of the
response to the traditional volume crimes such as
fire and ambulance services from our focus, although
burglary and car theft which the public expect the police
we note that these could in principle be incorporated
to attend and investigate. Many of these incidents are
into a ‘public safety system’. Our focus here is on
simply being ‘screened out’ at the point of reporting,
preventing those problems from occurring that would
given the lack of resources to pursue them.
otherwise require a response from the police.
So, there is a capacity challenge in terms of public
A public safety system is a system of actors and
safety. But this should not however be a counsel of
institutions whose aim is to promote safety and to
despair. In this part of the report we propose a two-step
prevent harm. Note its aim is different to that of the
solution to this challenge.21 First, we need to design a
justice system, whose purpose is to secure the just
whole system response to public safety that goes way
treatment of offenders in the interests of society and
beyond the work of the police. Second, we need to be
victims in particular. In some ways it is comparable
much clearer about the role of the police within that
to other safety-oriented systems, such as the health
system.
and safety system which seeks to prevent workplace
In this chapter we make the case for seeing the police accidents and the road safety system which seeks to
as just one part of a wider societal response to crime prevent road traffic collisions.
and harm. The police role is vital and important, but it

21. Note we address another aspect of capacity – the funding for the police service – in Chapter 13.

4. The public safety system 57

 Box 4.1 The distinction between direct and indirect prevention

When we claim that the state is not investing sufficiently in preventing crime and wider harms
we are talking about direct as opposed to indirect prevention.
Direct prevention refers to activities whose primary purpose is to prevent crime and wider harms. This would include for
example the work of initiatives such as Secured By Design, a police service programme run by Police Crime Prevention
Initiatives that works to improve the security of buildings and their immediate surroundings (SBD, 2021). It would also
include the work of the Violence Reduction Units, whose role is explicitly to tackle the causes of violent crime.

Our argument is that the state spends too little on that kind of direct, strategically organised preventative work. It does
spend money by contrast on activities that may indirectly prevent crime and harm. There are two main ways in which it
does this.

First, the operation of the criminal justice system may have the effect of preventing crime, such as by deterring potential
offenders or taking convicted offenders off the streets by putting them in prison. However, these preventative effects of the
criminal justice system are indirect by-products of activities undertaken for other reasons, most importantly the need to
bring an offender to justice for their crimes.

The second way in which the state might be understood to invest in prevention is that many welfare state provisions and
public services may have a preventative impact on crime and wider harms. One might argue, for example, that social
security expenditure or spending on schools and nurseries all prevent crime because they ameliorate some of the social
conditions in which crime would otherwise flourish. One might argue on that basis that the state does in fact spend a lot of
money on preventing crime. However, these preventative effects are indirect by-products of activities undertaken for other
reasons.

Our claim is not that the state does nothing to prevent crime and wider harm, but rather that it engages in far too little
direct preventative work in the arena of public safety. This means that very many opportunities are being missed to prevent
crime and to keep people safe.

We identify a number of different ways of thinking about Much of the activity will take place in other sectors
prevention which we discuss in an Insight Paper (education, health, local government etc) and most of
published as part of this Review (Muir, 2021). Our that activity will not be undertaken with the primary aim
preferred typology is that used within the public health of preventing crime. Crime and harm prevention will
field which breaks prevention down into: often be an indirect by-product of social policies and
programmes which are important in their own right (see
•  Primary prevention: efforts to prevent problems
Box 4.1).
occurring in the first place.
However, institutions within the public safety system
•  Secondary prevention: intervening early when a
will have responsibility for thinking strategically about
problem starts to emerge, to prevent it becoming
what needs to be in place to prevent crime and harm.
established.
They will identify gaps and either work with others to fill
•  Tertiary prevention: making sure ongoing them or commission or deliver direct prevention work
problems are well managed to avoid crises and themselves.
reduce harmful consequences.

We favour this typology because it contains 4.2 THE CASE FOR A SYSTEMIC
broad categories that can be applied in changing APPROACH TO PREVENTION
circumstances. It is also a typology with which police
practitioners are increasingly familiar, given the growing In this section we make the case for a public safety
intersection of their work with that of public health system, looking first at the evidence base on the
professionals. efficacy of prevention, second, at why prevention is
not currently prioritised and, finally, at why we need a
A public safety system should be designed to ensure systemic approach.
that work to prevent crime and harm is undertaken at
all three stages. Actors within the public safety system
would not necessarily deliver this work themselves.

58 A new mode of protection

4.2.1 Prevention is better than cure: the Similarly, in the US the National Crime Victimisation
evidence Survey (NCVS) found that recorded burglary
The general case for prevention makes intuitive sense. victimisation rates fell from 11 per cent of households
It is better to stop a bad thing from happening in the in 1973 to under 3 per cent in 2003. There were similar
first place than to deal with the deleterious effects falls in domestic burglary across all industrialised
afterwards. Not only does this make intuitive sense, countries (Ross, 2013).
but there is also a strong evidence base showing that Tseloni et al (2017) show that the cause of this drop
preventative measures can reduce harm in a way that was improved home security. There were rapid
is superior to later interventions and achieves wider increases in the prevalence of security measures over
economic and social benefits. this period (improved locks, burglar alarms, lighting,
For example, there is strong evidence that action in the cameras etc). Homes without security were much
early years of a child’s life helps to avoid harms later. more likely to be burgled and the decline in burglary
Research has shown that a child’s healthy physical was in forced rather than unforced entry (Tseloni et al,
development can be promoted by providing breast 2017). The increase in the number of attempted but
feeding support or smoking cessation assistance to failed entries alongside the drop in burglaries is also
mothers during pregnancy. Good quality early years supportive of this ‘security hypothesis’ (Ross, 2013).
provision, offered alongside parental support, can help There is a similar story with the fall in car crime. Vehicle
close cognitive development gaps between richer and related theft in England and Wales fell by 84 per cent
poorer children, with lasting benefits (Early Intervention between 1995 and 2021, according to the Crime
Foundation, 2018). Survey for England and Wales (ONS, 2021). In the US,
Not only do these forms of early intervention have car theft in 2011 had fallen to its lowest level since
intrinsic benefits (improving children’s health, wellbeing 1967 (Ross, 2013). Between 2003 and 2016 car theft
and educational attainment), they generate wider in France fell by 43.5 per cent and between 2003 and
economic gains. Moreover, they reduce the costs to the 2018 car theft in Germany fell by 54 per cent (Strategic
public purse that are incurred when things go wrong Review of Policing, 2020).
(Early Intervention Foundation, 2018). The cause of this decline in vehicle theft across
Another policy area where there is a strong evidence industrialised countries was again not tougher
base for the value of preventative work is public sentences or changes in policing tactics, but rather
health. Long-term health conditions lead to hundreds the introduction of improved security measures by the
of thousands of premature deaths every year. And car manufacturers, including immobilisers, intruder
yet such diseases are largely preventable through alarms, central locking, better keys and tougher doors,
lifestyle changes, such as stopping smoking, doing windows and boots. The trend in ‘twocking’ that drove
more exercise, eating healthier food and drinking less car theft in the 1980s and 90s went into sharp reverse
alcohol (Owen et al, 2011). Research has repeatedly as vehicles that were relatively easy to steal became
demonstrated the cost effectiveness of often very much harder to penetrate (Ross, 2013).
simple public health interventions, compared with the Indeed, the reverse of this argument is also true: simple
costs of treating and managing disease (Owen et al, technical changes to products very often cause crime
2011, WHO, 2014). waves. For example, the recent increase in car theft
The case for doing more to prevent crime is equally has been concentrated in high value vehicles that have
powerful. The evidence is now unequivocal that the keyless entry and can be penetrated using remote
biggest factor in explaining the traditional crime drop technology (Harding, 2020). Such crime waves could
discussed in Chapter 2 was not activity by the police be avoided if more was done earlier on to anticipate the
or tougher prison sentences but upstream preventative criminogenic effects of new products.
action, in particular in reducing the opportunities to
offend. 4.2.2. Why so little focus on prevention?
So, the case for prioritising crime and harm prevention is
Crime fell across all industrialised nations over roughly compelling. Despite this far too little is currently done to
the same period, despite these nations having very prevent crime and wider harm. Most of the state’s direct
different approaches to policing and criminal justice. interventions to make the public safe are reactive rather
Between 1995 and 2021 the number of burglaries in than preventative in nature. We spend £24.5bn a year on
England and Wales fell by 81 per cent (ONS, 2021). policing and criminal justice, most of which is spent on

4. The public safety system 59

responding to calls for assistance, investigating crimes, increased regulation, which may be required to ensure
apprehending suspects, bringing suspects before the that businesses take steps to prevent crime or other
courts and then managing those convicted in prison or harms.
in the community.22 While some of that reactive work can
Finally, specifically in relation to crime, our traditional
have a preventative effect, only a small proportion of that
attachment to ideas about human agency and
money is spent on direct preventative work (see Box 4.1
responsibility also plays a role in the state’s under
for what we mean by this).
investment in prevention. There is a powerful human
Why, then, is there so little focus on crime and harm instinct to hold an individual who has committed a
prevention? There are various interconnected reasons crime responsible for it. It is that instinct that has
for this. arguably led us to locate the state’s response to crime
within the criminal justice system, whose role is to hold
First, in a democracy with regular election cycles there
people to account for the crimes they have committed.
is a natural tendency towards political short termism. In
order to show voters tangible results, political leaders A commitment to crime prevention is certainly not
are incentivised to focus on addressing acute problems incompatible with the punishment of individual offenders
of high public concern. This crowds out the space and but there are tensions between the pursuit of justice
funding available for preventative measures whose and the demands of prevention. So, for example, it
costs are paid upfront and whose benefits may only be is now widely accepted that for lower-level criminal
realised long after the current class of politicians has offences, certainly first-time offences by children and
moved on. young people, it is better to divert the offender to a
social intervention than to see them charged with
Second, policy making is fragmented into different
an offence which may suck them into a lifetime of
government departments and this creates barriers
interactions with the criminal justice system. The focus
to preventative action. Specifically, it means that the
in such cases is on preventing re-occurrence rather
benefits from adopting a preventative policy often do
than on holding the individual to account.
not accrue to those who invest in it. So, for example,
there is evidence that investment in early years However, public support for such approaches tends to
education can reduce the likelihood of a child getting fall away the older the offender, the greater the impact
involved in crime in adolescence. In this case the costs on the victim and the more responsible for their actions
of the preventative measures fall to the education we deem the offender to be.
department, while the benefits in terms of reduced
Nevertheless, there is no reason why this has to be
costs accrue to the home and justice departments.
an ‘either/or’ choice between pursuing justice and
Third, although preventative action can lead to preventing future harm. As we shall see, it is perfectly
reductions in costs on public services, it may not possible to do a lot more to prevent future crimes, while
necessarily lead to ‘cashable savings’ (immediate also doing more to secure justice for victims.
reductions in what local providers, commissioners
or central government need to spend on providing 4.2.3 Why we need a systemic approach
services). For example, because the police service Public policy aimed at tackling crime tends to focus
faces such large volumes of unmet demand, if one on the response of the police and the criminal justice
source of demand is reduced the organisation would be system. But by the time the police, the Crown
expected to use the opportunity to deal with the other Prosecution Service and the courts get involved the
sources of demand that were not previously prioritised. harm has already been caused and we are left bearing
Fourth, the evidence base for interventions may the costs of late interventions to tackle entrenched
not be strong and research in areas such as early problems. Because of this focus on responding when
childhood intervention can take a long time to bear fruit. things go wrong, we are missing a whole range of
These gaps in the evidence base can make it hard to earlier opportunities to prevent harm. In an Insight
convince policymakers that funding will be worthwhile. Paper written to inform this review Muir highlighted a
whole range of missed preventive opportunities found
Fifth, taking preventative action can involve costs for through in-depth case studies of pension scams, online
social and economic actors that they would rather child sexual abuse and serious violence (see Muir,
avoid. For example, this is particularly the case with 2021).

22. The £24.5 billion figure includes the combined budget for the police (£15.2 billion) and the Ministry of Justice (£9.3 billion) in 2020/21 (Home Office,
2020: HM Treasury 2021).

60 A new mode of protection

Why are these opportunities being missed? The The investigation of air accidents sits separately with
reason is that no one is responsible for crime and harm the Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB). Their
prevention. We have clear roles and responsibilities investigators use data from the aircraft and air traffic
for reacting to crime and harm once it has occurred, control and interviews with those involved to come
in relation to responding to emergencies, investigating to a conclusion as to the cause of any accident.
crimes, safeguarding those in acute need, bringing These results are published and the AAIB can make
suspects before the courts and so on. But no one owns recommendations to the CAA, aircraft manufacturers or
the task of prevention. What is required if we are to other organisations to look into issues in more detail or
move prevention to the heart of our public safety efforts make changes. It is noteworthy that the AAIB tends to
is a much more systemic approach. take a ‘no blame’ approach to its investigations in order
to promote honesty and openness about what went
We have a criminal justice system, but we lack an
wrong so that adjustments can be made to prevent re-
explicit and institutionally anchored public safety
occurrence (The Police Foundation, 2018).
system, whose focus is on promoting safety and
preventing harm. We now turn to other sectors where The results of this regulatory system overall are
clearer ownership of safety and harm prevention has impressive. Air travel is extremely safe. There is an
shown real benefits. average of one fatality for every 287 million passengers
carried by UK airlines. This can be compared with a
one in 19 million chance of being struck and killed by
4.3 SAFETY SYSTEMS IN OTHER lightning in the UK or a one in 17,000 chance of being
SECTORS killed in a road accident (CAA, 2021).

In this section we describe two areas of public policy

4.3.2 Health and safety at work
where safety systems have long been established, with
At around the same time as the Civil Aviation Authority
a strong track record of harm prevention. These are
was established so too was the Health and Safety
aviation safety and health and safety at work.
Executive (HSE), founded by the 1974 Safety at Work
etc Act. The HSE’s mission is to prevent work related
4.3.1 Aviation safety
death, injury and ill health. To achieve this, it provides
As a society our approach to crime contrasts markedly advice and guidance to business and workers,
with our approach to aviation safety. Whereas with investigates possible breaches of the law, promotes
crime the main focus of our activities is on holding research and training and proposes health and safety
offenders to account after a crime has occurred, regulations to the government.
through the efforts of the police and the wider criminal
justice system, with aviation safety the approach is the Health and safety regulation and enforcement is split
reverse. No one wants to see any planes crash resulting between the HSE which leads on national policy
at a stroke in the deaths of hundreds of passengers. and local authorities who are generally responsible
As a result the focus of air safety efforts is not on for inspection and enforcement in retail, wholesale
accountability after an accident has occurred but is distribution and warehousing, hotel and catering
rather on preventing flight failures through regulation, premises, offices, and the consumer/ leisure industries.
technical improvement and education. The HSE has a Local Authority Unit (LAU) which
provides support to councils in the performance of their
In the UK, air safety is promoted by the Civil Aviation health and safety functions, promoting consistency and
Authority (CAA) which was established in 1972 as an providing guidance.
independent regulator of the aviation industry. The
CAA is not funded from the public purse but derives its The HSE focuses its work on those sectors where the
income from charges to those it provides services to risks to health and safety are high, for example where
and regulates. The CAA’s functions are to promote the work is intrinsically hazardous or where a sector’s
highest possible safety standards in the airline industry, health and safety record is poor. For example, it has in
protect the interests of consumers (such as by running recent years focused on reducing occupational asthma
ATOL, the customer protection scheme), manage the by targeting the vehicle repair industry. Exposure to
impact of flying on the environment and ensure security chemicals in the paints used in car repair is a common
risks are properly managed. cause of asthma. The HSE has worked with the
industry to train workers in how to safely spray paint
and to monitor risk, leading to a reduction in exposure
(HSE, 2016).

4. The public safety system 61

It is worth emphasising that the HSE largely focuses
its work at the point where there is most leverage, with
4.4 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
the employers who hold most of the power to effect THE PUBLIC SAFETY SYSTEM
change. The HSE also has a horizon scanning function
The core challenge in making a shift to a more
to look out for and anticipate future risks so that
preventative approach to public safety is to make sure
preventative steps can be taken. For example, over the
that there is clear ownership of the problem at all levels.
past decade the HSE has been working with industry
and academia to set standards for the safe introduction
4.4.1 A national crime prevention strategy
of hydrogen-powered, fuel-cell electric vehicles and the
development of a safe refuelling infrastructure (HSE, Tackling crime and wider harms requires a truly cross-
2016). government approach. There is therefore a need for a
cross-departmental strategy for crime prevention that
The HSE has a very successful record. Since 1981 mobilises work across the whole of government. There
the rate of fatal injury has fallen in the UK from 2.1 is currently a Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, owned
per 100,000 workers to 0.34 per 100,000. In 2017 by the Home Office, but it is largely aspirational and as
there were just 0.52 fatal injuries at work per 100,000 one national police leader told us “it isn’t a strategy”
employees in the UK, compared to 0.93 in Italy, 1.7 in because it contains no delivery plan.
Spain and three in France (HSE, 2020). In 2017 the UK
was ranked fifth out of 29 European countries for the Instead, a strategy is required that focuses the
lowest number of fatal injuries in the workplace. The government’s work on priority areas, sets outcomes,
percentage of workers reporting an accident at work articulates how those outcomes will be achieved and by
resulting in sick leave in the last twelve months was just whom. This strategy ought to make explicit what roles
1.35 per cent in the UK, compared to 1.8 per cent in and responsibilities different actors are expected to play.
Spain and 3 per cent in France. Rather than the strategy being the responsibility of a
single minister in a particular department it would make
4.3.3 Lessons sense for this to be a cross government effort, led by
the Cabinet Office in collaboration with the Home Office
The UK’s experience in aviation and workplace safety
and with the authority of the Prime Minister behind it.
shows the value of having a system focused on the
prevention of harm. Such a system means that there
4.4.2 A Crime Prevention Agency
is a set of organisations and relationships that provide
an institutional anchor around which goals can be set, The evidence from other sectors shows that it is
priorities decided upon, regulations developed and important to have a flagship agency that owns the
action instigated. problem and is responsible for coordinating activity to
ensure that strategic aims are delivered.
Moreover, it is clear who owns the problem of air and
workplace accidents and is accountable for outcomes. There are two options here:
So, if the number of air accidents or workplace fatalities
•  We could establish a new non-departmental public
increased, we would want to know what the CAA or the
body, akin to the HSE or the CAA, which would have
HSE were going to do make air travel and work safer.
ownership of crime and harm prevention nationally;
When we turn to crime and other public safety threats Or
there is no such system nor any real ownership of the
•  We could vest these responsibilities within an
prevention task. Instead, most of the resource and the
existing body, presumably within the policing family
accountability in relation to crime is vested downstream
of institutions.
with the police and the criminal justice system. We
know that the police are accountable for responding to We support the creation of a new agency. The
calls for assistance, investigating crimes and catching advantages of a dedicated agency are that it would
criminals and that the justice system is responsible prioritise this work and bring about a focus that is likely
for holding individuals to account for crimes they to be lacking if these tasks were added to the portfolio
have committed. It is not clear who is responsible for of an existing organisation. There are also advantages
preventing crimes from happening in the first place. to this not being a policing institution. Part of the point
of such a body is that all sectors of society should play
We now turn to what a public safety system should look
their part in crime prevention and that crime control
like in practice.
should not be seen as a ‘police problem’.

62 A new mode of protection

A new Crime Prevention Agency (CPA) would perform •  It would provide leadership, advice and support from
the following functions: the centre to the other actors in the system.

•  In an annual report to parliament, it would provide

4.4.3 A duty to prevent crime
an independent assessment of the state of crime
and related harms and the preventative measures In order to catalyse preventative action throughout
required to tackle them. society the government should legislate to create a
statutory duty on commercial organisations to prevent
•  It would provide strategic advice to the government crime. Under the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act a
on the policies required to improve public safety. In number of public bodies including local authorities and
particular, it would develop guidance and regulations the police already have a duty to do all they reasonably
for priority sectors. can to prevent crime. We suggest that a general ‘duty
to prevent crime’ should be applied to large firms
•  It would have an enforcement function in relation to
across the private sector.23 This would reflect the
a duty to prevent crime, with power to enforce such
‘polluter pays’ principle: those whose products and
a duty (see below).
services are currently creating opportunities for crime
•  It would establish national level partnerships in those would be asked to invest upfront in designing it out at
industries and sectors where concerns are highest, source.
and ensure these partnerships are sustained and
This was successfully achieved with the car
effective, with their own preventative strategies. In
manufacturers in the 1980s and 90s, who were
particular, a core focus on the agency in its early
persuaded to invest in improved security measures.
years should be on bringing down the volumes of
Rather than this constituting a major cost to business,
fraud and cybercrime where it is hard to catch cross
in many ways this effort spurred greater innovation as
border offenders and where prevention rather than
companies competed to demonstrate the security of
prosecution is key.
their vehicles.
•  The agency would lead on developing and
Companies will of course be concerned about potential
maintaining key international relationships, such
liabilities and whether a broader duty to prevent crime
as with the US based tech companies, to ensure
would be proportionate. However, it is worth pointing to
ongoing dialogue, data sharing and joint work.
the example of the 2010 Bribery Act which introduced
•  It would oversee strategic communications a duty on commercial organisations to prevent bribery.
around crime prevention so that the public receive Companies have a defence under the act if they have
consistent messages in areas where behaviour implemented adequate policies and processes to
change is required. prevent bribery.

•  Working alongside a new Home Office unit which Despite initial criticism from business groups, the House
will provide a horizon scanning function (see Chapter of Lords Select Committee on the Bribery Act 2010
11) it would look to the future to understand for recently concluded that the legislation is operating very
example what new products and technologies are effectively (House of Lords Select Committee on the
in development and what their criminogenic impact Bribery Act 2010, 2019). Importantly rather than taking
might be. This should lead to something analogous firms straight to court, prosecutors have used Deferred
to an ‘early warning system’ and prompt earlier Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) which mean that
intervention to ensure crime is designed out at prosecutions can be suspended and ultimately avoided
source. if companies implement policies agreed with the Serious
Fraud Office. Rather than leading to an avalanche of
•  The agency would provide a research function prosecutions the Act, combined with DPAs, has created
that would work with universities and practitioner an important tool to ensure that anti-bribery procedures
groups to support primary research, systematic are implemented (Given and Kerr, 2018).
reviews, evaluations and practice guidance. This
would develop the evidence base around effective While the CPA would have enforcement powers in
interventions and share findings in a way that is relation to the new crime prevention duty our hope
useful to practitioners.

23. We do not specify the size of the organisations here as this is something that will need to be considered at length by the government. We are clear that
we should seek to avoid imposing excessive requirements on small businesses.

4. The public safety system 63

would be that the mere possibility of their use will be these relationships could be improved to promote a
sufficient to promote change. more preventative approach.

The general duty to prevent crime would build on We identify the following barriers to public service
existing duties in particular sectors. For example, it collaboration:
would build on the ‘duty of care’ being introduced for
•  A reluctance to share data often due to risk aversion
social media companies under the Online Harms Bill. It
in relation to data protection laws.
would also build on existing requirements for financial
services institutions, such as the requirement to report •  A cluttered patchwork of partnership structures that
suspicious activity. In introducing a general duty, the requires rationalisation.
government would need to consider if the general duty •  Mismatched governance, with multiple layers
would supplant these existing responsibilities. of local government and public services often
operating on different boundaries, serving different
4.4.4 Greater local collaboration to prevent political masters and pursuing different outcomes.
harm
•  Silo-based funding from Whitehall which inhibits joint
Preventing social problems from escalating into crisis working.
and ending up requiring an emergency response
necessitates much greater collaboration between local •  Long-standing differences in professional mind sets
public services. and cultures.

We illustrate some of the challenges in Boxes 4.2 and To develop a plan to tackle all of these barriers would
4.3 which focus on the relationship between policing, require a major review in itself. Therefore, we suggest
health and local government respectively and how six propositions, which if followed could help to unlock

Box 4.2 Key relationship: policing and local mental health services
One of the most critical relationships in terms of harm prevention is that between the police and the local NHS, particularly
focusing on mental health problems that so often result in a call for service from the police. Almost a third of those taken
into police custody are identified as having a current mental health problem (Adebolawe, 2013). In addition, police detain
around 33,600 people a year who are in a public place and in need of ‘immediate care or control’ under Section 136 of the
Mental Health Act 1988. They also have powers under Section 135 of the Mental Health Act to aid medical professionals in
removing someone with a mental health disorder to a place of safety for assessment so their needs can be met.

A number of reports over the last ten years have highlighted failings in the way the police have responded to mental health
incidents (see Bradley, 2009, Adebowale, 2013). These include:

• The fact that the police receive too little specific training in mental health awareness despite high levels of contact with
those with mental health problems.

• Disproportionate use of force.

• Discriminatory attitudes.

• A disconnect between police policy and frontline practice.

• A failure to share information, made worse by incompatible information systems and unclear or non-existent protocols
for joint working

• A lack of priority for mental health issues within the Ambulance Service, leaving the police often inappropriately as the
only means of providing transport for a patient.

Since these reports the Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat was agreed, setting set out how public services – including
health, police and social care – should work together to respond to people with mental health problems. A 2021
inspection detailed the measures that police had put in place with partners to build trust and ensure collaborative decision
making; it found, for example, that:

• Most forces had accessible mental health leads.

• Mental health professionals work alongside police to consider cases coming in and advise officers on the ground, either
in person via street triage vehicles or remotely through control room triage.

• In all forces, there is a mental health expert carrying out liaison and diversion to ensure those coming into custody are
assessed and receive appropriate help and support.                  (continued on page 64)

64 A new mode of protection

 Box 4.2 Key relationship: policing and local mental health services (continued from page 63)
• Improvement in the availability of ‘place of safety beds’, so police facilities are now only being used as a place of safety
(for adults) in exceptional circumstances.
• Police officers understand minor crimes, linked to mental health needs, could be discontinued in favour of a health care
approach.
• There is an extensive suite of diversion opportunities and critical pathways in every force.
• Police custody staff take screening and managing detainee risk very seriously and this featured heavily in custody staff
training and in custody management systems.
• Most forces have extensive healthcare coverage in all sites (Singh, 2021).

However, while much has improved, people with mental health needs are still being failed, and demand still exceeds police
capacity to meet it. As Michael Brown writes, the problem is not with the police “but the extent to which we over-rely upon
the police as a de facto mental health and crisis care provider” (Brown, 2020).

Remaining challenges include:

• High thresholds for mental health assessments meaning that police still have to deal with a huge amount of mental
health demand, either because an individual’s needs are not deemed to be acute enough for mental health specialists or
the fact they are under of the influence of drink or drugs means they cannot be assessed (Singh, 2021).
• The fact that other mental health services are not available 24/7. A 2018 inspection by HMICFRS found that, at the end
of each working day partner organisations shifted responsibilities for mental health onto policing, resulting in worse care
out of hours (HMICFRS, 2018).
• Where someone has been arrested for a criminal offence but then assessed as having mental health needs, shortages
of beds in mental health units means they can wait days in a police cell before there is a space for them to be admitted.
• The police are routinely called out when someone has ’absconded’ from a mental health setting, when there have not
been enough medical staff to either prevent someone from leaving or to locate them (Brown, 2020).

The solutions to these issues lie way beyond improved training for the police, but rather with enhanced capacity within
the NHS to prevent mental health crises developing in the first place. The latest National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC)
strategy calls for minimising “those occasions where police officers provide responses purely because of capacity issues or
other difficulties in health care agencies”, since even the most compassionate and understanding police officers are not a
substitute for professional mental health care (NPCC, 2020).

The NPCC strategy argues that partnership is best done, not when each organisation seeks to bridge the gaps left by the
other, but when they work collectively to properly understand the demand they face and what they can each do, according
to their expertise, to reduce it by intervening early (NPCC, 2020).

This can be done by jointly reviewing the reasons why individuals repeatedly present to the police or the emergency system
as a whole, and seek to prevent this using targeted interventions by healthcare organisations or the criminal justice system
(NPCC, 2020).

collaboration and enable preventative activity at the As we shall discuss in Chapter 11 below, the mayoral
local level. None of these are specific to preventing model has the great advantage of providing a single form
crime and other public safety incidents, simply because of political authority across a range of services which are
in order to tackle those problems a wider prevention all often dealing with the same complex problems.
effort cutting across all public service sectors,
Second, whatever the governance arrangements,
orientated to a range of different outcomes, is required.
local public services should work to a common vision
First, the government should find ways of simplifying local for the future of their area and there should be a
governance. Ideally most local public services should sit common outcomes and accountability framework with
under a single governance framework. This is starting an emphasis on harm prevention.24 This should be
to happen in many towns, cities and city regions that accompanied by a set of operating principles describing
have directly elected Mayors. In Greater Manchester how the different partners will work together.
for example the Mayor has responsibility for economic
Third, the government should continue to explore ways
development, transport, skills, policing and health, working
of creating place-based budgets covering multiple
alongside local government through a Combined Authority.

24. We are grateful to members of the Board of Liveable Exeter who discussed with us how their partnership for the city operates. They emphasised that
having a motivating and unifying vision for a place is critical.

4. The public safety system 65

 Box 4.3: Key relationship: policing and local government
There are multiple points of contact and overlap between the police and local government services:
• The police regularly make referrals to local authority social services relating to vulnerable children and adults. Almost
200,000 police referrals to children’s social care were made in England during 2021 (Gov.uk, 2021),
• Police frequently deal with reports of children missing from local authority care. There were almost 66,500 incidents relating
to children missing from care in 2019/20, these made up about 80 per cent of all missing children incidents (NCA, 2020),
• Both police and local authorities have regular interactions with people who are homeless and sleeping rough, and can
work together to improve outcomes (NPCC and Crisis, 2021),
• Local authorities play a key role in managing the night-time economy and improving safety in public spaces through
licensing, CCTV, street lighting and environmental design.
• Local councils also play an important role in responding to antisocial behaviour, dealing with environmental health
issues, and trading standards issues.

With the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act the then Labour government put local partnership working on a statutory footing,
creating 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) through which police and local authorities discharged
their joint duty to work together (and with others) to deliver against locally formulated plans.

CDRPs – or Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) as they were rebadged in 2010 – have been credited with improving
joint working and local information sharing, and contributing to reductions in crime, antisocial behaviour and reoffending
during the early part of the 21st century (LGA, 2018).

However, CDRPs/CSPs have also been criticised for not living up to their promise, with the following problems highlighted
(Crawford and Cunningham, 2015):
• They were overly focused on volume crime and antisocial behaviour.
• They were preoccupied with situational/enforcement activity (particularly the proliferation of CCTV).
• They were too dominated by the police.
• Some partners failed to engage and share information.
• Budgets were limited and then cut significantly after 2010.
• There was an over-reliance on transitory, informal relationships (Crawford and Cunningham, 2015).

While there is some evidence that, from 2010 onwards, the focus of many CSPs began to shift with the emergence of
the ‘vulnerability agenda’ (Menichelli, 2018), this coincided with a significant reduction in CSP’s resources and relevance.
Much of their funding was rolled into the Police Main Grant and handed over to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to
deliver their Police and Crime Plans over larger, police force-level geographies.

Today, although diminished in prominence, CSPs remain part of the local partnership landscape and retain a set of
statutory responsibilities. However, despite the mutual duty on PCCs and CSPs (in England) to cooperate and ‘have
regard’ to each other’s priorities, funding insecurity and cuts (of up to 60 per cent since 2010), staffing reductions in
community safety teams and the shift in strategic emphasis to the police force level, have left a mixed and fragmented
national picture. While some CSPs have found new roles and established strong working relationships with PCC’s offices,
others have little contact and have been left ‘looking for statutory minimum’. It has been suggested that some CSPs feel
compelled to align themselves with PCC priorities in order to secure funding (LGA, 2018).

There is clearly an important role for a partnership between the police, councils and other relevant bodies at the local
authority level. The critical thing is to provide it with a clear focus, which is distinct from the other local partnership
arrangements (see Recommendation 5).

services across a single area. The ability to move areas of complex need where traditional professional
resources between and across service boundaries is silos may prevent a holistic response.
critical for enabling preventative work.
Fifth, local public services should develop integrated
Fourth, there should be a shared workforce delivery models across policing, social services,
development programme for a place which will seek housing and mental health services for example. These
to develop the right skills to address local needs. This joint teams will focus on intervening early to prevent
could enable the development of new or hybrid roles in problems from escalating and could involve the use of

66 A new mode of protection

key workers who develop strong relationships with and Crime Prevention Units (CPUs) and should operate
holistic solutions for those with complex needs. in each of the 43 police force areas, accountable
to the Police and Crime Commissioner or Mayor.
Finally, there should be data sharing protocols agreed
The CPUs would develop a local crime prevention
across all partners and, beyond that, a central hub for
strategy, that would concord with the place-based
interrogating data and understanding where the priority
outcomes framework described in 4.4.4. The
problems are.25
Police and Crime Commissioner or Mayor should
There are examples of each of these propositions in appoint a Director of Crime Prevention who would
practice in towns and cities across the country, but head up the Crime Prevention Unit and who would
we believe that the government should provide a operate as an independent senior advocate for this
framework for local public service delivery that would agenda throughout their area. They would work
galvanise collaboration and prevention activity across in collaboration with other local public services as
the country. described in 4.4.4 above. They would also work
as part of a wider network of crime prevention
4.4.5 Reinvigorating local crime prevention professionals facilitated by the Crime Prevention
Agency.
work
We believe that place-based public service delivery in •  The CPUs would focus their efforts on crime types
general is required to galvanise preventative work that that require prevention work at a higher level of
would, either directly or indirectly, prevent crime and geography, such as for example modern slavery and
other public safety incidents. However, we also think county lines/serious violence. They would also own
that within that wider framework of collaboration there is the strategic relationship with partners who operate
a role for some dedicated crime prevention partnerships across larger geographies, such as local health
and activity. bodies.

There is currently a cluttered landscape of local crime •  CSPs should re-focus by going back to basics.
prevention activity that is not always well coordinated. They should prioritise their traditional agenda of
There are Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs), volume crime, antisocial behaviour and problems in
first set up following the 1998 Crime and Disorder the night-time economy, and on those areas where
Act. Overlaid on top of these we have seen the the local authority/police relationship has most
establishment of 18 Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) purchase.
across England and Wales. Some of these VRUs clearly
see their role as expanding way beyond the problem
of serious violence and are advocating for a ‘public 4.5 CONCLUSION
health approach’ to be taken to a wider range of issues, To tackle the range and complexity of the public safety
including for example domestic violence. It seems challenges we face we cannot depend on the police
clear that the push within policing for a more proactive alone. We need a full spectrum response and one
approach to tackling crime has found a home in the that is focused on preventing crime from happening in
nascent VRU landscape. However, it is not clear how the first place. To achieve this we need a much more
these new arrangements at force level ought best to explicit public safety system, led by a dedicated national
relate to the CSP landscape at local authority level. Nor agency that will be accountable for driving down crime,
do VRUs cover all force areas. in particular those forms of crime such as fraud and
We propose the following steps to bring about greater cybercrime to which the criminal justice system offers
clarity to this landscape: little answer. To enable this radical shift in focus, we
make five recommendations.
•  The remit of VRUs should be widened to include a
wider range of crime types. They should be renamed

25. These propositions are based on the ‘nine building blocks of collaborative local infrastructure’ set out in Randle and Anderson (2017).

4. The public safety system 67

 Recommendations complex social problems. Such a review
should consider the benefits of a simplified
1. The government should produce a cross-
local governance framework, place-
departmental Crime Prevention Strategy.
based budgets, cross sector workforce
2. The government should establish a development, integrated delivery models
new Crime Prevention Agency, with and how to improve data sharing locally.
responsibility for delivering the Crime
5. The government should widen the remit
Prevention Strategy, developing
of the Violence Reduction Units to cover
regulation and guidance, enforcing crime
a wide range of local crime types. These
prevention duties, developing national and
Crime Prevention Units should operate in
international partnerships and relationships
every force area, led by a local Director
in priority areas, communicating crime
of Crime Prevention appointed by the
prevention advice to the public and horizon
Police and Crime Commissioner. They
scanning to identify emerging threats.
should focus on crime types where
3. There should a be new legal duty to prevention activity is best designed across
prevent crime which would apply to all a wider geographic area, such as modern
large private sector organisations, enforced slavery and county lines/serious violence.
by the Crime Prevention Agency. Community Safety Partnerships should go
back to basics, focusing on volume crime
4. The government should review local and antisocial behaviour, and on those
and regional government structures with areas where the police and local authority
the explicit aim of promoting increased relationship is critical.
public service collaboration to prevent

68 A new mode of protection

5. THE ROLE OF THE POLICE
Summary: The police are not just crime fighters. Their core role is to maintain order and uphold the law,
based on their possession of unique powers. Their role is not limited to just those situations in which the
possible use of power is necessary, but also extends to activities that enable them to perform this core role
effectively and legitimately. Being clear about this core police role enables us to better understand which
functions the police should perform within the wider public safety and criminal justice systems. To provide a
clearer focus for its work in an increasingly complex environment the police service needs a new Statement
of Mission and Values.

We have argued that the public safety challenges of 5.  Carrying out certain duties on behalf of government
the 2020s and 2030s are too great to be dealt with departments.
singularly or even mainly by the police service. In
6.  Befriending anyone who needs help and being
Chapter 4 we concluded that in order to deal with
available at any time to cope with minor or major
this capacity challenge, we need to mobilise a broad
emergencies.
societal response to promoting public safety. In this
chapter we consider a further solution to the limits on The problem with this approach is that it wrongly turns
police capacity: to clarify the police role so that officers an ‘is’ into an ‘ought’. It does not ask whether this is
can focus on those tasks where their powers and what the police should be doing. In failing to do that
competencies are most efficacious. it cannot help with the challenge of prioritisation. The
strategic and operational reality is that the police are
In this chapter we do three things: first, we describe the
always making choices about which activities are
core role of the police; second, we appraise the current
more important than others. It would be better from an
main functions of the police and discuss whether these
accountability point of view to be explicit rather than
ought to change; and third, we set out a new Statement
implicit about those choices and the reasons for making
of Mission and Values for the police service. Box 5.1
them.
puts all of this in context by outlining a brief history of
English and Welsh policing since 1829. A second tendency is to refer back to the Peelian
Principles. The standard list of these principles found
on the Home Office website is set out in Box 5.2. While
5.1 THE CORE ROLE OF THE many of these principles do have an animating value
POLICE in shaping the ethos of British policing, particularly the
importance of policing by consent, they are not on their
There are four standard approaches to the question of
own an adequate description of the police mission. For
the role of the police.26 First, one common response to
one thing they tend to focus on how policing should be
the question “what are the police for?” is simply to list
done, rather than what its objectives are. For another
all of the things that the police currently do. Indeed, that
thing their timeless appeal is a result of their generality
was the approach taken by the 1962 Royal Commission
which again does not help with placing boundaries
on the Police, which set out the functions of the police
around what the police should and should not be doing
as being:
or what they should or should not be prioritising.
1.  The maintenance of law and order and protection of
The final two positions take a different approach,
persons and property.
seeking to define a core role for the police, which can
2.  The prevention of crime. help us with the question of focus and prioritisation in
the face of ever widening and more complex demand.
3.  The detection of criminals.
The third perspective is that the police should be
4.  Controlling of road traffic and advising local seen principally as crime fighters. This position has
authorities on traffic questions. an enduring popular appeal. Politicians from across
the spectrum have routinely stated that they want the

26. This section is heavily informed by an Insight Paper commissioned for this Review by Professor Ian Loader, see Loader (2020).

5. The role of the police 69

 Box 5.1 A brief history of policing in England and Wales since 1829
1829 The Metropolitan Police is established, made up of divisions containing Constables, Sergeants, Inspectors and a
Superintendent.

1835 Boroughs required to introduce police forces.

1856 All rural areas made to establish police forces, the first Inspectors of Constabulary are appointed and local Police
Authorities required to submit crime statistics to the Home Office.

1859 The Inspectorate notes that one or two detective officers have been established in most police forces.

1871 Scotland Yard establishes a Criminal Records Office.

1878 The Metropolitan Criminal Investigation Department established. In the late 19th century a Special Branch is also
created in response to the rise of Irish nationalism, but its remit later expanded to gather intelligence on wider
threats to national security.

1888 Police forces serving fewer than 10,000 people abolished and the number of forces falls from 231 to 183 and joint
committees of councillors and magistrates created to oversee forces.

1890s The first motor cars appear and, as laws around motoring expand, so too do police responsibilities for enforcement.

1919 Following a wave of police strikes the Desborough Committee placed the pay and conditions of officers under
the regulatory control of the Home Secretary and led to the establishment of the Police Federation, accompanied
by a ban on strike action by police officers. It also led to the establishment of the Central Conference of Chief
Constables.

1933 A Home Office appointed committee leads to improvements in detective work, including specialist training for
detectives, the consolidation of forensic laboratories and a system for sharing information about criminals between
forces.

1934 The first Metropolitan Police College established at Hendon.

1948 The first National Police College opens at Ryton-on-Dunmore, mainly to prepare officers for promotion to the more
senior ranks. This followed the creation eight regional training centres for new recruits.

1940s A shortage of police officers led to the expansion of civilian staff and the employment of more women police
-50s officers.

1955 The Metropolitan Police established a Traffic Squad and more widely traditional foot patrols were being replaced by
mechanised beats.

1960 The National Police College moves to Bramshill, where it remains until its closure in 2015.

1961 The Special Patrol Group is founded by the Met as a mobile reserve of officers specialising in public order and
protest.

1962 The Royal Commission on the Police reports, leading to the establishment of modern police authorities and a
reduction in the number of forces to 49 in 1966 and then later to 43 in 1972.

1965 Nine regional crime squads established comprising 600 detectives with a focus on serious and organised criminals
and supported by regional intelligence bureaux.

1966 Unit beat policing introduced overriding the traditional foot patrol, blending a Constable responsible for an area with
motor car patrols.

1973 The Police National Computer goes live, containing licence plate and fingerprint information.

1975 The Balcombe Street Siege marks the first deployment by the Met of a specialist firearms unit D11.

1970s Sir Robert Mark as Commissioner of the Met introduces A10 a specialist anti-corruption unit in response to growing
concerns about police corruption. For similar reasons he places the Met CID under local uniform control.

70 A new mode of protection

 1981 The arrest of the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe leads to debate as to why he was not apprehended sooner. This
leads to greater standardisation in incident rooms and the introduction of the Home Office Large Major Enquiry
System (HOLMES).

1981 The Brixton Riots lead to the Scarman Report which recommended improving workforce diversity, a greater focus
on ‘policing by consent’ in police training and new consultative arrangements with local communities.

1983 The Metropolitan Police begins the practice of ‘screening out’ some crimes that will not be investigated.

1984 The Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) is introduced to clarify and regulate police powers.

1986 The Crown Prosecution Service is introduced, taking the decision to prosecute off police forces.

1988 The Public Order Act creates new statutory offences of affray, riot, violent disorder and unlawful assembly. It gives
the police new powers to regulate protest.

The Serious Fraud Office is formed to investigate complex fraud.

1990s New longer batons, stab proof vests and pepper spray introduced.

Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) policies and guidelines start replacing Home Office Circulars as a way of
setting national standards.

1993 The Sheehy Report recommends, among other things, performance related pay, local pay setting and fixed term
appointments.

1994 The Posen Review increased the push for greater civilianisation and specialisation within the workforce.

1998 The DNA Database established, the first such national database in the world.

The National Crime Squad founded.

1999 The Macpherson Report published into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, concluding that the Metropolitan Police
Service was institutionally racist. It leads to targets for BME recruitment, more systematic recording of stop and
search incidents and the launch of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)

2000 The National Intelligence Model formally adopted by ACPO.

2002 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) introduced.

2004 The Children Act leads to much greater multi-agency working to safeguard children. The Bichard Report leads to
the introduction of the Police National Database to create a national police intelligence system.

2005 Airwave radio rolled out, creating encrypted personal radio coverage across the whole country.

2006 The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) is formed.

2007 The government drops plans to merge police forces into larger regional organisations.

2008 Neighbourhood policing teams mandated across the whole country.

2011 Police and Crime Commissioners introduced to replace Police Authorities.

The Winsor Review leads to major reforms to police pay and in its second phase makes recommendations on
direct entry and graduate entry.

2012 The College of Policing launched.

2013 The National Crime Agency replaces SOCA.

2015 The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) replaces (ACPO).

2016 Police Now is launched as a scheme to encourage university graduates to join the police.

The Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) creates new entry routes into policing, which means that
all officers will either enter with a degree or will obtain one through the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship
(PCDA).

5. The role of the police 71

 Box 5.2 The Peelian Principles
1. To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.

2. To recognise always that the power of the police to fulfil their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of
their existence, actions and behaviour and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.

3. To recognise always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the public means also the securing of the
willing cooperation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws.

4. To recognise always that the extent to which the cooperation of the public can be secured diminishes proportionately
the necessity of the use of physical force and compulsion for achieving police objectives.

5. To seek and preserve public favour, not by pandering to public opinion; but by constantly demonstrating absolutely
impartial service to law, in complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the
substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public without
regard to their wealth or social standing, by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humour; and by ready offering
of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.

6. To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain
public cooperation to an extent necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order, and to use only the minimum
degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective.

7. To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the
public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full time
attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

8. To recognise always the need for strict adherence to police-executive functions, and to refrain from even seeming to
usurp the powers of the judiciary of avenging individuals or the State, and of authoritatively judging guilt and punishing
the guilty.

9. To recognise always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of
police action in dealing with them.

police to focus on their core function of fighting crime. recruits found that while officers initially believed that
For example, in 2011 the then Home Secretary Theresa their work would be crime focused, they discovered
May urged the police to pursue “just one objective – to over their first few years in post that most of their work
cut crime” (May, 2011). We should note that in focus does not involve responding to crime but rather to a
groups undertaken by the Police Foundation this whole array of other incidents (Charman, 2018).
position resonates with members of the public (Higgins,
The problem with the crime fighting view is that it simply
2020).
does not reflect the reality of police work nor the reality
It is of course a core function of the police to tackle of public demand on policing. The police are, and
crime, by enforcing the law, investigating crimes, always have been, about more than just crime.
apprehending suspects and, with the agreement of the
The final position in the debate about the role of the
Crown Prosecution Service, bringing them before the
police is that rather than being crime fighters the core
courts. The most harmful matters the police deal with
role of the police is to resolve conflict and maintain
(homicide, rape, terrorism etc) are all crimes, precisely
order. They perform this role because of their status as
because they are so serious.
officers of the law with a monopoly on the legitimate use
Nevertheless, the College of Policing reported in 2015 of force. The very presence of police power, even when
that 83 per cent of calls to police Command and that power is not actually used, is enough in many
Control Centres did not result in a crime being recorded cases to diffuse tension and impose social stability.
(College of Policing, 2015). While there will still be many
The sociologist Egon Bittner famously encapsulated
crime related incidents within that 83 per cent (reports
this view of the police as order maintainers by saying
of ‘suspicious activity’ for example), this makes clear
that the reason people call the police is to deal with
just how much demand on policing is not about crime
“something-that-ought-not-to-be-happening-and-
but about wider disorder, harm and calls for help. A
about-which-someone-had-better-do-something-now!”
recent piece of qualitative research with new police

72 A new mode of protection

Once called to an incident the police role is then to So, there remains a challenge of defining where the
impose a ‘provisional solution’ through their possession limits of this broad order maintenance role lie.
of lawful coercive powers.
To conclude this section, we define the core role of
This view of policing is supported by the empirical the police as being to promote public safety by
reality of police work referred to above (College of maintaining order and upholding the law, which
Policing, 2015). The police respond routinely to all sorts their unique powers enable them to do, and to
of incidents (mental health crisis, missing persons, carry out other activities which enable them to
antisocial behaviour and so on) that are not crimes or perform this core role legitimately, effectively and
related to crime. What unites most of the incidents to with minimum reliance on those powers.
which the police are called is that they might benefit
from the presence of an officer of the law with the
backstop powers to impose a solution. 5.2 THE CORE FUNCTIONS OF
We believe that this view offers the best starting point
THE POLICE
for thinking about the role of the police simply because Having established that the police are best seen as
it captures the empirical reality of policing. order maintainers by virtue of their powers, we now go
on to review four of the main current functions of the
However, this position needs some qualification. First,
police and discuss whether the police should continue
this understanding of the core role should not mean
to carry out these activities. We do this based on two
that policing is limited to enforcement activity. We know
criteria: first, are these justified as police functions
that if the only time people ever see the police is when
given the definition of the core role of the police already
they arrive to make an arrest or impose order, this can
described, and, second, how might their performance
lead to a fracturing of police-community relations. If
of these functions have to change to meet the changing
people do not trust the police they may not cooperate
public safety context?
with them and the police cannot carry out their core
role effectively. If the police do not understand the
5.2.1 Emergency response
communities in which they work they will not be able to
carry out their core role effectively or use their powers In most societies the police provide a general
proportionately. If the police lack legitimacy in the eyes emergency response function. In England and Wales
of the public their work becomes ever more difficult. this started to take on its present form once police
Therefore, while ‘order maintenance through potential officers were equipped with cars and radios from the
use of power’ provides the best starting point for 1960s onwards.
thinking about the role of the police, one quickly has to
Why do the police provide this function? Why not
build out from that to take in other activities, such as
develop a range of specialist response services to deal
community policing for example, that are essential for
with specific types of demand? Such an alternative
supporting that core role.
has been suggested by some within the movement to
Another problem with the order maintenance view is ‘defund the police’ in the United States, for example.
that it is so broad that it is susceptible to mission creep.
There are three reasons why it makes good sense
Although Bittner was describing a largely reactive order
for the police to perform this role. First, a generalist
maintenance role, many advocates of this position see
response function is required because of the
policing as having a much more proactive mission,
geographic and temporal unpredictability of demand.
to help contribute broadly to public safety, to solve
There is a need for some agency with the capacity to
local problems, to prevent crime before it occurs and
cover a wide area and to be available 24/7.
even to contribute to wider social wellbeing. As Ian
Loader comments: “This extended role for the police Second, it is not easy at the point a call comes in to
in order upkeep and public protection may bring diagnose the nature of the problem. What is required is
benefits for vulnerable individuals and communities. for generalist first responders to attend, diagnose the
But the attendant risks lie in the difficulties of specifying problem and potentially then refer the case on to others
the nature and limits of police involvement in such with more specialist skills.
collaborations and the colonisation of tasks that are
more suited to being undertaken by, say, social work, Finally, many emergency incidents involve danger and
education, or public health.” (Loader 2020) we therefore require our generalist first responders to
have the backstop powers that only the police possess.
Their very presence can help to de-escalate a situation

5. The role of the police 73

that would otherwise get out of hand. This 24/7
Future scenario 5.1
response function is the natural outgrowth of the core
order maintenance and conflict resolution role we have The way the police perform their emergency response
described. function will need to adapt to the changing demands we
articulated earlier in this report.
But are there any limits to this general response role?
In particular, the growth in the number of incidents
There are three main ones. First, there are other
involving people with complex needs requires a local
specialist emergency response agencies who deal
public service system that is much more collaborative
with matters the police are not best equipped to. This
and integrated. We highlight two implications of this for
includes the fire and ambulance services of course, the response function:
but also other types of emergency service are typically
provided by private or charitable actors (for example, • It may be that multi-agency response teams
mountain and offshore rescue, alarm monitoring, vehicle might be brought together to deal with certain
breakdown etc). categories of incident or be focused around certain
locations. These would involve police officers but
Second, the police cannot respond to every call also other professionals whose skills may be required
and therefore require a basis for prioritising between to address complex needs. We have already seen
them. In recent times incoming police demand has this with the development of mental health street
been subject to increasingly formal prioritisation and triage teams, involving both police officers and
qualified mental health professionals. Potentially
triage based on assessments of threat, harm, risk and
we could also see response teams at certain times
vulnerability. The implicit basis for this is that, given
or in certain locations involving professionals with
police resource is finite and insufficient to meet all
expertise in addiction issues, street homelessness or
demand, immediate safety risks and potential high harm environmental health issues.
should take precedence.
• It may be that we could see the development of
Third, in order to deal with the problem of rising hybrid response roles, which combine police
demand and reduced resources, some have suggested powers with competencies in other relevant areas,
that the police simply stop responding to certain such as social work, housing, youth work, drug and
categories of call, such as missing person incidents that alcohol addiction issues and so on. As we argued
are taking up the work of around 1,500 full time officers in Chapter 4 it should be the responsibility of local
per year. We consider this to be a mistake. If the police public service partnerships to develop workforce
do not respond to these cases someone would have strategies that think across professional boundaries
to design roles that best meet future demands.
to. Moreover, generalist first responders are required in
such cases because it is not obvious when a call comes become as synonymous with the police as the so-called
in what type or degree of harm may have occurred. ‘bobby on the beat’.
We think it is preferable for the police to retain a Today the police play a pivotal role as the gate keeper
generalist response role, but to also encourage a into the criminal justice system: they respond to reports
wider societal focus on reducing demand through of crime, manage crime scenes, pursue investigations,
precisely the sort of preventative public safety system liaise with victims, apprehend suspects, hold those
we described in Chapter 4. So, for example, in relation suspects in custody if required and prepare evidence
to missing persons this would mean a concerted effort for submission to the Crown Prosecution Service.
to deal with the crisis in the children’s care sector and
particularly the placement of vulnerable children in Why should the police continue to own the crime
unsuitable locations. investigation function? First, many of the incidents the
police will be called to under their response function will
5.2.2 Crime investigation involve law breaking and the police as first responders
are in the best position to gather evidence from the
Though the ‘New Police’ founded in 1829 initially had
outset and then pursue the matter through the criminal
a principally preventative role (mainly in terms of the
law.
deterrent effect of their presence on the street), during
the second half of the 19th century crime investigation Second, for police powers (or their possible use) to
became a core police function. Although there was help in maintaining order, they need to be attached to
initially some resistance to the notion of ‘detectives’ in criminal justice sanctions, which will entail a criminal
English and Welsh policing, because of concerns for investigation that the police again are best positioned to
privacy and civil liberties, in the end this function has carry out.

74 A new mode of protection

Third, crime investigations generally require at various be children. The police have a difficult relationship with
points the use of police power, whether that be to arrest these groups: they have sometimes compromised
a suspect, to hold a suspect in custody, to execute a evidence and in some cases have themselves
warrant to search a property and so forth. In theory committed crimes. Nonetheless they also produce
those powers could be given to others, but keeping evidence that is used to prosecute offenders in court
them in one place provides a level of regulatory control (see Future Scenario 5.3).
that should act as safeguard against their improper use.
Future scenario 5.3
So, crime investigation should remain a core police
function, but we make the following qualifications. It seems likely that we will see more and more digital
entrepreneurs breaking into crime investigation,
First, while it is normally important for the police to
particularly in areas like online child sexual abuse where
manage the investigation, this does not mean that all
the police themselves are unable to undertake proactive
police investigations must be carried out by warranted
work because of the levels of reactive demand they
officers. Indeed, in an area like financial crime for have to deal with. It is impossible to stop people doing
example, where the use of power may be less frequent this kind of work and it can produce evidence that is
and where specialist expertise is required, increasingly used in court.
civilian investigators are being deployed to do much of
the investigative work. In the future it may be that the police and the Crown
Prosecution Service create a regulatory framework to
In the future we may also see greater use of mixed try to bring some basic standards to bear on this ‘wild
teams as part of investigations in areas where the police west’ area of ‘Do It Yourself’ crime investigation.
themselves lack the technical skills required (see Future
Scenario 5.2).
So, while the police must lead the crime investigation
function, they do not have a total monopoly over it and,
Future scenario 5.2
given the limitations on police resource, we can expect
Policing is struggling to recruit people with the specialist more non-state actors to emerge to fill the gaps in the
skills required to investigate new and complex area of years ahead.
crime, such as cybercrime, fraud and money laundering.
Our third qualification to police ownership of the
One model for the future might be mixed investigation crime investigation function is that in the growing
teams, led by a Senior Investigative Officer (SIO) but
area of cross-border crime the traditional police role
involving experts from other sectors. These could
(investigate, arrest, charge) is increasingly untenable.
include for example security experts from the financial
The detection rate for fraud for example is just 0.6 per
sector and technical experts from the technology sector
cent. It is simply impossible for local police forces in
who can help investigate crime in a digital environment.
Police organisations could have ongoing agreements England and Wales to have the kind of resources and
with firms that would allow them to ‘call in’ expertise on global reach necessary to catch the vast majority of
an ongoing basis as required. internationally mobile offenders, many of whom operate
in states with whom the UK lacks any policing and
This offers one solution to the problem of police criminal justice cooperation.
organisations being unable to compete with the salaries
offered in other sectors. It is for this reason that in the serious and organised
crime space we are likely to see a growing emphasis on
Second, the internet is enabling more non-state actors disruption rather than on criminal investigation. This
to take on investigations themselves. For example, involves gathering of intelligence to understand more
increasingly Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is being about criminal behaviour and then tackling the enablers
used to investigate crimes, often by private or third of criminality such as by freezing bank accounts and
sector operators. The most famous example is the open taking down servers. This is an under researched and
source investigations organisation Bellingcat which little scrutinised area of police work but one that is
helped identify suspects in the downing of plane MH17 becoming increasingly important.
in 2014, among other cases.
5.2.3 Neighbourhood policing
Another example is the so-called ‘paedophile hunters’.
The internet has created an opportunity for digital A familiar, locally knowledgeable policing presence has
vigilantism in the form of groups who target sex always been a feature of the British policing model,
offenders on social media platforms by pretending to evoked in the notion of the ‘bobby on the beat’. It
reached its contemporary high point in the 2000s

5. The role of the police 75

when a national neighbourhood policing programme such as to bring offenders to justice. For example,
was rolled out. Delivered by a patchwork of small by investigating crimes and making arrests the police
teams of police and police community support officers physically remove offenders from the street. The use of
(PCSOs), it had three main functions: to provide police criminal justice powers can also have a deterrent
a visible presence, to engage with communities and effect: potential offenders may decide that the risk of
to tackle their concerns through ‘problem solving’. apprehension and/or the severity of sanction is too
It was universal, centrally designed and funded, and great and refrain from criminal or harmful activities.
resource intensive. Since 2010 neighbourhood policing
However, the police can also use their powers directly
has been eroded and we discuss its future role in detail
and proactively to prevent crime. For example, in the
in Chapter 6.
arena of public protection the police are involved in
One reading of the core police role we have described managing offenders and safeguarding victims in the
would seem to rule out this kind of work. Much of the community, generally in partnership with social services,
activity undertaken under the rubric of neighbourhood the voluntary sector and other bodies. This should
policing (community engagement and problem-solving be seen as an important form of tertiary prevention:
work etc) does not require even the potential use of managing entrenched problems to ameliorate their
police power. So, why should police officers do it? harmful effects.

We would highlight two reasons. First, neighbourhood Another example would be the way the police use
policing can provide the police with an understanding of intelligence on criminals and their activities to disrupt
the context in which they may have to use their powers. offending. Disruption activity is not undertaken as part
Having such an understanding is crucial so that those of a reactive crime investigation, but rather to make
powers can be used in a way that is proportionate, offending more difficult and therefore prevent future
precisely targeted, and ultimately more effective. harm.

Second, neighbourhood policing can cultivate a context We might be tempted at this point to assert that the
in which there is community consent for the police use police should only engage in prevention work where
of power when required. As we shall discuss in Chapter it involves the use of their core powers – otherwise
6 having police officers who are embedded in and close it is a job for someone else. However, there is also a
to local communities is vital for police legitimacy. valuable preventative dimension to neighbourhood
policing, which involves understanding local problems
5.2.4 Crime prevention and working with partners and communities to develop
The police have always had a role in crime prevention. solutions (‘problem solving’).
Indeed, in the early days the regular patrolling of a This kind of preventive activity does not rest on the
beat by uniformed officers was intended principally to use of police power, but there are good reasons why
prevent crime through deterrence (Critchley, 1978). the police specifically should be doing it. For one thing
Since then, however, most police work has been the public will come to the police about public safety
dominated by reactive rather than preventative tasks. problems and it makes practical sense for them to then
One might argue that this is no bad thing: crime and lead or at least initiate and coordinate the response. For
wider harm should largely be prevented by other actors another thing it is crucial for wider public confidence in
in society (businesses, regulators, parents, schools etc) the police that when the public raise these matters the
as described in Chapter 4. The police should focus police take action. The police as ‘public helpers, fixers
on dealing with immediate harm, where their unique and sorters’ is arguably a key building block for police
powers are likely to be required, otherwise they will end legitimacy.
up straying into areas of work that are beyond their So, if the use of power does not provide a limitation on
core competencies. They are already overwhelmed with the police role in prevention, what does? In our view the
demand, so dropping any role in crime prevention might best way to demarcate the police role in prevention is to
allow the police to refocus on their core responsibilities. locate it downstream at the tertiary and secondary ends
However, while we agree that policing is principally and of the public health prevention framework (see Chapter
inevitably a reactive business, we think there is a role 4). This position can be summarised as follows:
for the police in prevention. The first way in which the •  The police should often lead on tertiary prevention,
police can play a valuable role in prevention is through which is concerned with minimising the impact of
their use of power. Sometimes this is an indirect problems that have become entrenched. This will
by-product of work undertaken for other reasons,

76 A new mode of protection

 generally be where the use of police powers will
have a preventative effect. Examples would include
5.3 A NEW STATEMENT OF
managing prolific offenders and disrupting organised MISSION AND VALUES
crime.
The existing mission statement for the police in England
•  The police should work in partnership with others and Wales was written by the Association of Chief
when it comes to secondary prevention which Police Officers (ACPO) in 2011 and remains adopted
focuses on nipping problems in the bud before by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the
they get much worse. Examples would include Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC)
much of the problem-solving work undertaken by in the Policing Vision 2025. It reads:
neighbourhood teams.
“The mission of the police is to make communities safer
•  The police should not take the lead and should by upholding the law fairly and firmly; preventing crime
rarely directly deliver primary prevention (preventing and antisocial behaviour; keeping the peace; protecting
problems from occurring in the first place). However, and reassuring communities; investigating crime and
through the data they collect and the witness their bringing offenders to justice.”
bear the police can play a role in highlighting the
There are two problems with this statement. First,
range of social problems that the rest of the system
there are some important aspects of the modern police
ought to be addressing. In addition, they can play
role that are missing. These include crime disruption
an important role in supporting or facilitating primary
and safeguarding, for example. Second, a general
interventions, such as by triaging cases and making
statement of role needs to be accompanied by a more
appropriate referrals.
detailed statement of the specific functions that will
be performed in order to fulfil that role, as well as an
International case study: New Zealand articulation of how the police will go about their duties.
In 2010 New Zealand launched its Policing Excellence We propose a redefined Statement of Mission and
change programme which aimed to reduce demand by
Values that seeks to deal with these problems. This
bringing about improved services, leadership and value
contains the thinking we have set out so far in this
for money. There were also specific targets to reduce
chapter on what the core role is and how this plays out
the crime rate by 15 per cent and the reoffending
rate by 25 per cent (den Heyer, 2018). As part of this
in different functional areas. This is set out in Box 5.3.
change programme a Prevention First strategy was
implemented. The police identified the main drivers Recommendation
of crime and partnered with agencies who could help
6. In order to clarify the police role within
them address underlying social issues. A National
Tactical Plan recognised demographic variation across a changing and complex environment
the country and used tactics tailored to the needs of the Association of Police and Crime
different communities. Neighbourhood policing teams Commissioners, the National Police Chiefs’
were brought into high-demand areas to work with Council and the Home Office should agree
the community to resolve specified issues. Alternative a new police service Statement of Mission
methods of disposal were introduced and a victim- and Values.
centred approach adopted.

By the end of June 2014 there had been a 20 per cent

reduction in recorded crime and a rise in public trust
and confidence to 78 per cent, which has remained high
since. There was also a substantial financial saving (den
Heyer, 2021). However, the Prevention First model has
its critics who argue that the core functions of the police
are being neglected and there are some jobs that could
be best suited to other agencies rather than the police
(den Heyer, 2021).

5. The role of the police 77

 Box 5.3 A new Statement of Mission and Values for policing
The role of the police is to maintain order and uphold the law so that the public can go about their lives safely and securely,
and to do this in a way that balances the need for order with the protection of liberty.

In order to perform this role the police will:

• Respond to calls for help, repair harm and refer cases on to others who can provide support and prevent reoccurrence.

• Safeguard vulnerable people who they come across in the course of their work.

• Prevent crime and harm, either directly where their powers and skills are required or by referring cases, issues or
problems on to others who can help.

• Investigate crime, disrupt criminal activity and bring offenders to justice.

• Provide victims of crime access to justice and support.

• Offer community policing that is visible, responsive and works with the community and other public services to solve
problems that are a concern for safety.

In carrying out this work the police will:

• Always work in ways that improve the legitimacy of the police in the eyes of the public.

• Promote the willing cooperation of the public in upholding the law and use lawful force only as a last resort to keep
themselves and the public safe.

• Prioritise assistance towards those who face the greatest risk of harm.

• Treat all people fairly and actively oppose racism, misogyny, homophobia and other forms of prejudice.

• Be accountable for their actions and decisions, explain why they do what they do and actively encourage public
participation in discussing how they work.

• Focus their work on those areas where the use or potential use of police knowledge, skills and powers are necessary for
the promotion of public safety.

• Work in collaboration with other public agencies, businesses, groups and communities, as part of a wider system of
public safety.

• Focus their preventative work on preventing problems getting worse and minimising their impact, while supporting
others to address the underlying causes.

• Continually generate knowledge as to how public safety and security can be improved and actively share and apply this
evidence base throughout their work.

78 A new mode of protection

 PART III
CAPABILITIES

79
6. LEGITIMACY
Summary: There are worrying signs that police legitimacy and public confidence in the police have
deteriorated in recent years. Addressing this needs to be made a strategic priority for the police service. This
means investing in neighbourhood policing, which has been in decline over the last decade. It means having
a much better understanding of where legitimacy is weak and delivering focused work to rebuild it. It means
the police must constantly explain and justify why they do what they do. Specifically, we conclude that it
means reducing the use of the stop and search power, exposing new technology to independent ethical
scrutiny, addressing negative internal cultures and improving workforce diversity.

In this chapter we describe the first capability policing Many of these ideas were summed up by a chief
will require to meet the challenges of the 21st century: police officer interviewed for this Review, in the first
legitimacy. First, we describe what we mean by police quotation below. The second, from a woman with lived
legitimacy and explain why it is increasingly important experience of the criminal justice system, illustrates
given the changing nature of the world we live in. Second, the disengagement and antipathy that can follow when
we describe the main drivers behind police legitimacy, legitimacy is lost.
identifying those things the police need to put in place if
“Trust and confidence in policing is quite simple
they are to police with the trust and support of the public.
for me. How do you police 70 million people, with
Third, we make the case for seeing legitimacy as a strategic
120,000 people who haven’t got guns? If you…
capability. Finally, we explore the implications of this thinking
think about all the current things I do …which are
in five critical areas of police policy and practice: community
incredibly hard edge and intrusive. The only way
policing, policing in a digital environment, stop and search,
you get … the public to tolerate that is if they trust
police conduct and workforce diversity.
that you are doing it for the right reasons.” (KII.12)

6.1 POLICING WITH THE PUBLIC “I try not to have any dealings with them [police]
as much as I possibly can…because they’re
At the heart of the Peelian model of policing is the idea
untrustworthy. First and foremost, I’m a Black
that the police can only successfully carry out their work
woman. I’m in black skin. So, I have to be sure that
with the support and cooperation of the public. In this
I have no other options before I even think about
section we describe what we mean by legitimacy, why it
calling 999. I’ve seen the way that they treat the
is so important in thinking about the relationship between
Black men who I know and love.” (RD: Women)
the police and the public and explain why we may have
reached a defining moment in that relationship.
The importance of policing with legitimacy has been
recognised since the inception of modern policing and is
6.1.1. Legitimacy
woven into the service’s founding Peelian principles, which
Legitimacy can be defined as the recognition of the right to emphasise willing public cooperation, crime prevention
hold power by those subject to it (Beetham, 1991; Mawby, as an alternative to repression, and minimal use of force
2002; Bottoms and Tankebe, 2012; Hough, 2020). (Home Office, 2012). These values continue to be evoked
As well as being ethically preferable there are a number as part of the ‘British model of policing’, characterised
of well-evidenced ‘pragmatic’ benefits from policing in 2009 by the then Chief Inspector of Constabulary as
with legitimacy. These include: “approachable, impartial, accountable…based on minimal
force and anchored in public consent” and as “plac[ing] a
•  Encouraging public cooperation (Jackson et al, 2012a).
high value on tolerance” (HMCIC, 2009).
•  Promoting acceptance of police decisions (Tyler and
Huo, 2002). At its core this Peelian model of policing is committed
to the idea that people generally obey laws and behave
•  Rejecting violence as a way to change society
in socially responsible ways because they believe it is
(Jackson et al, 2012b).
the right thing to do, rather than because of the fear
•  Fostering compliance with the law (Sunshine and of law enforcement or punishment. According to this
Tyler, 2003; Tyler, 2006, Jackson et al, 2012c). model criminal justice mechanisms are best viewed
as a ‘hard backstop’ for when informal social controls

6. Legitimacy 81
(rooted in families, education, religion, and workplaces 6.1.2 A defining moment
etc) fail or are insufficient (Hough, 2020). On this model It is clear from the data discussed in Chapter 3 that ratings
a core police role should be to buttress those informal of public confidence and of measures associated with
social processes, so that the need for force and formal legitimacy (such as trust and a sense of fair treatment) are
sanction is minimised. relatively high in England and Wales. Most members of the
This understanding of British policing can sometimes public trust and are satisfied with the police.
take a backseat particularly in the face of demands Nevertheless, there are some reasons for thinking that the
for the police to ‘get tough’ on crime (Jacobson and police need to do much more to improve their legitimacy.
Hough, 2018). Nevertheless, it remains the case that
this Peelian conception remains a core part of the First, while overall most people express approval for police
identity of policing in this country. Moreover, the ideas performance and feel they can trust the police, there are
associated with it have continued to find expression in major deficits for some groups within the population.
initiatives to promote community policing, restorative
As Figure 6.1 illustrates, people from Black and Mixed
justice and procedural justice.
ethnic groups, particularly those with Black Caribbean
They also surfaced prominently during the Covid-19 backgrounds, are much less likely to expect local police
pandemic, when British police forces adopted a policy, of to treat them fairly, with respect, and to agree that
engaging, explaining, and encouraging public compliance, police can be trusted, than the White British majority
before only finally enforcing public health laws (NPCC, (and some other ethnic groups).27 These differences
2020). This experience reaffirms the continuing value of are less apparent for other ‘service’ ratings (such as
discretion, dialogue, and attention to the manner of police whether police are reliable or do a ‘good job’) and
interactions, within the British approach. This contrasted speak to specific deficits of trust and legitimacy, rather
markedly to the experience of policing in some other than views on ‘service quality’. These deficits in trust
European countries (Aitkenhead et al, 2022). and expectations of fair treatment are long-standing,

Figure 6.1: Trust in local police and expectations of fair and respectful treatment: lower-level ethnic groups
compared to White British majority, year ending March 2020 (ONS, 2020) (chart shows percentage point difference
from White British majority)
White: Irish (255)

Asian: Indian (799)

Asian: Any other Asian background (375)

White: Any other White background (1,982)

Other: Arab (109)

Asian: Chinese (195)

Asian: Bangladeshi (191)

Other: Any other ethnic group (164)

Mixed: White and Asian (116)

Asian: Pakistani (482)

Black: African (587)

Mixed: Any other Mixed/Multiple ethnic background (115)

Mixed: White and Black Caribbean (123)

Black: Caribbean (295)

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15

Police in this area can be trusted Police would treat you fairly Police would treat you with respect

27. The CSEW data in Figure 6.1 reflects surveys conducted in the year to March 2020, although bases for some sub-groups are small, the main
findings are consistent across multiple years. It is also of note that MOPAC’s Public Attitude Survey shows that Black and Mixed Ethnicity Londoners’
perceptions of police fairness, respectfulness and trustworthiness fell more, and from a lower starting point, than other ethnic groups during the more
recent period (year ending March 2021).

82 A new mode of protection

deeply problematic and demand strategic attention by kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Metropolitan
the police service. Police Constable Wayne Couzens. Sentencing judge Lord
Justice Fulford described Couzens’ crimes as jeopardising
Second, while policing is always controversial, in
the “critical trust that we repose in the constabulary, that
recent years police actions have been contested to a
they will act lawfully and in the best interests of society…
degree that has particularly tested the strength of the
one of the enduring safeguards of law and order in this
relationship between the police and the public.
country” (Fulford, 2021).
Since this Review was launched in late 2019 the police
It is unfortunate that we do not have national survey
service has been asked to enforce unprecedented public
data to assess the impact of these events, individually
health regulations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic
or cumulatively, on public support. The Crime Survey
and called upon to take meaningful action on racial
for England and Wales (CSEW) perceptions module
inequality following the police-killing of George Floyd in
was suspended in early 2020 due to the pandemic
Minneapolis, USA. The Metropolitan Police were strongly
and more generally there is a paucity of useful data on
criticised (but then largely exonerated by HMICFRS)
public sentiment, highlighted by some of our Call for
for their handling of a vigil on Clapham Common for
Evidence respondents.
murder victim Sarah Everard. The police have had to
manage protests against the government’s Police, Crime, “It is not possible to accurately or reliably report on
Sentencing and Courts Bill; the Metropolitan Police have the state of public trust and confidence in the police.
faced accusations of ongoing ‘institutional corruption’ for Broad surveys conducted infrequently and across
the way they engaged with the Inquiry into the murder vast areas do not provide the nuanced or actionable
of Daniel Morgan (O’Loan, 2021) and finally, the police data that police leaders need to ensure that their
service (and the country) was shaken to its core by the community feels safe and supported.” (CE2.25)

Figure 6.2: Crime Survey for England and Wales and London Public Attitude Survey perceptions of local police
(fairness, respect, trust)29

95%
95

90%
90

85%
85

80%
80

75%
75

70%
70

65%
65
1 4
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-2
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1
2
Q

CSEW: would treat you fairly PAS: Treat everyone fairly

CSEW: would treat you with respect PAS: Would treat you with respect
CSEW: police in this area can be trusted PAS: MPS is an organisation I can trust

28. We are grateful to the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) Evidence and Insight team for providing data from their Public Attitude
Survey (PAS), much of which can be accessed via their Public Voice Dashboard. See: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/mayors-office-policing-
and-crime-mopac/data-and-statistics/public-voice-dashboard. PAS data is presented quarterly based on rolling 12 months of interviewing and a
representative annual sample size of approximately 12,800 Londoners. The survey methodology moved from face to face to telephone interviewing
during the Covid pandemic and an effect on comparability cannot be ruled out. CSEW data is based on an annual sample of approximately 33,000
English and Welsh adults. Note the CSEW and PAS questions shown are not directly comparable.

6. Legitimacy 83
 “For a more accurate assessment of confidence Recommendations
in policing, a larger survey of the population in
England and Wales would need to be conducted. 7. The Association of Police and Crime
In the United States for example, the Bureau of Commissioners, the National Police Chiefs’
Justice Statistics conduct a ‘Police-Public Contact Council and the Home Office should make a
Survey’…of approximately 260,000 [respondents]. A first-principle commitment to policing with
survey of this size…may provide the data necessary legitimacy. They should recognise that this
to draw more accurate conclusions relating to public is a crucial enabler of effective policing.
attitudes towards the police”. (CE2.28) This should be expressed as a central
component of a revised Statement of Mission
Recent survey data for London is however available
and Values. This commitment should be
and strongly indicates that recent events have
backed up by a national plan for improving
impacted legitimacy-associated public perceptions
police legitimacy. The other relevant
in unprecedented ways. Figure 6.2 shows a marked
recommendations set out in this report
deterioration in Londoners’ assessments of police
should form a part of that national plan.
fairness and respectfulness, and their trust in police,
from early 2020 onwards (when national data became 8. Efforts to build and sustain police legitimacy
unavailable). need to be driven by better data and more
Third, when we look ahead to the environment in sophisticated analytics. Better data should
which police can reasonably expect to operate over also be used to drive accountability and
coming decades, there are good reasons to believe that ensure legitimacy is prioritised when faced
legitimacy will be both more challenging to sustain and with competing imperatives. The Home
more crucial to achieving public safety. Office should fund a substantial uplift in
the Office for National Statistics’ crime and
Sustaining legitimacy will be more challenging for a policing public survey programme. As
number of reasons. The College of Policing’s recent part of this a feasibility study should be
horizon scan (2020) highlights the impact of the
carried out into the creation of a ‘legitimacy
shifting digital landscape on public trust in police
index’ (potentially combining inspection
and other institutions. We add to this growing public
and survey-based inputs) to enable
dissatisfaction with the ability of the police to respond
public scrutiny, performance monitoring
to crimes of abuse, power violation, intolerance, and
and comparisons across time, area and
hatred. There is also a growing dissonance between
between population groups.
the ‘helping’ persona required by police in the context
of expanding ‘crisis demand’ and the confrontational
methods the police often rely upon to address local 6.2 THE DRIVERS OF POLICE
manifestations of organised crime. All these are likely
to further challenge trust and legitimacy in the coming
LEGITIMACY
period. In this section we describe the key drivers underlying
police legitimacy.
But legitimacy will also be more important in meeting
the challenges of the future. We expect this to be a
6.2.1 Fair and respectful treatment
world in which public safety emergencies (linked to
extreme weather events, pandemic disease, global Research has shown that treating people with fairness
conflict, etc) will arise with increasing frequency. It will and respect can enhance police legitimacy and promote
be increasingly vital to have in place strong, cooperative compliance with the law.
working relationships between citizens, communities
In his seminal study of Why People Obey the Law
and the police, as a critical enabler of state efforts to
(2006) Tom Tyler found that citizens were more likely to
manage and control public behaviour, in the interests
comply with rules if they viewed the legal institutions
of public safety. A reservoir of public trust and willing
like the police and the courts as legitimate. In turn
preparedness to cooperate when crisis strikes, cannot,
whether they viewed those institutions as legitimate
and should not, be taken for granted. It must instead
was determined more by perceptions of fair process
be understood as an essential part of national and
(specifically the quality of decision-making and decency
community resilience, requiring up-front investment,
of treatment), rather than by the favourability of the
strategic preparation, and energetic delivery.
outcomes.

84 A new mode of protection

In an important British replication, Jackson et al (2012c) While noting these challenges we view procedural
showed that public trust in procedurally fair policing justice as a necessary, although not sufficient, basis for
predicts self-reported legal compliance, and that this is improving police legitimacy. As things stand currently,
strongly mediated through a sense of moral alignment public complaints data and multiple inspection reports
with the police (of ‘being on the same side’). (e.g. HMICFRS, 2020) suggest that the police service
is very far from having embedded procedural justice
These connections between being treated fairly and the
techniques into culture and practice. In 2020/21 more
formation of attitudes towards the police are captured in
than 18,000 official complaints were logged about the
this quote from one of our focus group participants with
‘Individual Behaviours’ of police personnel (actions
lived experience of the criminal justice system:
perceived as disrespectful, impolite, unfair, overbearing
“Police judge a book by its cover. They see me as a etc) – 17 per cent of all complaints received (IOPC,
scumbag drug user; therefore, I will be treated like 2021).
a scumbag. I do the same when I see the police
Recommendation
uniform, I think scumbag police”. (RD: South)
9. The College of Policing should undertake
These and similar studies provide a clear message for a programme to improve the quality of
police agencies: legitimacy matters, not just in ethical police interactions with the public, drawing
terms, but as a component of an evidence-based on the principles of procedural justice and
crime control strategy. If police agencies can routinely
the existing evidence base about ‘what
demonstrate fair process and respectful treatment,
works’. The programme should aim to both
through their officers’ dealings with the public, they are
develop knowledge and have sufficient
more likely to meet with a law abiding and cooperative
resources to deliver comprehensive officer
population. Myhill and Quinton (2011) make the case
and staff training and support widespread
to English and Welsh police forces in the context of
practice change. Training in interpersonal
austerity:
skills should be a minimum standard that all
“When [police] forces decide how best to reduce police forces are expected to meet.
crime with fewer resources, they should consider
whether their proposed approach would enhance 6.2.2 Beyond procedural justice: the other
or undermine police legitimacy in the eyes of the key drivers
public. While a narrow focus on enforcing the As noted above, however, securing legitimacy must
law might appeal to traditional ‘cop culture’, it go wider than simply improving one-off interactions
was not found [in Jackson’s et al (2012c) study] between the police and members of the public. As
to have the strongest effect on cooperation and Trinkner et al (2018, p3) comment: “one could read
compliance and might even be counter-productive the procedural justice literature and come to the
in the longer-term if it is perceived to be unfair.” conclusion that anything the police do is appropriate
and legitimate, so long as it is done respectfully and
We should note that some of the evidence around
impartially” – but as any citizen subject to multiple
procedural justice remains contested. Some studies
‘procedurally just’ stop and searches can attest, this
question whether behaviours that the police might
is clearly not the case, and we must also look to the
see as procedurally just are read the same way
‘lifetime accumulation’ of other factors, to understand
by the people on the receiving end (Worden and
how legitimacy is formed.
McLean, 2017; Waddington et al, 2015). On reviewing
the evidence, Nagin and Telep (2020) conclude: While procedural factors are consistently shown to be
“perceptions of procedurally just treatment and of important we highlight these additional key drivers from
legitimacy are the product of a lifetime accumulation of the evidence base:
historical, cultural, community and familial influences,
not just one or more interactions with the police”. In •  Lawfulness: whether the police are acting in
other words, the long history of people’s personal and accordance with the law.
vicarious interaction and associations with the police
•  Effectiveness: whether the police are effective at
also matters. There is more to building legitimacy than
achieving the goals society has set for them, with
simply training officers in better ways to interact with the
the powers provided to them.
public.

6. Legitimacy 85
•  Distributive fairness: whether some people bear
“Everyone must be given a chance to have their
more of the costs and/or feel fewer benefits of
say. Even when their views are not fully accepted,
policing than others (Bottoms and Tankebe, 2012;
being offered the opportunity to be heard is
Tankebe, 2013)
important. This engagement with the community
•  Boundaries: whether police are perceived to respect must be authentic and adhere to principles of
the appropriate (and not just legal) limits of their procedural justice.” (CE2:25)
powers (Huq et al, 2016; Trinkner et al, 2018).
It was also expressed by those with lived experience of
One police Call for Evidence respondent raised these police contact.
latter ‘boundary concerns’ in the context of recent
“Instead of putting more people [officers] on street,
Covid regulations.
and making things heightened, they should have
“Legitimacy in policing is also as much about what interventions in the community … to let people
you don’t do…In a free, democratic, rights-based know you’re still there and are not against them.
society such as ours, restraining people’s freedom Police should ask if there any problems in the
of movement and association with others… area…and tell police what’s going on in the area.
is almost anathema… Covid-19 and the police You have to build up better relations with the
role in the pandemic has taken the police to the local community…they’re not talking to the whole
very outer edges of legitimacy in the eyes of the community… to all aspects of society. This would
public.” (CE2.40) help people feel more safe and secure.” (RD:
Male, young adult).
Underpinning all of these drivers is a need for the police
to be involved in a continual dialogue with the public To demonstrate this commitment, the police service
about how they work and in particular why they do what needs to be better designed to facilitate public listening
they do. This involves being committed to having hard and more committed to explaining the reasons behind
and difficult conversations about the rationale behind its actions, decisions, and priorities. It needs to be
police policies, priorities, actions, and decisions. open to, and actively seek out, new perspectives,
information, evidence, and challenge, and use these to
A recognition of the need for improved, inclusive public inform its decisions.
dialogue permeated Call for Evidence returns.
Recommendation
“We [police] need to be better at listening and
responding to the needs of our local communities. 10. As part of a commitment to inclusive public
This means listening to people, not just when dialogue and opening the police up to
they are a victim or witness to a crime, but as regular and ongoing challenge, Police
part of getting to know what matters, [and] what and Crime Commissoners and Mayors
is of concern… It’s about understanding our should invest in vehicles to promote public
diverse communities and increasing our efforts participation in decision-making, such as
to listen to those who don’t always have a voice, citizens juries and assemblies. Opinion
and not viewing our local communities as one surveys and elections every four years
homogenous group.” (CE2.02) are not sufficient to promote the kind of
ongoing dialogue that is required.
“It is important for legitimacy that there is discourse
between the public and policing around how So far we have argued that police legitimacy and public
resources are used and what police priorities confidence need to be seen as strategic capabilities for
should be…This can only be achieved through policing. The following sections explore the implications
good relations and communications with all social of taking this commitment seriously in five areas.
groups” (CE1.21)

86 A new mode of protection

6.3 COMMUNITY POLICING: “Policing by Safer Neighbourhood Teams and
Local Policing Units remains the “cornerstone of
BUILDING TRUST AND
British policing” and officers’ discretion …can aid
CONNECTION LOCALLY community relations”. (CE2:10)

The description offered above, of a police service better Despite substantial practice variation, sufficient
geared for public dialogue and cooperation, aligned with international evidence has amassed to confirm that
public priorities and values, and capable of applying community policing approaches (more precisely, those
more deeply informed discretion – resonates with the that involve consultation or collaboration between police
key tenets of community policing. This emerged as a and local citizens, to define, prioritise or solve problems)
policing philosophy in the late 20th century, in response “have positive effects on citizen satisfaction, perceptions
to concerns about public disconnect. of disorder, and police legitimacy” (Gill et al, 2014).

As recognised by the Call for Evidence contributions This accords with broader evidence about the value
below, the community policing approach has strong of public engagement (purposeful, positive dialogue
affinities with the ‘Peelian’ tradition and manifested most between police and public, conducted away from
notably in England and Wales during the neighbourhood fraught enforcement or victimisation contexts) on public
policing programme rolled out in the 2000s, but since confidence and legitimacy (Myhill, 2012), particularly
2010 eroded under the pressures of austerity (HMIC, when it is ‘infused with’ procedural justice (Mazerolle,
2017; Higgins, 2018, see Figure 6.3).30 2013). One recent American randomised control trial
concluded that a “single instance of positive contact
“[The public] believe it is important to have police with a uniformed police officer can substantially improve
officers or PCSOs on foot in the local area. This public attitudes toward police, including legitimacy and
expectation is rooted in the founding principles willingness to cooperate”, and furthermore, that “the
of the service – that it is a civilian service that largest attitudinal improvements…occurred among
depends on the consent and cooperation of racial minorities and those who held the most negative
the people it serves. The type of policing that views toward police at baseline.” (Peyton et al, 2019).
gives fullest expression to that expectation is
neighbourhood policing.” (CE1.21) There is good reason, therefore, to believe that a
renewed focus on community policing and positive,

Figure 6.3: Police officers and PCSOs in ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ roles30 and foot patrol visibility (Crime Survey
for England and Wales)

40,000 45%
45

35,000 40%
40

30,000 35%
35
30%
30
25,000
25%
25
20,000
20%
20
15,000
15%
15
10,000 10%
10
5,000 5%
5
0 -0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

"Neighbourhood" Police officers (left axis)

PCSOs (left axis)
Visibility of foot patrol (CSEW: % seeing police patrol at least once a week - right axis)
29. The disintegration of Neighbourhood Policing was checked, to some extent, by the publication of a set of College of Policing Guidelines in 2019. Of
the 12,100 officers added to the total police workforce under Operation Uplift, 2,400 (20 per cent) have found their way into neighbourhood roles,
almost all during the year to March 2021. The national PCSO cohort has reduced by nearly 1,500 over the same period (Home Office, 2021b). The
total Neighbourhood ‘headcount’ remains 20 percent below that at the end of the national roll-out and 32 per cent below the putative high-water mark
in 2015.
30. Home Office workforce data is used for years ending March 2012 to 2020, see: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-
england-and-wales. The figure for 2008 is derived from a set of HMIC inspections of Neighbourhood Policing and Developing Citizen Focus Policing
conducted in that year, for full methodology see Higgins, (2017).

6. Legitimacy 87
discretionary public contact, would be effective at
strengthening police legitimacy, including in the places
6.4 REDUCING RELIANCE ON
and population groups where it is most challenged. We STOP AND SEARCH
advocate this as a central component of a strategic
We believe that the current pattern of police stop and
plan for bolstering police legitimacy. This should involve
search use is not justified and represents a significant
both police officers and PCSOs.
barrier to building trust and confidence, particularly
While we welcome the recent College of Policing among Black people who are disproportionately likely to
guidelines,31 which set out the ‘essential elements’ of be stopped and searched by police.
Neighbourhood Policing, we note that these seek to
embed a version of neighbourhood/community policing 6.4.1 The police power to stop and search
predominantly oriented towards crime, disorder, and The police have two powers to stop and search. Under
demand reduction/prevention (in line with the tone set Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
by the Policing Vision 2025 (APCC and NPCC, 2016) (PACE) (and associated legislation), police can stop
and the HMIC recommendation that prompted their and search someone if they have ‘reasonable grounds
creation (HMIC, 2017)). Our concern here, however, is for suspicion’ that they are carrying an unlawful item.
to advocate an approach which is, in addition to those Between April 2020 and March 2021, these accounted
aims, also explicitly premised on nurturing local trust, for approximately 99 per cent (695,009) of all stop and
legitimacy, and cooperation. This is a fundamental searches.
reorientation of neighbourhood policing with implications
for how the function should be geographically targeted, The police have a second power under Section 60 of
staffed and connected to other policing functions, and the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. This
for the set of activities undertaken. allows a police officer to stop and search someone
without the need for reasonable suspicion. A senior
Recommendation police officer (Inspector or above) can authorise the
use of these exceptional stop and search powers in a
11. The Home Office should ask police forces to
defined locality for up to 24 hours, where they believe
deliver a substantial uplift in neighbourhood
that incidents involving serious violence may take place,
policing, designed around the need to and that it is expedient to give such authorisation to
build and sustain police legitimacy, public prevent their occurrence, or that such an incident has
confidence, and community resilience. already taken place and the use of the powers would
This should involve deploying a significant help to find the weapon. The authorisation can be
proportion of the additional officers recruited extended by up to a further 24 hours by an officer of
since 2019 into neighbourhood policing. This Superintendent rank or above.
provision should be:
Between April 2020 and March 2021, 1.3 per cent of all
• Concentrated where legitimacy is most
stop and searches were conducted under Section 60,
challenged,
equating to 9,230 searches.
• Assessed against the objectives of
improving legitimacy, confidence and
6.4.2 How stop and search is used
resilience,
Figure 6.4 shows that the numbers of stops and
• Implemented in ways conducive to long- searches (under PACE) have fluctuated considerably
term local knowledge and relationship over time, with a big fall after the then Home Secretary
building, Theresa May tightened the guidelines around the use
• Accompanied by sufficient ‘organisational of the power, followed by a significant rise following
transformation’ to align wider police the recent increase in knife crime. Approximately 23
decision making with local insight, per cent of all searches carried out in 2020/21 resulted
knowledge, and perspective, in a criminal justice outcome, including 11 per cent
• Designed with an emphasis on that resulted in an arrest. Figure 6.4 shows that as the
promoting local dialogue, deliberation, number of searches increases, a lower proportion of
and to encourage broad-based public them result in an arrest.
involvement in local problem definition, 69 per cent of searches under PACE were for drugs
prioritisation and solving. (Figure 6.5), a proportion that has been increasing

31. See: https://www.college.police.uk/guidance/neighbourhood-policing

88 A new mode of protection

 Figure 6.4 Number of stops and searches under Section 1 of PACE and the proportion resulting in an arrest
(Home Office, 2021a)
1,400,000 20%
20
18%
18
1,200,000
16%
16
1,000,000 14%
14
12%
12
800,000
10%
10
600,000 8%
8
400,000 6%
6
4%
4
200,000
2%
2
SS.03: Stop and searches 1 under section 1 of PACE (and associated legislation), by police force area and reason for search, England and Wales, 2020/21 2,3,4
- 00
2

1
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Offensive Stolen Going Criminal
Drugs Other Firearms
01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20
weapons property equipped damage
20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20
Mar 14 41.5% 11.4% 28.4% 8.8% 7.7% 1.2% 1.0%
Mar 15 58.9% 7.1% 17.5% 11.0% 3.7% 1.0% 0.8%
Mar 16 58.6% 9.1% 15.2% 9.8% 5.6% 0.8% 0.9%
Mar 17
Number
62.2%
of
10.8%
PACE searches
13.4% 8.9%
% of
2.8%
stops and
0.7%
searches
1.2%
(PACE) resulting in an arrest (right axis)
Mar 18 60.2% 14.0% 12.6% 8.6% 2.5% 0.6% 1.5%
Mar 19 60.8% 16.2% 10.5% 8.2% 2.5% 0.6% 1.1%
Mar 20 62.8% 16.0% 10.2% 7.2% 2.2% 0.8% 0.8%
Mar 21 68.9% 12.1% 7.9% 7.1% 2.4% 0.9% 0.7%
Figure 6.5 Reason for searches under Section 1 of PACE (Home Office, 2021a)
100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Mar 14 Mar 15 Mar 16 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 19 Mar 20 Mar 21
Drugs Offensive weapons Stolen property Going equipped Other Criminal damage Firearms

over time. In all but one force, most drug searches are grounds are more likely to be strong when searches
for possession, rather than the supply offences most are intelligence-led rather than ‘self-generated’
associated with serious violence (HMICFRS, 2021). (based on the suspicion of the individual officer) (Table
6.2) (HMICFRS, 2021). Strong grounds and good
To reiterate PACE searches require ‘reasonable
intelligence are, therefore, vital to both the legitimacy
suspicion’ by the officer that someone is carrying an
and efficacy of stop and search (College of Policing
unlawful item. HMICFRS has found that searches
APP, 2017).
conducted on ‘stronger grounds’ are more likely to be
effective (i.e. result in a ‘find’) (Table 6.1). Furthermore,

6. Legitimacy 89
 Table 6.1 Recorded grounds for stop and search, and subsequent find rates (HMICFRS, 2021)

Recorded grounds % of PACE stop and searches Find rate

‘Strong’ 21% 40%

‘Moderate’ 42% 22%
‘Weak’ 22% 17%
‘Not reasonable’ 14% 14%

Table 6.2 Type of search and proportion of those with ‘weak’ recorded grounds (HMICFRS, 2021)

Search type % PACE searches % ‘weak’ recorded grounds

Self-generated 55% (70% in MPS) 54%

Third-party information 37% 34%
Intelligence led 9% 11%

Turning to the separate Section 60 power, which does least as much on the political context at the time
not require reasonable suspicion, we can see from as any objective reading of conditions on the
Figure 6.6 that use has also fluctuated considerably ground.
over time. Use of the power fell dramatically following
•  The more it is used the less effective the power
the Theresa May reforms, but the numbers have again
becomes. Both the PACE and Section 60 powers
picked up more recently following concerns about the
have a higher find rate when they are used in lower
rise in serious violence. As with the PACE power, the
volumes.
more it is used, the lower the find rate. The find rate last
Year Total section 60
Persons
searches
foundTotal
to bearrests
carryingArrests
offensive
forweapons
offensive
Arrestsweapons
for other(%reasons
of all arrests)
(% of all arrests)
2001/02 year, looking7.20%
18,900 specifically
3.60% at the29.50% possession
70.50% of offensive •  There is a lot we cannot know from this data. For
2002/03 44,400 3.50%
2003/04
weapons
40,400
(the stated5.60%
1.40%
aim of 14.20%
3.80%
the Section
19.30%
85.80%
80.70%
60 power) was example, we do not know whether, as some claim,
2004/05 just41,600
0.8 per 0.70%cent, the2.90% lowest21.10%proportion 78.90% since 2011/12 the possession of the power has a deterrent effect
2005/06 36,276 1.50% 4.70% 11.20% 88.80%
2006/07 (Home 44,707Office, 1.60%2021a)3.60% (Figure15.80%6.6). 84.20% on potential knife carriers. We also cannot tell from
2007/08 53,501 1.40% 3.90% 15.00% 85.00%
2008/09 these data what the impact of these searches
2009/10
We150,174
draw the0.80%
117,510 0.80%
2.80%
following
2.50%
12.70%
conclusions
14.70%
87.30%
from
85.30%
this summary
is on police legitimacy and public trust in the
2010/11 of the stop and
61,286 0.80% search data:17.00%
2.20% 83.00%
2011/12 45,126 0.50% 2.70% 14.10% 85.90% police. However we can understand more about
2012/13 5,253 1.10% 5.10% 16.70% 83.30%
2013/14 •  The
3,816 use 1.80%
of the power
4.90% varies
19.90% hugely
80.10% over time with this latter point by looking at the data on racial
2014/15 1,039 2.40% 3.00% 29.00% 71.00%
2015/16
big966
fluctuations
2.80%
which
5.80%
would
46.40%
seem
53.60%
to depend at disproportionality in the use of the power.
2016/17 622 8.20% 11.60% 23.60% 76.40%
2017/18 2,502 3.30% 8.10% 35.10% 64.90%
2018/19 Figure Number4.70%
13,414 6.6 1.60% of Section
25.40%60 stops
74.60% and searches and the proportion of those where a weapon is found
2019/20 18,081 1.40% 3.90% 26.80% 73.20%
2020/21 (Home
9,230 Office, 2020) 4.00%
0.80% 18.60% 81.40%

160,000 9%

140,000 8%

120,000 7%
6%
100,000
5%
80,000
4%
60,000
3%
40,000 2%
20,000 1%
0 0%
2

1
/0

/0

/0

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/0

/0

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/0

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

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/2
01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20
20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

Total section 60 searches Persons found to be carrying offensive weapons (right axis)

90 A new mode of protection

Figure 6.7 Stop and search rate per 1,000 people, both PACE and Section 60 powers (Home Office, 2021a)

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

-
2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21
White Black (or Black British) Asian (or Asian British) Other Ethnic Group Mixed

6.4.3 Racial disproportionality The experience of stop and search can be

Black people are seven times more likely to be stopped “embarrassing, intrusive and frightening” (HMICFRS,
than White people; people of ‘Other’ ethnicities 2.7 2021 p.9). And there is emerging evidence that it
times more likely and those of Mixed ethnicity and Asian can result in longer term individual harm (Del Toro
people 2.4 times more likely (Home Office, 2021a) et al, 2019a; Del Toro et al, 2019b ). Repeated and
(Figure 6.7). These disparities have been increasing over disproportionate use leads people to develop concerns
time but narrowed in 2020/21. about racial profiling. Adversarial encounters with the
police can have long lasting effects (Bradford, 2015).
Racial and ethnic disproportionality is even greater for 85 per cent of Black people are not confident that the
the use of the Section 60 power. Between April 2019 police would treat them the same as a White person
and March 2020, ethnic minority groups were seven (JCHR, 2020) and 74 per cent of people from an ethnic
times more likely to be stopped under Section 60 than minority background aged 16 to 30 think BME people
their White counterparts, and Black people 18 times are unfairly targeted by stop and search (Keeling, 2017).
more likely (Home Office, 2020). People from Black, All of this is likely to reduce public trust in the police and
and Minority Ethnic (BME) background were subject to cooperation with them.
54 per cent of all Section 60 searches last year (Home
Office, 2021a). The police tend to justify use of stop and search as being
an effective tool to tackle violent crime, but there is limited
evidence to suggest a significant relationship. The College
6.4.4 Impact
of Policing APP (2017) states that any contribution that
“I’ve been stopped eight times in one day… I was stop and search makes to crime reduction, by detecting
nine when I first started being stopped… you can’t and deterring criminals, is likely to be “small, highly
be Black in a tracksuit” (Young adult) localised and short-lived” (see also Quinton et al, 2017;
Tiratelli et al, 2018; McCandless et al, 2016).
“It’s trivial [Section 60] because taking one knife
off the streets doesn’t save lives, it makes In the US, consistent and statistically significant short-
no difference as people have so many more term crime reduction effects have been identified when
weapons. I am 100 per cent against Section 60… stop, question and frisk (SQF) is targeted in places
being searched without suspicion is against my with high levels of violence (and serious gun crime)
rights as a citizen of my country” (Professional and focused on high-risk repeat offenders. However
working with young adults with lived experienced there is an absence of evidence of its long-term impact
of the criminal justice system) (Weisburd and Majmundar, 2018), and the mechanisms
driving any crime reduction are unclear (whether, for
instance it is the result of greater police visibility rather
than the search itself (Quinton et al, 2017)).

6. Legitimacy 91
6.4.5 Conclusion and recommendations ‘Precision policing’ provides a possible framework for
moving to a model of street-level crime control less reliant
“The recent rise of serious violence, against the on ‘blunt’ tactics like stop and search and focuses on
backdrop of falls in other crime types, has reopened developing better local intelligence through community
the conversation about how the police effectively policing and greater legitimacy (Bratton and Murad, 2018).
build trust with communities most affected by these
crimes and implement strategies that protect the Third, how the power is used is important and there
public with due regard to their long-term effects. is plenty of evidence from the Independent Office for
While there has been much debate about the Police Conduct (IOPC) that the power is very often used
need for a ‘public health approach’ to address in ways that do not conform to the theory and practice
serious violence, and some positive developments of procedural justice outlined earlier (IOPC, 2020).
at regional levels, [we are] concerned that the
Fourth, the levels of racial and ethnic disproportionality
approach’s potential success is being undermined
in its use are a cause of a deep sense of unfairness
by heavy-handed tactics and changes in policy that
and contribute to less trust and confidence in the police
will inflict further damage on the relationship between
among Black people (Naseem, 2021).
the police and the community. In particular, the
return of Section 60 stop and search is a shift that Fifth, there is an over concentration of the use of the
is un-evidenced in terms of need or the likelihood of power on minor drugs possession offences, which is
positive outcomes”. (CE1.03) striking given that the general justification for its use is
that it is a tactical option to deal with serious violence.
The first thing to say is that in principle the police should
have a power to stop and search a person where These points suggest the importance of a much stronger
they have reasonable grounds to suspect someone is framework of policy, tactics and training around the use of
carrying an unlawful item. the PACE power. Training must emphasise the importance
of procedurally just encounters, the causes and impact of
However, focusing for the moment on the PACE power, disproportionality and how the use of stop and search needs
there are some issues that need to be addressed. First, to align with overall priorities. We make a recommendation
the fact that the ‘find rate’ is higher the less the power below which aims to create a more consistent standard of
is used indicates that high volumes of stop and search training and practice in the use of the power.
bring with them diminishing returns and moreover are
likely to generate a significant cost in terms of reduced Finally, we turn to Section 60. In principle we consider
trust and confidence in the police and ultimately a power that enables the police to search a person
reduced cooperation between the police and local without any reasonable grounds for suspicion that they
communities. The police should have the power but are carrying an unlawful item is problematic from a civil
they should use it proportionately, with discretion, and liberties perspective. It should not be used frequently
only when they have strong grounds for suspicion and and only in extraordinary circumstances. We note that
be mindful of its impact on community confidence and the power tends to be used in a way that is highly
harm to the individual. disproportionate on racial and ethnic lines and that it
generates considerable community concern. We also
Second, taking this thinking one step further, there note that the ‘find rate’ from Section 60 searches is
is a case for greater intelligence-led targeting of the extremely low.
use of the PACE power. We urge police leaders to
look at the concept of ‘precision policing’ developed We also heard representations that this is a useful tactical
in the United States. This approach calls for a shift in option when the police are concerned about an outbreak
policing from the ‘three Rs’ (rapid response, random in serious violence. It has been suggested that there may
patrol and reactive investigation) to three Ps (problem be a deterrent effect from its use, which is a counter
solving, partnership and prevention). It is “a framework, factual that, if it were true, would be hard to evidence.
an organising principle, to ensure that police work with
Our view is that the Section 60 power has been
the community in ways that add up to police legitimacy
misused in the past and applied too often in conditions
because the methods are integrated into the heart of
where it should not have been. However, we can
patrol work and not segregated as an ancillary function.
conceive of emergency conditions under which a
It ensures that police use connectivity more than
temporary power of this kind is justified. This would
enforcement; but when enforcement is necessary, it is
be where the police have intelligence that a significant
accurately and narrowly directed” (Bratton and Murad,
outbreak of serious violence is likely to occur. At the
2018: 32).
very least the government’s recent relaxation of the

92 A new mode of protection

rules around Section 60 ought to be reversed. Section
60 powers ought only to be used when a senior officer
6.5 TRUST AND LEGITIMACY IN
considers that such serious violence ‘is likely to’ THE DIGITAL AGE
(rather than ‘may’) occur and the authorisation ought
So far in this chapter our concerns have been analogue
to be made by a chief officer, rather than an Inspector.
ones. But we are living in a digital age and we must
The guidance must also make clear that the impact
consider the implications of this change for police
on community relations must be considered prior to
legitimacy and public trust.
authorisation and the grounds for the authorisation
must be properly communicated to the public. The core challenge here is how the police can harness
the power of new technologies – such as Artificial
Recommendations Intelligence (AI) and Live Facial Recognition (LFR) –
while avoiding disproportionate intrusion, unethical
12. The government’s Serious Violence
practice and the breaching of public trust.32
Strategy should be amended to reflect
a three-strand commitment to 1. a These challenges were highlighted by Metropolitan
preventative public health approach, Police Commissioner Cressida Dick in a pair of lectures
2. targeted law enforcement activity to the Police Foundation in 2019 and the Royal United
(‘precision policing’) and 3. an explicit Services Institute the following year. She said that digital
commitment to legitimacy and working technologies can help to predict, prevent, and detect
with communities. The last is lacking significant volumes of crime, but that policing also
from current strategies and emphasises needed to embrace “well-governed and well-explained
a shift to problem solving, partnership proportionate use of tech”. She offered an articulation
and prevention from ‘blunt’ street level of a British policing model for the digital age, in which
deterrence and enforcement. technology would always be used to augment, not
replace, accountable human decision making, and
13. The College of Policing should issue where deployments would be subject to principles of
mandatory guidance in relation to stop and minimal intrusion (analogous to those underpinning use
search training. This would be based on of physical force), backed by the capability for agile
the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme. escalation and de-escalation as circumstances change.
This should emphasise the importance We consider that this provides a useful starting point
of procedural justice and the need for for developing a framework for police use of intrusive
searches to have strong grounds, including technologies.
through being intelligence-led, and to
There are three specific challenges that need to be
align with wider police priorities. Where a
addressed, relating to governance, bias, and privacy
drugs search leads to a ‘find’ and a charge
(Rowe and Muir, 2021).
of possession would otherwise be made,
individuals should be consistently diverted First, the governance problems relate to the challenge
towards a social intervention and away of achieving satisfactory oversight of predictive ‘big
from the criminal justice system. data’ algorithms, given their inherent complexity and
the additional layers of opacity added when these are
14. The Section 60 legislation should be ‘self-learning’, developed with the private sector or by
changed to make clear that this is a networks that cross jurisdictional borders.
power to be used only in extraordinary
circumstances, where the police have Second, there is a challenge of bias, linked to the way
intelligence that a significant outbreak of algorithmic processing can exaggerate or ‘ratchet
serious violence is likely to occur. The up’ (Harcourt, 2007) unintentional coding biases or
partiality/disproportionality in input data, leading to over
authorisation should be made by a chief
or under-policing of problems, neighbourhoods, or
officer. The grounds for the decision
marginalised groups (Lum and Isaac, 2016).
should be clearly communicated to the
public and the impact on police-community Both of these challenges give rise to questions about
relations considered. how ‘human’ police officers, can be held accountable

32. We note that the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into new technologies and the application
of the law, which will no doubt tackle these questions. We look forward to its findings https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1272/new-
technologies-and-the-application-of-the-law/

6. Legitimacy 93
for algorithmically informed decisions (and/or where else
Recommendation
accountability should lie). Empirically, too little is known
about how police personnel interact with algorithmic 15. The Association of Police and Crime
outputs, but there are clearly risks of police officers Commissioners and the National Police
relying excessively on the judgements of machines Chiefs’ Council should establish an
when reaching decisions for which they are ultimately independent National Commission for
accountable (Kearns and Muir, 2019). Police Technology Ethics to consider and
Third, the problem of privacy cuts across multiple advise on proposals for new technology
areas of police work in the information age, from projects. Police forces and law enforcement
investigative use of communications data to biometrics, agencies should work with the Centre on a
to network analysis and data-mining. The primary voluntary basis, but a public register of all
challenge currently is to ensure that police intrusions police technology projects should be kept,
into citizens’ privacy, are necessary, proportionate and indicating each project’s referral/approval
compliant with the complex patchwork of relevant status.
legislation. Recent investigations and court cases
identifying problems with police use of mobile phone
The work of the Commission should be
extraction (ICO, 2020), their trial use of Live Facial informed by 1. a standing Citizens Panel
Recognition (R (Bridges) v CC South Wales, 2020), and on police use of technology, and 2. a
controversy over the ‘consent’ required of victims for programme of research, commissioned
digital examination of electronic devices, demonstrate by the College of Policing, to better
the need for continued vigilance to ensure that police understand how police personnel make
assurances around digital ethics are carried through technologically augmented decisions.
into practice.
The Commission should work with the
It is unhelpful that public debate about these questions College of Policing to develop guidance
tends to be dominated by critical campaigning voices around the proportionate use of intrusive
on one side, with the police often obliged to take up technologies. This should be based on the
the position of proponents on the other. Given what principle of minimal intrusion, with an ability
we have said about the importance of the police to escalate as circumstances demand.
committing to inclusive dialogue, and the role they
play as societal arbiters, this position of advocacy for
greater power, feels undesirable. Much more conducive 6.6 CONDUCT
to public trust, we suggest, is the way some police
As recent events have demonstrated, nothing is more
forces have voluntarily subjected their proposed data
corrosive of public trust in the police than unethical,
and technology initiatives to the scrutiny of independent
illegal and immoral conduct by police officers. A healthy,
ethics panels and responded to their recommendations
functioning relationship between the public and the
and advice (Oswald, 2021).
police requires the former to trust that the latter will
We believe a commitment to this kind of rigorous act professionally, competently, lawfully, and based on
external, expert scrutiny and challenge by non-partisan sound motives.
bodies, representing the public interest, can go some
Just as with members of the public, good conduct
way to establishing police trustworthiness in this fast-
for police officers requires both 1. sanctions for bad
developing field.
behaviour and 2. a supportive cultural and social
Policing would do well to put such arrangements on context. Here we discuss first the effectiveness of the
a firmer footing than exists at present. Noting the police conduct system and second the need for a
risk of inconsistencies emerging, and the limited pool culture that promotes the right norms and values.
of available expertise, there appears to be a strong
First, it must be said that there have been significant
argument for moving from the current set of fragmented
changes to the police conduct system and it is
local arrangements to a single national ethics and
very early to judge their impact. In 2020 the Home
oversight panel.
Office introduced a number of reforms to police
disciplinary procedures to try to place less emphasis on
punishment, particularly for errors, sub-optimal practice
etc and more on organisational learning (Home Office,

94 A new mode of protection

2018). Under new arrangements less serious breaches We also note the existence of well-documented
of professional standards are dealt with outside of strategies for promoting police integrity (e.g., Newburn,
the misconduct system, through line management 2015), which include lessons around vetting, resourcing
action, Reflective Practice Review Processes and of professional standards departments, and close
Unsatisfactory Performance Procedures. monitoring of ‘closed’ or specialist units, demonstrably
more vulnerable to corruption (Punch, 2000). We leave
The direction of these reforms, toward more of a
it for other, better placed reviews to assess where
learning culture and a focus on preventing mistakes
current practice in these areas requires improvement.
from re-occurring is positive. We do however have
concerns about one specific change: the introduction However, here we make three recommendations which
of independent ‘legally qualified persons’ to chair police are within our strategic remit. First, the College of
misconduct hearings. While this change seems well Policing should initiate a programme of work to ensure
motivated there is a widespread view among chief that the Code of Ethics becomes fully embedded into
officers that, for whatever reason, these chairs seem police culture and practice. This should include placing
less likely than Chief Constables to dismiss officers the Code of Ethics at the heart of the new leadership
found guilty of serious misconduct (Hamilton, 2021; development programmes we call for in Chapter 10 of
Hewitt 2021a). This has led to the bizarre situation of this report. Sergeants, Inspectors, Superintendents and
police forces taking their own misconduct panels to chief officers need to be role models for good conduct
court to try to secure an officer’s dismissal. and the highest professional standards. That is the key
to achieving a culture of integrity.
Recommendation
Second, we note research evidence that links the
16. The Home Office should review the use of way police officers behave vis-à-vis members of
independent chairs of police misconduct the public, to the way they are treated within their
hearings. Such a review should identify organisations. Across a range of workplace contexts,
whether the recent reforms have made it studies found that how employees are treated within
harder to secure the dismissal of officers their organisations has an impact on their performance,
found guilty of misconduct. including organisational commitment, ‘going the extra
mile’, and job satisfaction (Colquitt, 2008; Tyler and
Second, it is clear that having a robust misconduct system
Blader, 2000).
is not sufficient to promote good conduct. This requires
a wider culture of integrity. There are good reasons to be In the policing context, Bradford et al (2013), have shown
concerned about the current state of police occupational that police officers who perceive their organisation as
culture, or at least some of the sub-cultures within it. distributivity fair, and their supervisors and leaders as
Following the murder of Sarah Everard, there has been procedurally just, are more likely to identify with the
widespread condemnation of persistent and problematic organisation, demonstrate discretionary effort, value the
‘canteen’ cultures, that allow misogynistic, racist, public and feel empowered in their work.33 In this context
homophobic, and otherwise discriminatory attitudes and the finding that only 36 per cent of frontline officers
behaviours to persist unchecked (Hewitt, 2021b; Saner, believe that they are ‘treated fairly’ (the same proportion
2021; Marsh, 2021; Apter, 2021). who explicitly disagree, (Chandler, 2020)) should be of
particular concern, and the drivers of these perceptions
Given the persistence of these issues it is questionable
need to be understood and addressed.
whether the obligation in the police Code of Ethics to
question and report, challenge or take action against In light of this evidence the College of Policing should
unprofessional behaviour has really been embedded ensure that the principles for promoting ‘organisational
culturally within the police service (College of Policing, 2014). justice’ are embedded into police leadership
development programmes.
Currently there are two inquiries underway which will
explore many of these issues, one led by Dame Elish Third, the way in which police organisations often fail
Angiolini for the Home Office and another by Dame to respond transparently and empathetically following
Louise Casey for the Metropolitan Police. Clearly cases of internal misconduct, whether current or in
any reforms aimed at improving police conduct and the past, can act to further undermine public trust.
organisational culture should follow the conclusions of As has been recognised within the service (Dodd,
these two important inquiries. 2016), learning from failure is too often impaired by an

33. The perceived risk of sanctions (i.e., disciplinary or performance measures), on the other hand, did not impact on these outcomes, but did predict self-
reported rule following and ‘blind obedience’ (as did supervisory procedural justice).

6. Legitimacy 95
institutional tendency towards defensiveness. In the
wake of Inquiries into the Hillsborough Stadium disaster
6.7 WORKFORCE DIVERSITY
(HIP, 2012; Jones 2017) and, more recently, the murder In this section we examine the diversity of the police
of Daniel Morgan (O’Loan, 2021), calls have been workforce as a key building block for police legitimacy.
made for a statutory ‘Duty of Candour’ to be applied to First, we set out why a more diverse workforce is
police and other public authorities, to ensure that those important. Second, we examine the data on the
seeking truth following tragedy, are not obstructed. representation of different groups within the workforce,
focusing on those characteristics for which we have
We believe that an organisational duty of candour
data (gender and race and ethnicity). Third, we explore
on police forces would help to promote openness
why the police service remains so unrepresentative of
and reduce defensiveness. This would be a duty on
the populations it serves. Fourth, we make a series of
police bodies to, at all times, act within ‘the public
recommendations that amount to a call for a ‘diversity
interest, to be transparent candid and frank’, as well
uplift’ in policing.
as a duty ‘to assist court proceedings, inquiries, and
official investigations and to cooperate with public
6.7.1 The importance of a diverse workforce
inquiries’. Certainly, within the NHS there are signs that
a comparable duty of candour has led to an increased We identify a number of reasons why having a more
reporting of serious incidents (Gardiner et al, 2021). representative workforce should benefit both the police
However we also note that an organisational duty of and society:
candour is unlikely to work unless also underpinned •  A more representative organisation should
by active efforts to embed a culture of integrity as strengthen police legitimacy, particularly with those
described above (Gardiner et al, 2021). groups hitherto under-represented (Gade and
Recommendations Wilkins, 2013; Theobald and Haider-Markel, 2009).

17. The College of Policing should instigate •  A more representative workforce may be less likely
a programme of work to ensure that the to discriminate against minority communities and
Code of Ethics is deeply embedded into will be more likely to consider the interests and
police training, decision-making and perspectives of those communities (Meier, 1993).
professional practice. This should include: •  Having a diversity of perspectives within an
• Ensuring that the principles set out in the organisation can help to tackle outdated thinking,
Code of Ethics are core components of all prevent ‘group think’ and promote innovation (Syed,
leadership development programmes in 2021).
policing.
• Ensuring that ‘ethical health checks’ are a 6.7.2 Diversity within the police workforce
standard part of police officer professional In this section we break down the police workforce by
development. gender and race/ethnicity and seek to understand how
representative it is of the population of England and
• Ensuring that reflective practice is used
Wales, and of local police force areas. Note that figures
systematically to promote discussion of
on other protected characteristics such as disability,
the implications of the Code of Ethics for
religion and sexual orientation are not available.
police decision-making.

18. The College of Policing should ensure Gender

that police leadership development There has been a steady increase in the proportion of
programmes are informed by the female police officers in the workforce as illustrated
principles of organisational justice. These in Figure 6.8. This has risen by 6.6 percentage
programmes should promote a model of points between 2010 and 2021 to 32.3 per cent of
police leadership that understands and the workforce but is still significantly less than the
seeks to address the causes of perceived proportion of women in the general population of
unfairness within the workforce. England and Wales (over 50 per cent).

19. The Home Office should bring forward Figure 6.9 shows female representation is highest at
legislation to introduce an organisational the Constable rank (34.3 per cent). It is lowest at the
duty of candour for police forces. Sergeant rank (24.6 per cent). When looking more
broadly at roles within the workforce, there is strong

96 A new mode of protection

 2015 28.3
2016 28.6
2017 29.1
2018 29.8
2019 30.4
2020 31.2
2021Figure
32.36.8 Female police officers as a proportion of all police officers (Home Office, 2021b)
35
35%

30
30%

25
25%

20
20%

15
15%

10
10%

5
5%
ortion of female police officers by rank - march 2 02 0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Officer 15.2 0 0 17 17.6 18 19.1 21.4 22.9 26.8 27.1 27.4 29.4 31.8
Superintendent 11 11.2 2010 12.4 2011 15 201219 2013
21.3 2014
25.2 2015
22.9 2016
22.6 2017
22.4 22.5 2018 25.2 2019 2020 2021
intendent 13 14.9 16.2 17.5 16.6 19.2 21.2 23.3 26.4 27.6 28.2 28.7
Inspector 15.4 15.4 17.1 18.9 20.9 22.6 23.5 25.1 25.1 26 26.1 26.9
ctor 15.6 16.6 17.5 18.4 19.3 20.2 20.8 21.7 23.3 23.9 24.7 25.4
ant 17.3 17.9 18.7 19.6 20.4 21 21.7 22.3 22.8 23.4 24.2 24.6
able 28.6 29 29.4 29.7 30.1 30.2 30.6 31 31.6 32.2 33.1 34.3
Figure 6.9. Proportion of all police officers who are female by rank 2021 (Home Office, 2021b)

Constable

Officer 31.8
Superintendent 25.2
Sergeant
intendent 28.7
Inspector 26.9
ctor 25.4 Inspector
ant 24.6
able 34.3
Chief Inspector

Superintendent

Chief Superintendent

Female Chief
Male Officer
Police officers 32 68
Police staff and designated
61officers 39
PCSOs 47 53
Special constables 28 72
0% 5%
0 5 10%
10 15%
15 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
20 25 30 35 40
Police support volunteers4 9 51

120
Figure 6.10. Gender balance within the police workforce 2021 (Home Office, 2021c)

100
100%

80
80%

60%
60

40
40%

20
20%

00
Police officers Police staff and PCSOs Special constables Police support
designated officers volunteers
Female Male

6. Legitimacy 97
Figure 6.11 Average proportion of women police officers in Europe and USA 2016-2018 (Eurostat, 2020)
45%
45.0
40%
40.0
35%
35.0
30%
30.0
25%
25.0
20%
20.0
15%
15.0
10.0
10%
5.0
5%
0.0
0

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female representation within police staff and designated Nevertheless, at the current rate of progress it will take
officers (61 per cent), Police Support Volunteers (49 per another 20 years for England and Wales to achieve a
cent) and PCSOs (47 per cent) (Figure 6.10). representative workforce in terms of gender.

By comparison with other European countries and the

Race and ethnicity
United States, England and Wales have one of the
highest proportions of women police officers, coming Since 2000, the percentage of Black and Minority
seventh out of 37 countries (Figure 6.11). While in Ethnic (BME) police officers has increased steadily
England and Wales 29 per cent of police officers were from 2.2 per cent to 7.6 per cent (excluding not stated)
women in 2016 to 2018, the figure was just 4 per cent (Figure 6.12). However, this is still some way off being
in Turkey, 8 per cent in Portugal, 8 per cent in Italy representative of the population of England and Wales
and 11 per cent in the USA. The Baltic states have (17.6 per cent in 2021) (Wohland et al, 2021)
by contrast the highest proportions of women police Figure 6.13 illustrates that Asian and mixed ethnicity
officers: 39 per cent in Lithuania, 37 per cent Latvia and police officer representation is the highest and their
35 per cent in Estonia. representation is increasing at the fastest rate. The

Figure 6.12 Proportion of all police officers who are BME 2000-2021 (Home Office, 2021c)

8%
8

7%
7

6%
6

5%
5

4%
4

3%
3

2%
2

1%
1

00
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

98 A new mode of protection

Figure 6.13. Ethnic minorities as a percentage of all police officers (Home Office, 2021b)

3.5%
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.0%
3
3
3
2.5%
2.5
2.5
2.5
2
2.0%
2
2

1.5%
1.5
1.5
1.5
1
1.0%
1
1

0.5
0.5%
0.5
0.5
0
00
0 Mar Mar Mar
2007 2008 2009 Mar Mar Mar
2010 2011 2012 Mar 2014
2013 Mar 2015
2014 Mar Mar Mar Mar
2015 2016 2017 2018 Mar Mar
2019 2020
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Asian/Asian
Asian/Asian British
British Black/black
Black/Black British
Black/black British
British Chinese/Other
Chinese/Other Mixed
Mixed
Asian/Asian British Black/black British Chinese/Other Mixed
proportion of Asian and mixed ethnicity officers more ethnicity. The proportion of Black police officers in the
than doubled between 2007 and 2020. By contrast MPS has increased by just 0.9 percentage points in
Black police officers only increased from 1 to 1.3 per the past 10 years. In GMP this figure is 0.3 percentage
cent as a proportion of the workforce in the 14 years points and WMP has in fact seen a reduction in the
to 2021. This is a major concern given that Black proportion of Black officers.
Caribbean communities have the lowest levels of trust
What about the impact of Operation Uplift? As of
and confidence in the police.
September 2021, 7.9 per cent of all officers were BME,
Table 6.3 shows that although the ethnic diversity of an increase of 0.6 percentage points since March
officers has increased in recent years, in 2021, all ethnic 2020. Of new officers recruited between April 2020
minorities remain under-represented in policing compared and September 2021, 11.4 per cent identified as BME.
to their proportion of the English and Welsh population. This is only a 1.1 percentage point increase on the
percentage of new recruits that were BME in the year
If we look at progress made in the last ten years, there
to March 2020 (10.3 per cent) (Home Office, 2021d).
is a wide variation in performance. Greater Manchester
These figures suggest that Operation Uplift is having a
Police (GMP) saw a 97.5 per cent increase in BME
negligible impact on workforce diversity.
officers between 2015 and 2021. In comparison, West
Midlands Police (WMP) saw a 44 per cent increase and We can also make future projections, based on current
the Metropolitan Police (MPS) a 37.8 per cent increase. trends. Using Wohland’s (2021) projections, the BME
Improvements in each of the three biggest forces in population of England and Wales will increase to 27.1 per
England and Wales has been driven predominantly by cent by 2050. If the number of BME officers continues
the recruitment of Asian officers. There has also been to increase by only 0.34 percentage points annually (the
some success in the recruitment of people of mixed average over the last five years) it will take 58.2 years for

Table 6.3 The representation gap by ethnic group 2021 (Home Office, 2021b; Wohland et al, 2021)34

Proportion of all Proportion of all Proportion of population in

Ethnicity
BME officers (%) police officers (%) England and Wales

Asian/Asian British 44.9 3.4 9.8

Black/Black British 16.9 1.3 3.8
Other 7.9 0.6 1.2
Mixed 30.3 2.3 2.8

34. Officers who identify as Chinese in 2021 were counted under the Asian ethnic group instead of under the Chinese and Other ethnic group.

6. Legitimacy 99
the police service to be representative of a population However, none of these factors should become a cause
that is 27.1 per cent BME, taking us to the year 2079. for fatalism. As we shall see there are good examples of
By then, of course, the BME population of England and police organisations bringing in talent from more diverse
Wales will have again increased significantly. backgrounds.

Looking at the three largest metropolitan forces, we

6.7.4 Improving diversity
estimate that it will take the Metropolitan Police 59
years to be representative of London’s Asian population There are several examples of success in recruiting a
and 91 years to be representative of London’s Black more diverse police workforce. For example, the Police
population (as at 2050). For Greater Manchester it will Now graduate recruitment programme has done well
take 24 and 40 years respectively. At the current rate of in recruiting new female officers: 54 per cent of New
change in the number of its Black officers (falling) West Graduate Leadership Programme (NGLP) recruits and
Midlands Police will never become representative of its 66 per cent of New Detective Programme (NDP) offer
Black population. holders starting in 2020/21 were women (compared to
37 per cent of joiners nationally). Of those starting in
2020/21, 17 per cent of NGLP and 26 per cent NDP
6.7.3 The causes of low minority
recruits were BME, compared to 10 per cent of joiners
representation in the police workforce
nationally in 2019/20. 45 per cent of these were female.
We identify the following reasons why members of Additionally, the number of Black people on the NGLP
ethnic minority groups are less likely to consider policing increased from eight in 2019 to 29 in 2020.
as a career:
The significant increase in Police Now applications
•  There is the feeling of being unwelcome, considering
since 2015 is a clear indication that policing can attract
the fraught history of race relations in this country and
diverse and motivated graduates. Some of the reasons
the long history of racism and discrimination in policing,
for their success are attributable to much better
evidenced in numerous public inquiries over the years,
targeting of marketing at BME audiences, using diverse
such as Scarman (1981) and Macpherson (1998).
role models and framing policing as being about social
•  A lack of minority ethnic role models in the police. change and public service rather than traditional crime
•  BME candidates are more likely to receive a hostile fighting.
reaction from their families due to their perceptions What the experience of Police Now shows is that
of the police. women and people from BME groups do want to join
•  BME graduates in particular may see policing as the police when there is a real focus on reaching out
lacking the status of other professions such as and making it an attractive career choice.
medicine and the law (Waters et al, 2007).
However, both the Scarman and Macpherson Reports
•  Vetting can exclude candidates if a criminal record is argued for improving minority representation in the
associated with their social or familial networks and police workforce and far too little has been achieved
candidates from more disadvantaged backgrounds since those landmark reports. Macpherson set targets
may be more likely to be excluded on that basis. for police force representation by 2009, none of which
•  BME candidates are more likely than White were met. The Home Affairs Select Committee noted in
candidates to fail assessment centres, suggesting 2013 that progress since the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
much more needs to be done to create a level was ‘disappointing’ and that there being (at that time)
playing field in the recruitment process. no Black or Asian Chief Constables was ‘shameful’.
It also said that progress had not been sufficient and
•  BME officers are less likely to stay in the police and that there was a need to address the issue with greater
less likely to get promoted. Police officers with a urgency.
BME background are more likely to voluntarily resign
than White officers, with 27 voluntary resignations It is time to take further steps to improve the
per 1,000 officers in the year ending March 2021 representativeness of policing. We note the success
compared to 15.1 for White officers. During of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in
2020/21, just 4.5 per cent of all police officers recruiting more Catholic officers following the Good
promoted were BME (excluding the MPS) (Home Friday Agreement (see Box 6.1). In that case the PSNI
Office, 2021c). The dismissal rate for BME officers was allowed for a time limited period to use positive
is 2.9 per 1,000 compared to 1.2 for White officers discrimination, essentially a 50/50 recruitment process.
(Home Office, 2021c) We note that the success in Northern Ireland was not

100 A new mode of protection

 Box 6.1 The experience of the Police Service of Northern Ireland
The 1999 Patten Report on policing was a significant step towards peace in Northern Ireland. Following the
recommendations of the enquiry, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), which drew its officers overwhelmingly from the
Protestant community, was replaced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Alongside the latter was a reformed
recruitment policy, where 50 per cent of new officers would be Catholics. Where six or more similar vacancies were to be
filled, all candidates of a specified standard of merit were pooled from which an equal number of Protestants and Catholics
were appointed.

The first step to make this change was to create vacancies by offering severance schemes. The result was increased
Catholic representation in the police workforce, from 8 per cent in 2001 to 30 per cent when the initiative was stopped
in 2011. In this period the application rate of Catholics also increased from 23 per cent to 37 per cent (Home Affairs
Committee, 2016) as did confidence in the police among Catholic communities. The uplift in Catholic representation has
stalled since; in 2020 32 per cent of PSNI officers are Catholic (PSNI, 2020). The 2011 census showed that 45 per cent of
the population of Northern Ireland were Catholic (48 per cent Protestant), but a Catholic majority is predicted for the near
future (Gordan, 2018).

simply about positive discrimination, but also about re-

founding the police service as a new organisation and
6.8 CONCLUSION
that this helped to change how those in the nationalist There are worrying signs of a deterioration in public
community saw the police. We are clear that any use confidence in the police and in particular there are signs
of recruitment targets and positive discrimination in of a decline in police legitimacy in the nation’s capital.
England and Wales needs to be backed up by a wider There are longstanding legitimacy deficits in the Black
programme of work to build trust in policing particularly community and, in a more disrupted and unpredictable
among Black communities. future operating environment, the ability of the police
to work cooperatively with the public will become more
Recommendation important. Legitimacy must be seen as a core strategic
20. The government should develop a plan to capability for the police service, without which it is
improve workforce diversity, setting targets impossible for our policing model to function effectively.
for female and ethnic minority recruitment The police service should develop a long-term plan
for each police force. In order to facilitate to build and promote police legitimacy. That plan
this the government should legislate to should be backed up by better data on where trust
allow police forces to introduce time limited and confidence are weakest and efforts to promote
positive discrimination policies until such legitimacy should be focused on those communities.
time as these targets are achieved. A restored neighbourhood policing model should be at
the centre of efforts to improve trust and confidence,
with a significant proportion of the new Operation Uplift
recruits dedicated to neighbourhood policing roles.

Part of that plan must also include new guidance and

mandatory training around the use of the stop and
search power, a clearer national framework around the
ethics of using new technologies in policing, work to
tackle negative internal cultures and clear targets to
improve workforce diversity.

6. Legitimacy 101
7. SKILLS AND TECHNOLOGY
Summary: The police need the right skills and technology to be able to perform their role in a changing
world. The police service currently suffers from gaps in relational, investigative and digital skills. Strong
interpersonal and communication skills are crucial to improving police legitimacy and must be a mandatory
minimum standard across all forces. There should be greater use of direct entry schemes and improved
pay to deal with the chronic shortage of detectives. Policing should collaborate much more closely with the
private sector to fill gaps in specialist digital skills.

To fill crucial skills gaps policing needs to become a more plural workforce, for example by strengthening
career pathways in allied policing professions, such as data analytics, financial investigation and digital
forensics. There should be strategic workforce planning at a national level to ensure the service can properly
meet the demands of the future.

Police information technology also requires substantial improvement. It is alarming that the Police National
Computer, a critical part of police infrastructure, is 48 years old and will soon be running on the basis of
unsupported technology. There needs to be significant investment in police IT over the next decade. The
College of Policing, as a single home for police improvement, should have powers to mandate common IT
standards across the whole system to improve data sharing and interoperability.

Police officers and staff need the skills and technological Communication and interpersonal skills
assets to enable them to perform their roles successfully The projected increase of social tensions and civil
in the face of radically changing demand. In this chapter emergencies and the need to respond to increasingly
we identify a number of core skills gaps within the police complex needs, put a premium on officers’
workforce and describe what should be done to fill communication skills. As we have discussed, police
them. We also review the state of police IT and call for a also need good interpersonal skills to police with
‘technology uplift’ over the next decade. legitimacy.

Tens of thousands of police officers of course have

7.1 SKILLS excellent people skills. However, current police training
does not sufficiently emphasise communication and
The future skills requirement can be broken down into
interpersonal skills. Surveys of people who have
three categories:
encountered police officers suggest officers often do
•  Relational skills required to manage complexity, not properly attempt verbal de-escalation before using
respond to vulnerability, de-escalate social tension, force. Many officers say they manage conflict through
and build and sustain public trust and confidence. communication, but just half have been trained to
•  Investigatory skills required to investigate do this (Clark-Darby and Quinton, 2020). HMICFRS’
increasingly complex areas of crime. 2018/19 PEEL inspection found none of the 19 forces
inspected provided structured communication training
•  Digital skills to operate effectively in a digital
(HMICFRS, 2021). 
environment.
Figure 7.1 summarises our assessment of the future While conflict management now features in officer
skills needs of the police service. safety training,35 HMICFRS (2021) has found officers are
not taught associated skills like active listening, showing
7.1.1 Relational skills empathy, building rapport, using positive language and
de-escalation techniques. Providing proper training and
Policing is fundamentally a relational business: the
assessment for verbal and non-verbal communication
outcomes the police achieve for society depend on the
skills could prevent confrontation, reduce demand for
quality of their internal and external relationships. Future
conflict management and bolster legitimacy (HMICFRS,
trends will render these relational skills even more important.
2020).

35. The College of Policing has now designed a conflict management training package but many officers rely on CPD and supervisor debriefing to acquire
these skills.

102 A new mode of protection

Figure 7.1. Future skills assessment for policing

Future trends Skills requirement Implications for workforce organisation

More crime on the internet Digital skills Increased specialisation in complex areas of
investigatory and operational support work,
Investment in digital tools Investigatory skills
alongside wider awareness among the general
to keep pace with internet workforce
crime
More specialist entry points
Locating specialisms within centres of
expertise.
Upgrading technology and ending reliance on
legacy systems
Greater need to work within Understanding of ethical Needed for all roles, with specialist input
an ethical framework online issues
More frequent high impact Communication and Needed across all public facing roles
disruptive events interpersonal skills
Large number of generalist police officers
needed to tackle large scale disruption
Policing of social tension Communication and Needed across all public facing roles,
and public order more interpersonal skills particularly neighbourhood, response and
challenging public order roles
Cultural competency
Need for reinvestment in neighbourhood
Local knowledge
policing and specialist public order capacity
Conflict management
More complex social Communication and Needed across all public facing roles,
demands interpersonal skills particularly in neighbourhood and response.
Conflict management Need for sufficient numbers of officers with
specialist skills to tackle increasingly complex
Trauma Informed Practice
crime
Problem solving
Co-production
Collaboration across sectors
Specialist investigatory skills
to tackle complex crime
patterns
Fiscal constraint/resource Resource management Attracting people from other sectors with
pressure these skills, particularly into non-warranted
Change management
roles
Commercial awareness
Strengthening learning and development for
Leadership police leaders
Organised crime groups Digital skills Important for serious and organised crime and
exploiting opportunities investigatory roles
Collaboration skills
Competition from other Collaboration skills Strategic and operational leaders need to
‘policing’ actors manage risks and rewards
Appreciation of ethical issues
Increased public scrutiny Communication and Needed for all public facing roles. Greater
and accountability interpersonal skills, ability political awareness for everyone. Reflective
to operate in a political practice to be underpinned by supporting
environment, reflective a culture of continuous professional
practice skills development (CPD)

7. Skills and technology 103

Co-production skills approved mental health professional, psychiatric nurses
Public servants increasingly need to share power or Mind representatives working alongside call handlers.
with citizen experts to achieve results (Needham Many use street triage teams, whereby a mental health
and Mangan, 2014; Dzur, 2021). New technologies practitioner accompanies police officers on shift. But,
have altered citizens’ expectations of the state while given the scale of demand, forces should make such
deference to professional judgement has declined. training a core part of police officers’ learning and
Neighbourhood policing especially should be strongly development. For example, North Yorkshire Police
co-productive.  has collaborated with York University to train officers
in mental health issues. Evaluation shows those
However, the police do not prioritise the skills required trained had greater knowledge and confidence, better
to work co-productively. equipping them to tackle mental health-related incidents
(Scantlebury et al 2017).
Victim care
Officers need interpersonal skills to support victims. The Neurodiversity
Victims’ Commissioner (2020) has found that victims Young people in custody are more likely to have
are losing confidence in the police and we noted neurodevelopmental conditions like autism and ADHD.
a recent decline in victim satisfaction in Chapter 3. Police officers should be familiar with these conditions
Although victims are often initially positive, many grow to reduce the likelihood of police encounters resulting
dissatisfied with police because of poor communication, in unnecessary stress, anxiety and conflict. There is a
lack of action, rudeness and disrespectful attitudes need to better identify neuro-diverse conditions and
(Wedlock, 2020). To address this the Victims’ for greater support to be put in place, particularly in
Commissioner has called for greater police training in custody settings.
trauma-informed practice and victim support (Victims’
Commissioner, 2021). Recommendation

21. The College of Policing should review the

Trauma-informed practice
National Police Curriculum to increase
“Training in trauma exposure management and focus on relational skills covering
resilience practices should be incorporated in themes such as conflict management,
basic training with options for specialist training for co-production, cultural competency,
high-risk roles (CE2.08)”. victim care, mental health, trauma and
neurodiversity awareness. Officers should
Police officers are increasingly aware of the impact
refresh these relational skills annually
of trauma, particularly that resulting from Adverse
alongside officer safety training. They
Childhood Experiences, on brain development and
should be made part of a mandatory
behaviour later in life. Knowing more about the possible
professional minimum standard regulated
causes of someone’s behaviour can enable better
by the College of Policing.
decision making, such as whether a suspect should
be charged or receive a diversionary resolution. Since
many in the criminal justice system experience trauma, 7.1.2 Investigatory skills
it should be central to initial and ongoing training.36 There is a national shortage of detectives. In 2021
there were 6,851 fewer Professionalising Investigation
Mental health awareness Programme Level 2 (PIP2) accredited investigators in
According to the Home Affairs Committee (2018), police post than was required, up from a shortfall of 4,974 in
forces view mental health training as ‘nice-to-have’ 2020 (NPCC, 2021).
rather than an essential skill. The committee argues it is
These shortages have led to unmanageable workloads,
‘ludicrous’ to have a three-week police driving course
long waits for victims and fewer offenders being brought
but just a few hours of mental health training. 
to justice (HMICFRS, 2020; 2018).  They also mean
Some forces rely on external input to manage mental that high volume crimes such as burglary, assault and
health demand. HMICFRS (2018) found 21 forces have theft have been de-prioritised, that there is inadequate

36. We will revisit mandatory training and standards inChapter 12.

104 A new mode of protection

supervision of less experienced investigators, and that there is a strong case for improving the incentive for
generalist investigators are often carrying out work officers to go into investigative roles.
without the specialist training required (HMICFRS,
While in time some of the officers recruited through
2020).
Operation Uplift will move into investigatory roles, we
During visits to police forces undertaken as part of the cannot wait to solve the shortage through internal
Review, detectives highlighted a number of reasons for training alone. For that reason we believe there is
the detective shortage: a strong case for all forces to open up direct entry
detective programmes, which are currently limited to
•  Changes to terms and conditions that have made
15 forces with a further nine planning to introduce such
detective roles less financially attractive. The Winsor
schemes (NPCC, 2021).
pay reforms led to forces introducing a supplement
for officers working antisocial hours (affecting Finally, there needs to be shift away from the default
uniformed officers) but did not lead to the adoption assumption that these investigatory gaps need to be
of pay supplements for those working on complex filled by warranted officers. There is an urgent need for
investigations. A National Police Chiefs’ Council the College of Policing to strengthen career pathways in
(NPCC) analysis suggests that this means a loss in areas like financial investigation which do not require a
earnings of £1,200 a year if one were to move from warrant card (see Recommendation 24).
a response role to an investigative role for example
(NPCC, 2021). Recommendations

•  High workloads. 22. A pay supplement should be introduced

to make detective roles a more attractive
•  Managing high risk and emotionally challenging career choice for police officers.
investigations.
23. All forces should introduce direct entry
As well as a general shortage of detectives there are detective programmes.
also gaps in specialist areas. For example, 52 per cent
of senior child sexual abuse leads surveyed by the 7.1.3 Digital skills
Police Foundation told us their specialist investigation
There is widespread recognition of the need to improve
teams lacked resources (Skidmore et al, forthcoming).
digital skills and knowledge across the whole police
In another example, despite there being over five workforce (NPCC, 2021). Increasingly most crime
million frauds a year, just 0.7 per cent of the police scenes will have a digital element and even fairly routine
workforce are in specialist economic crime teams. investigations may require the gathering of digital
These teams can take on very few cases. A member evidence, from phones, computers or social media
of a fraud team covering a whole English region told accounts.
the Police Foundation just two investigations could
However, there are reasons for thinking that digital
put his team at capacity (Skidmore et al, 2018). The
skills among the generalist police workforce are not
sheer scale of fraud and the limited specialist resource
sufficiently developed. For example, when we asked
available means that, in 22 out of 32 police forces
child sexual abuse (CSA) leads in police forces if they
surveyed, generalist investigators tackle almost all
thought generalist officers were trained to respond to
fraud investigations despite them and their supervisors
online CSA, only 33 per cent considered them to be
lacking adequate knowledge (Skidmore et al, 2018).
trained in online investigation and only 40 per cent in
The NPCC (2021) reports problems within the National collecting and managing digital evidence. The main
Crime Agency (NCA) in retaining cyber specialists who barrier was said to be the absence of core digital
are often attracted to better salaries in the private skills training programmes for officers in non-specialist
sector. There is a relatively high (28 per cent) turnover roles, leading to lengthy investigations, inconsistent
of staff in this area within the NCA. The Agency has practice and missed investigative and safeguarding
started to deal with this through graduate and intern opportunities.
programmes, recognising they are unlikely to be able to
Similarly, when we spoke to digital forensics specialists
keep people for life (NPCC, 2021).
they told us of the need for much better training and
To address the shortage of detectives the gap in pay awareness of digital forensic techniques among the
between those in uniform roles and detectives needs to general workforce, so that officers can be much more
be addressed. Given the chronic shortage of detectives

7. Skills and technology 105

intelligent users of specialist services (Muir and Walcott, they can have a long and rewarding career that, taken
2021). in the round, compares favourably with the private
sector or other parts of the public sector.
There are also specialist digital skills gaps that need to
be addressed. Police forces should also develop closer partnerships
with the private sector, including ongoing contracts that
Digital forensics enable them to bring in private sector expertise in areas
Digital forensics demand is growing: most investigations like data science or financial crime on a systematic
now involve digital evidence and expanding volumes of basis.
potentially relevant data. Yet forces lack enough people The emergence of these skills shortages across policing
and technology to process it. This is partly because also highlights the lack of strategic workforce planning
forensic budgets have halved over the last decade across the police service. The College of Policing is the
(House of Lords, 2019). body best placed to host a workforce planning function
Experts interviewed by the Police Foundation said on behalf of policing. This function would undertake
they could wait between a few weeks and six months horizon scanning to map out future demand, analyse
for data to be extracted and examined from devices, workforce data from forces, highlight current and future
or even a year for some specialist services (Muir and gaps and be able to require local forces to address
Walcott, 2021). emerging gaps and cooperate with national initiatives
(such as direct entry detective schemes for example).
To meet current demand, one practitioner told us,
staff numbers would have to increase by a third to a Recommendations
half. The so-called “brain drain” of digital expertise has
24. Police forces, regional units and the
exacerbated the problem, as digital forensics examiners
National Crime Agency should develop
leave the police for the private sector where salaries are
standing arrangements with private sector
higher.
companies so that they can call in staff with
high level digital and financial expertise
Data analysists/scientists
to work on investigations under police
The NPCC Strategic Workforce Assessment (2021) direction.
highlights the lack of a more coherent career pathway
for data specialists within policing. The lack of reward 25. Digital intelligence and investigation
through the pay system means data specialists are training should be incorporated into
frequently lost to the private sector. This means that minimum professional standards regulated
the wealth of the data the police hold is not being by the College of Policing.
sufficiently exploited to generate an operational impact.
26. The College of Policing should strengthen
To address these gaps in mission critical areas the career pathways for allied policing
police service needs to make a strategic shift towards professions in areas such as data analysis/
embracing a more plural workforce. The service science, digital forensics and financial
will always need a strong cadre of generalist Police investigation.
Constables to provide 24/7 response, apprehend
suspects, manage public order, respond to civil 27. A national police workforce planning unit
emergencies, provide a visible presence and so on. should be established within the College of
However, to meet both these digital gaps (and the Policing to project future demand, monitor
specialist investigatory gaps identified above) the current and future skill gaps and coordinate
service needs to have a much stronger offer for allied a national response. The College should
police professions, to attract and retain talent from the have the power to require local forces to
wider labour market. address emerging capability gaps and to
cooperate with national recruitment and
To achieve this the College of Policing should develop
consistent career pathways and parity of esteem for
learning and development initiatives.
allied police professionals in areas such as digital
forensics, data analysis and data science, and financial
investigation. These specialists do not need a warrant
card. They do need to know that if they join policing

106 A new mode of protection

 Second, the major national police databases are in urgent
7.2 TECHNOLOGY need of renewal and the most heavily used database
Policing is an information business and yet too often is at real risk of failure, which could have catastrophic
police technology is outdated and cumbersome, operational consequences. The Police National Computer
causing frustration to the officers and staff who use it, (PNC) is the main police criminal records database and
and letting down the public who get a poorer service is used 133 million times a year by officers and staff all
as a result. Critical parts of the national policing IT over the country. The PNC is however 48 years old and,
infrastructure are decades old, based on obsolescent according to the National Audit Office (NAO), “while
technology and are on the brink of becoming generally reliable, the PNC is based on obsolescent
unserviceable. A lack of basic data sharing between technology that makes it expensive to operate and difficult
different police organisations contributed to the Soham to update, with a shortage of staff with the necessary
murders in 2004 and it is not clear that a similar skills” (NAO, 2021). The Home Office has told the NAO
failing could not happen again. While there is plenty of that it is willing to accept the risk of running the PNC after
technological innovation in the police service, it is too its technology becomes unsupportable while it tries to put
often isolated with no route to widespread adoption. in place a replacement.
Too often risk aversion dominates in procurement
The Police National Database (PND) was introduced
decisions around IT rather than a desire to innovate
in 2011 after the Bichard Report into the Soham
and improve. Despite widespread agreement that
murders. The aim of the PND was to ensure that police
policing requires more of a service-wide approach to its
intelligence data can be shared across the 43 police
information systems, there is still no major policing body
forces and other relevant bodies. However, the PND
with the resources and power to drive change. The
is also now considered technologically outdated and
National Digital Strategy and the Police Digital Service
in need of replacement (NAO, 2021). It has long been
are steps in the right direction, but we need to build on
criticised for being difficult to use, which has limited
the progress being made and go further.
its impact and raises questions as to whether an
intelligence sharing failure as serious as that in Soham
7.2.1 The current state of police information
could happen again.
technology
We identify a number of problems with police The Home Office runs the two databases on behalf of
information technology that require urgent attention policing, but its performance in seeking a replacement
from the Home Office and the national policing partners. for both through the National Law Enforcement Data
First, police IT is outdated. As one submission to our Service (NLEDS) programme has been severely
Call for Evidence said: criticised by the NAO, which reports a 68 per cent
overspend, poor programme management and
“Numerous governance and delivery models have substantial delays (NAO, 2021).
been attempted, spending has increased to
unprecedented levels and despite this, policing Third, there remains a major challenge of a lack of
is still reliant on old and legacy solutions to share inter-operability between police IT systems. Each
information and manage significant operations operationally independent police force procures its
(CE2.20)”. own IT systems, which mean they cannot easily speak
to systems in other forces. This makes sharing data
Surveys of police IT have labelled hardware and difficult and in complex business an inability to share
software as “archaic”, “unreliable”, “unfit for purpose”, basic data is hugely problematic. The lack of integration
“not user friendly” and “painfully slow” (CoPaCC, 2019). between systems even within forces causes frustration
According to CoPaCC’s 2018 IT survey, in 70 per cent for officers, who have to waste time memorising many
of forces less than half of officers were satisfied with passwords and manually double keying information
their current IT provision. (CoPaCC, 2019; HMICFRS, 2020a).
In that same survey, officers and staff raised concerns “Police technology, systems and infrastructure is a
about forces’ IT investment strategies, highlighting patchwork quilt across the country. There are many
inadequate technologies and delayed or failed projects, excellent examples of successful IT programmes,
such as tablets that were already obsolete when given but many more examples of unsuccessful ones[…]
to officers (CoPaCC, 2018). Years of financial austerity technological systems need integrating across the
mean police IT budgets are mainly spent supporting whole system if we are to bring about improved
existing legacy systems, leaving little room for effectiveness and efficiency (CE2.06)”.
investment in new technology (CoPaCC, 2018).

7. Skills and technology 107

Fourth, while there is innovation in police IT, it is often platform. Rather than ‘knit’ legacy systems together,
small in scale and there are limited pathways to more policing should pursue data sharing and interoperability
widespread adoption. The approach of ‘letting a through the use of cloud-based technologies,
thousand flowers bloom’ can generate innovation. For which enable “secure transmission of data between
example, Avon and Somerset Constabulary has created connected applications and technologies” (Police Digital
a Data Science and Innovation Centre, using a cloud- Service, 2020).
based analytic platform to collaborate with key partners.
Finally, the Home Office must prioritise the replacement
West Midlands Police operates a data-driven insights
of the Police National Computer. The NAO notes that
programme and has created a new core data hub for
the NLEDS programme has received less priority
better service delivery. South Yorkshire Police worked
in terms of investment than other Home Office IT
with Sheffield Hallam University to develop an artificial
programmes such as Airwave. We cannot stress
intelligence-based algorithm which helps identify at risk
how important it is that this system is modernised.
children (Flood, 2021).
The consequences of a major failure would be
However, there is no real pathway for successful local catastrophic for operational policing. We endorse the
innovation to spread to the rest of the system or to be recommendations made by the NAO in its August 2021
adopted at scale. In this course of the Review we were told report. The Home Office should also put in place plans
that there is a cultural resistance in local force IT departments to modernise the Police National Database, with a focus
to try new ideas, because their primary concern was to avoid on producing a system that is more useable by police
the risk of anything disrupting their major day to day systems. officers and staff.
The risk of failure is concentrated in the hands of a small
We also believe that ultimately the major national
number of named people, while the benefits that would flow
databases should be housed within policing rather
from testing new ideas and technologies is diffuse and has
than in the Home Office. The police are the users of the
few powerful allies in the system. This is not a challenge that
systems and they are best placed to design systems
is unique to policing, but it is an important barrier to progress.
that meet their needs. A key priority for the next phase
of the development of these databases is to ensure that
7.2.2 Solutions
they are more useable to the end-user and we think that
In the last two years the police service has experienced is most likely to be ensured if the systems are housed
a workforce uplift, but it now requires a technology within a police institution. As the single home for
uplift. We identify three ways of achieving this. police improvement functions these databases should
First, police IT requires substantial investment over therefore be transferred to the College of Policing.
the next decade. The politics of policing means that
Recommendations
there is an inevitable focus on officer numbers, often at
the expense of the more hidden but equally important 28. The government should increase
assets policing requires. The government should investment to enable a significant upgrade
increase investment in police IT over the course of the of police IT over the course of the next two
next two spending reviews. spending reviews.
Second, we need to address the problem of inter- 29. English and Welsh policing needs
operability. There is currently no organisation within a common set of information and
policing that can require police forces to abide by communications technology (ICT)
common IT standards, including for example data standards to be applied across the country.
entry codes and data access protocols. Without this These should be developed nationally and
there remain substantial barriers to data sharing across
then mandated for adoption by the College
policing, which makes it harder to identify risk, prevent
of Policing, which would be given powers
harm, solve crimes and protect victims.
to direct Chief Constables in relation to IT.
In Chapter 10 we go on to set out the case for the
30. The Home Office must prioritise the
College of Policing becoming a single home for
modernisation of the Police National
police national improvement functions. As part of this
Computer and the Police National
expanded role the College should be given the power to
Database. The major national police
set common IT standards across the service.
databases should be housed within the
It is important to note that inter-operability does not College of Policing.
require shifting the whole of policing onto a single IT

108 A new mode of protection

8. LEARNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
Summary: Policing needs a learning culture, so that police officers have better opportunities to develop
professionally, so that professional standards are raised and so that the police can use the best evidence to
achieve better outcomes for the public. Continuous professional development is not sufficiently prioritised
within policing. The quality of the learning offered to police officers and staff needs to be significantly
improved and it needs to be planned around their professional development needs rather than simply the
organisational needs of police forces. Police officers should have a dedicated minimum number of learning
hours per year. There should be a Licence to Practise for all police officers who will need to demonstrate
they have kept up to date and progressed with their professional development. Funding for learning and
development should be channelled to forces via the College of Policing, contingent on high quality provision
being delivered.

Over the last decade policing in England and Wales •  Degree-holder entry programme: Recruits
has explicitly sought to emulate medicine, law and can study, ‘on the job’, for a graduate diploma
engineering by seeking to become a learning profession. in professional policing, and can specialise in
This is intended to raise professional standards, to neighbourhood policing or investigation.
promote practice that is based on evidence rather than
•  Degree in professional policing: A self-funded
intuition or habit and to enable policing to improve itself
degree course taken prior to joining the police which
through continual learning, rather than being subject to
does not guarantee a job in policing.
regular external interventions from the government.
There is in addition the Police Now scheme which
In this chapter we examine the quality of police learning
provides a programme tailored to graduates wanting to
and development. We do this, first, by assessing
join the police (see Box 8.1).
the recent reforms to initial police training, second,
by examining the state of continuous professional With the PEQF, the College of Policing (2016) seeks to
development in policing and, third, by looking at improve the ‘standing and status’ of the police while
progress in embedding evidence-based practice. equipping them with the knowledge they require to
exercise their discretion effectively (College of Policing,
2020).
8.1 INITIAL POLICE TRAINING
It is too soon to come to conclusions as to the impact
Developed by the College of Policing from 2016, the
of the new entry routes and we do not have the space
Police Education Qualification Framework (PEQF) seeks
in this report to undertake such an evaluation. However,
to provide “a modern curriculum of dynamic operational
we support the principle that police officers should have
training, underpinned by sound theoretical knowledge”
access to higher learning. Applicants should not need
(College of Policing, 2020). It has initially focused on
a degree to join the police, as this would exclude many
professional training for new Constables, recognising
excellent candidates. However, police professionals will
the need for consistency across police forces and for
benefit from higher learning, whether undertaken before
accredited, role-specific skills and knowledge.
they join or undertaken ‘on the job’ because:
The PEQF has introduced three new training pathways,
•  It will accredit their existing skills and provide them
which culminate in full operational competency
with a formal qualification, recognition and status.
alongside an academic qualification at degree-level.
Police officers are operating at this higher level
They are:
of learning but until these reforms this was not
•  Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship recognised or accredited.
(PCDA): A minimum three-year paid apprenticeship,
•  It will help to impart the kind of problem solving and
spent serving as a Constable within a police force,
cognitive skills that are becoming more important
while undertaking at least 20 per cent ‘off the job’
for police officers using their discretion in a more
learning.
complex operating environment.

8. Learning and development 109

 Box 8.1 Police Now
Police Now is a not-for-profit initiative aiming to recruit, develop and inspire police officers. It recruited and trained over
1,500 officers in England and Wales since 2015 through its National Graduate Leadership Programme (NGLP) and the
National Detective Programme (NDP). Participants on the NGLP spend two years in neighbourhood policing before being
absorbed into the general workforce.

Police Now has performed particularly successfully in terms of recruiting a more diverse workforce:

• 55 per cent of Police Now graduates in 2020 were the first in their family to go to university, 19 per cent said their
families had received income support and 16 per cent were eligible for free school meals.

• Women make up 54 per cent of NGLP recruits and 66 per cent of NDP offer holders starting in 2020/21 (compared to
37 per cent nationally).

• Of those starting in 2020/21, 17 per cent of NGLP and 26 per cent NDP recruits were BME, compared to 10 per cent of
joiners nationally in 2019/20.

The significant increase in Police Now applications since 2015 is a clear indication that policing can attract diverse and motivated
graduates. They suggest that part of this success has been a result of stressing the public service and social impact elements of
police work, as opposed to reactive crime fighting, and focusing on leadership opportunities from an early stage.

Another factor is Police Now targeting marketing campaigns and using diverse role models to share their experiences with
the media and with university courses with high BME audiences.

Clearly the success of the new entry routes should

“There needs to be a wider cultural shift with the
be assessed over time. In the course of our Review,
support of senior leaders in the service, to see
however, we heard much greater concern about the
learning and development, not as an inconvenient
state of police learning and development after initial
abstraction, but as an essential investment in the
training, and it is to this that we now turn.
workforce which can help in tackling current and
future challenges and provide greater benefit to
8.2 CONTINUOUS the public” (CE2.28).

PROFESSIONAL A recent study found that learning practices in police

DEVELOPMENT training Martin et al, 2019b are “transactional” and “reactive”
directed towards solving immediate problems, such as new
Police officers and staff need to continually develop legislation and changes in authorised professional practice,
and refresh their skills and knowledge to serve the rather than changing what officers do or helping them raise
public effectively (College of Policing 2020a; Huey et al, their skill set (Martin et al, 2019b). According to a submission
2019). Indeed, many of the skills officers need, such as to our Call for Evidence, learning is “delivered for a given
emergency life support or self-defence, are perishable period” and once a particular crisis has died down, “is not
and so must be regularly used and refreshed (Honess, repeated” (CE2.02).
2020).
Cordner adds that police CPD is focused mainly on
However, the recent Home Office Front Line Review teaching officers to handle their work “incident by
concluded “police officers lack the time, opportunity incident”, without much reference to either criminological
and support to properly develop their skills and theory or evidence-based practices such as problem
knowledge” (Betts and Farmer, 2019). oriented policing (Cordner, 2021).

8.2.1 The approach to continuous 8.2.2 Resources

professional development within the police Police CPD is under-resourced. Between 2011/12 and
service 2017/18, 33 forces reduced their budgeted spending
There has tended to be a culture within policing of on training in real terms by a greater percentage than
seeing continuous professional development (CPD) as their overall reduction in spending. Despite recent
an “abstraction from policing duties” (Honess, 2018). As funding boosts, increased demand means that gap is
the College of Policing said in response to our Call for predicted to remain (Martin et al, 2019a; Martin et al,
Evidence: 2019b).

110 A new mode of protection

8.2.3. What officers think the same entries for multiple years without anyone
The 2020 Police Federation Pay and Morale survey noticing (Betts and Farmer, 2019).
indicates that more officers are dissatisfied than In some forces officers and supervisors are on different
satisfied with the training they receive: shifts and in different stations, making it difficult for
•  More than a third of respondents were dissatisfied them to meet to complete them (HMICFRS, 2017).
with the training they have received. Officers see the PDR process as inflexible and only
beneficial to those seeking promotion, training or lateral
•  41 per cent of respondents said that they had not moves (Betts and Farmer, 2019). As with accessing
been supported to learn new skills. training opportunities, the PDR process is contingent on
the attitude of supervisors. Some reportedly carry out
•  40 per cent of officers said they had not received
PDRs by shouting across the office. Others lack time so
necessary training to do their job well (Chandler,
PDRs are “rushed” and therefore lack value (Betts and
2020).
Farmer, 2019).
Officers interviewed as part of the Home Office initiated
Front Line Review expressed concern that police 8.2.5 Strengthening continuous professional
learning leans too heavily on traditional training courses development
rather than encouraging independent learning. Some To strengthen the culture of CPD in policing we need
specialist courses were seen as essential to career high quality learning opportunities to be provided and
development but accessing them depended on having for policing professionals to be actively and continually
a line manager’s support (Betts and Farmer, 2019). engaged in their learning. Instead of being seen as
an abstraction, learning needs to be woven into the
For many, training consists of sitting in a room being
flow of work. Supervisors will have to take on more
“talked at” and is seen as neither interesting nor relevant
responsibility to develop and mentor their teams to
(Honess, 2018; Martin et al, 2019b). Until recently
supplement formal learning programmes (CE2.27).
online training was carried out through the Managed
Learning Environment (MLE) run by The National Centre We believe that the best way to achieve this is for the
for Applied Learning Technologies (NCALT).37 E-learning College of Policing to create an expectation that all
packages are aimed at filling specific knowledge gaps police officers must continually develop their learning
or quickly sharing new legislation with many people. throughout their careers. We identify three mechanisms
These are often designed so that users can “click as for achieving this.
quick as possible”. Therefore, learners need discipline
to engage deeply and retain information (Martin et First, there must be a considerable improvement in
al, 2019b; Honess, 2018; HMICFRS, 2014; Honess, the quality of the learning provided by police forces.
2020). Training has tended to be seen as a convenient budget
to cut during financially difficult times. To address
8.2.4 The PDR process this the government should earmark a learning and
development fund from within the overall police budget
The PDR process (performance and development
and provide this budget to the College of Policing.
review) is intended to review professional development,
The College should use this fund both to develop its
identify areas of improvement and determine strategies
own suite of national training packages but also to
to enhance skills and learning (College of Policing,
commission training in individual police forces so that it
2020b; HMICFRS, 2017).
meets required standards.
However, in many forces the PDR process is seen as a
Second, there should be a minimum set of hours
“bureaucratic exercise” and is not used effectively (Betts
per year reserved for each officer’s learning and
and Farmer, 2019; Martin et al, 2019b). Both HMICFRS
development, as exists for the medical professions. This
and the Police Federation found “considerable gaps”
will be a national minimum standard that the College of
in compliance across forces even though Police
Policing will require police forces to fulfil.
Regulations (2003) require a PDR for all officers
(HMICFRS, 2017; PFEW, 2021). Some supervisors did Third, the government should legislate to introduce
not review PDR submissions, with officers reporting a Licence to Practise for all police officers, provided
either submitting blank PDRs or copying and pasting through the College of Policing. To retain their licence

37. We note the College of Policing has now introduced a new platform called College Learn but it is too soon to come to any conclusions as to its
success.

8. Learning and development 111

to practise every police officer will have to undergo
revalidation every five years.
8.3 EMBEDDING EVIDENCE
AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED
Renewing their licence would involve officers
demonstrating improved learning and professional
PRACTICE
development through achieving relevant qualifications, Policing should make good use of research evidence,
passing an interview or presenting a portfolio of scientific methods, and systematically acquired
activities and achievements. Any police officer who knowledge to improve the effectiveness of its activities.
fails this assessment would receive further support
and mentoring. After successive failures they would be Writing in 1998, Lawrence Sherman made the seminal
removed from the register. case for Evidence-Based Policing that would drive
improvement by using “the best available research
The licence to practise is intended to raise professional evidence on the outcomes of police work to implement
standards, encourage career long learning and promote guidelines and evaluate agencies, units and officers”
a culture in which professionals engage in and take (Sherman, 1998, p.3). Drawing on a medical paradigm,
responsibility for their professional development. he argued that a set of mechanisms needed to be put
in place to ensure that the learning gained through
Recommendations
rigorous academic research and evaluation was fed
31. The Home Office should establish a back into practice.
Learning and Development Fund that
Fifteen years later Sherman (2013) described a “three
would be used by the College of Policing
Ts” approach to evidence-based policing and assessed
to fund police learning and development.
progress in its implementation. He argued that more
In order to receive funding police forces
police agencies were now targeting resources toward
would have to demonstrate that their predictable concentrations of harm (through ‘hot spots’
training programmes meet standards set initiatives for example). However, he argued there had
by the College. been less progress in embedding into police practice
the evidence that has emerged from testing (through
32. There should be a minimum set of hours
techniques such as randomised control trials) nor in
per year reserved for each officer’s
tracking implementation of evidence-based practice.38
learning and development. This will be a
national minimum standard that the College In order to better embed evidence-based policing
of Policing will require police forces to Sherman argued for a greater focus on evidence-
fulfil. based principles within police education, promotion
processes and professional development, as well as for
33. The Home Office should introduce a
the College of Policing to play a world-leading role in
Licence to Practise for police officers, producing evidence-informed practice guidelines. We
administered by the College of Policing. return to these ideas below.
The Licence to Practise ought to be
renewed every five years, subject to It is important to note that the evidence-based policing
an officer demonstrating professional paradigm has been challenged, and that alternative
development through achieving relevant accounts of the appropriate relationship between
qualifications, passing an interview or police practice and scientific enquiry should also be
presenting a portfolio of activities and considered. As Malcolm Sparrow (2016) points out,
achievements. Any police officer who it is important to acknowledge that experimental
fails this assessment could receive further trials and evaluations represent only one branch of
rigorous scientific enquiry. Sparrow argues that other
support including mentoring. After
methods have much to offer policing. These include
successive failures they would have their
the systematic observation and hypothesis testing
licence removed and would no longer be
characteristic of the natural sciences, for instance.
able to practise as a police officer.
Whereas evidence-based policing seeks to establish
generalised knowledge about ‘what works’ and make

38. A verdict largely unchanged when Sherman gave ‘two cheers’ for evidence-based policing in his 2018 Police Foundation conference address see:
https://www.police-foundation.org.uk/past-event/2018-annual-conference-innovation-and-learning-in-policing/

112 A new mode of protection

it available so that it can inform police decision making Evidence-based practice guidelines
in specific instances, the Problem-Oriented model The College of Policing has instigated a process for
championed by Sparrow uses empirical research to producing evidence-based operational guidelines.39
build knowledge about ‘what’s going on’, as the basis So far four sets of guidelines are already in existence
for bespoke interventions. and others are in development. Using a process model
borrowed from the National Institute for Health and
Both paradigms have much to offer and both can,
Care Excellence (NICE),40 the College’s guidelines are
and should, co-exist within a strategy for producing
developed by committees of specialist practitioners,
reliable and useful knowledge that can improve police
academics, and subject matter experts, drawing on
effectiveness.
compilations of ‘best available evidence’.
So, what more can be done to embed an evidence
The resulting products have become important
and knowledge-based culture in policing? The College
resources for policing and there is therefore a strong
of Policing has made progress in trying to incorporate
case for developing evidence-based practice guidelines
evidence-based policing in initial police training and
across other areas of police work. There remains,
it should continue to embed it through learning and
however, some ambiguity about the status of these
development programmes at every level. We highlight
guidelines, and associated questions about how their
below a number of additional reforms that would seek
implementation into practice should be monitored and
to embed evidence and knowledge-based practice.
incentivised.

Better use of mobile technology College of Policing guidelines form part of Approved
The College of Policing should invest in making Professional Practice (APP) and it is expected,
information on evidence and knowledge-based practice therefore, that police practitioners (including Chief
available to frontline officers, in a format that is easy to Constables and others responsible for the design, not
digest while on the job. It should be looking to develop just delivery, of services and policies) should ‘have
apps that can put information directly into the hands of regard’ to them when discharging their duties.41 We
police officers, without requiring them to study complex believe that this expectation needs to be strengthened
guidance on the College website. We understand if evidence-based practice is to gain the necessary
that the College is looking to develop its offer in this strategic traction in policing; if guidelines are viewed by
direction and we strongly encourage it to do so. police forces and personnel as little more that ‘advisory’
resources for optional reference, implementation is
Evidence-based policing units unlikely to receive sufficient impetus.
More police forces could establish evidence- As we argue in Chapter 11 there is a strong case for the
based policing units which would be responsible College of Policing defining a set of national minimum
for undertaking research, conducting experimental standards in relations to those parts of APP that are
trials and more generally promoting an evidence and high risk, where the public expects consistency across
knowledge-based culture throughout the organisation. the country and where the evidence base is strong.
In order for evidence and knowledge-based practice to Compliance with these minimum standards and with
become part of mainstream policing it requires strong College guidance more generally also needs to be
institutional champions, headed by a senior officer. given much more explicit emphasis within HMICFRS’s
inspection regime. For example, each police force could
receive a grading for how well it adheres to (and can
appropriately account for departures from) College of
Policing guidelines.

39. See: https://www.college.police.uk/guidance

40. https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/our-programmes/nice-guidance/nice-guidelines/how-we-develop-nice-guidelines
41. https://www.app.college.police.uk/about-app/

8. Learning and development 113

 Recommendations 8.4 CONCLUSION
34. The police service should further promote In this chapter we have called for the promotion of
evidence-based practice: a learning culture in policing to raise professional
standards, to spread evidence-based practice and
• The College of Policing should make to allow the police profession to continually self-
better use of mobile technology to improve. We have called for a much stronger emphasis
make targeted evidence-based practice on continuous professional development, with an
guidance available to frontline operational investment in learning and development that should
personnel. be shaped around the development needs of police
• More police forces should establish officers and staff rather than simply meeting the short-
Evidence Based Policing Units to carry term needs of police forces. The quality of the learning
out research, spread knowledge and offered must significantly improve. Police officers should
be given guaranteed learning hours every year. There
promote an evidence and knowledge
should also be a Licence to Practise for police officers
based culture.
to raise standards and promote engagement with
• The College of Policing should expand professional development. Evidence-based policing
and accelerate its programme for should be embedded much more systematically into
generating evidence-based practice the everyday practice. More forces should establish
guidelines. Evidence Based Policing Units and the College of
• The College of Policing should set Policing should use mobile technology to get the best
mandatory national minimum standards in evidence into the hands of frontline officers. There
guideline areas that are high risk, where should be a core set of national minimum standards
the public expect consistency and where in terms of professional practice, mandated by the
the evidence base is strong. College, in areas that are high risk, where the public
expect consistency and where the evidence base is
• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
strong.
Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
(HMICFRS) should introduce a grading
for guideline compliance into the
HMICFRS PEEL police force inspection
regime.

114 A new mode of protection

 9. WELLBEING
Summary: Workforce wellbeing is a core strategic capability for policing: a stressed, anxious and
traumatised workforce is not one that can deliver a good service to the public. There have been significant
increases in levels of sickness absence among police officers related to mental health problems. Morale in
the police service is much lower than in comparable sectors, such as the armed forces for example. Poor
wellbeing is driven by exposure to trauma, difficult working conditions, hierarchical decision-making and
poor management and supervision. Police officers and staff should have access to ongoing clinical support
at work, including an annual physical and mental health check. They should also be provided with the
necessary time and space to process traumatic incidents.

Having a healthy and motivated workforce should be

seen as a strategic capability for policing. Workforce
9.1 UNDERSTANDING POLICE
wellbeing is a good thing in and of itself, of course, WORKFORCE WELLBEING
benefiting individual officers and staff, but it also leads
to wider organisational benefits (Robertson and Cooper, 9.1.1 Sickness absence
2011). Employees with high levels of wellbeing show Home Office data reveals there were 1,965 officers
increased discretionary effort and take less sick leave on long-term sick leave in the year ending March
(Hesketh, Cooper and Ivy, 2016). Organisations that fail 2021 (see Figure 9.1). Long-term sickness includes
to support their employees’ wellbeing can face serious any recognised medical condition, physical or
financial consequences (Vitality, 2019). psychological, which has lasted longer than 28 days.
Sickness rates are consistently higher among women
There is unquestionably a challenge here within policing.
than men (Home Office, 2021).
Police officers report poorer wellbeing than the general
population (Hesketh and Tehrani, 2020). They have Historically officers took long-term sickness for physical
greater risk of contracting heart disease, diabetes, issues like musculoskeletal injuries. However, over the
cancer and of dying early (Violanti et al, 2013). Anxiety, past decade increasing numbers are absent because
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic fatigue of psychological illnesses. Figures obtained by the BBC
and chronic severe stress can exacerbate these reveal that between 2010/11 and 2015/16 the number
physical conditions (McEwen, 1998). of officers on long-term sick leave for physical and
mental health reasons increased by 14 per cent from
In this chapter we assess the state of police workforce
19,825 in 2010 to 2011 to 22,547 in 2014 to 2015 and
wellbeing, examine possible reasons why it is so poor
the number of those off sick for psychological illness
and set out recommendations to address the problem.
Figure 8.1 - Long term sickness by number alone increased by 35 per cent (BBC, 2016).

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

1927.53 Figure
1901.06 9.1. Levels 2487.71
2298.98 of long-term
2423.7857 sickness
2407.05135 in2425.2425
the police (Home Office,
2625.47354 1965 2021)

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

9. Wellbeing 115
 Figure 9.2 Presenteeism in the police (Source Houdmot and Elliott-Davies, 2016; Elliott-Davies 2021)

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0
Physical Mental Physical Mental Physical Mental
2016 (n=16,841) 2018 (n=18,100) 2020 (n=12,471)
Never Once or more

9.1.2 Presenteeism and leaveism the number of officers reporting presenteeism has
As with sickness levels, presenteeism and leaveism reduced but still stands at 66 per cent for both mental
(taking annual leave instead of sickness absence and physical causes (Houdmont and Elliott-Davies,
and working in one’s own time) are also indicators 2016; Elliott-Davies, 2021).
of workforce wellbeing (Hesketh and Cooper, 2014). Leaveism is motivated by fear of having personnel
Both can lead to burnout and sickness as employees records blighted by periods of sickness or seeming
exhaust themselves physically and mentally by overwhelmed with workloads (Hesketh and Cooper,
continually working near maximum capacity (Hampson 2014). Although not as prevalent as presenteeism,
and Jacob, 2020; Hansen, 2009). leaveism is still common, with around 40 per cent of
Presenteeism is common when employees are officers admitting to practising it (Elliott-Davies, 2018).
stressed, have low control
Proportion over
of respondents their
since work and
2014 reporting low
low morale
120.00%
support from colleagues and supervisors (Leineweber, 9.1.3 Morale
100.00% 2011; Gerich, 2015). Police officers may practise it Morale, defined as “the fitness of the mind for the
80.00% out of professional pride, unwillingness to burden task at hand” (Gocke, 1945) is “a thermometer” for
60.00%
colleagues and fear of being negatively perceived for the health of a workforce and is linked to coping with
taking sick leave (Police Care, 2019). “day-to-day demands, the ups and downs of the job”
40.00%
(Johnson, 2019).
20.00% The Police Federation’s Demand, Capacity and Welfare
0.00%
Survey first revealed in 2016 the scale of presenteeism The Police Federation’s annual Pay and Morale Survey
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
in the police service (see Fig 9.2). In the past four years shows far more officers report low morale than high
Low personal morale Low force morale Low police service morale

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure
Low personal morale Percentage
5 9.10% 9.370.20% 55.90%of police
60.20% officers
58.70%reporting
57% low morale
48% in England and
Suggest redo Wales (Source, Police Federation Pay
as below
Low force morale 90.20% 94.60% 89.50% 89.60% 89.10% 87% 75%
and Morale
Low police service morale
94% Survey
96.60% 2014
93.50% to 2020)
93.50% 94% 93% 85%

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Low personal morale Low force morale Low police service morale

116 A new mode of protection

morale. 85 per cent of police officers think police 9.2.2 Working conditions
service morale is low, 75 per cent think force morale Many officers who have escaped developing PTSD or
is low and 48 per cent have low personal morale other serious conditions, nevertheless report anxiety,
(Chandler, 2020). depression, poor sleep and other ailments linked to
Morale is much lower in the police than the army, poor wellbeing (Miller, 2019).
another hierarchical uniformed service with a strong The annual National Wellbeing Survey asks officers and
public service ethos. In the latest armed forces staff about various indicators of mental and physical health
continuous attitude survey, 53 per cent rated the and job satisfaction (Graham, 2021). Results show police
service’s morale as low, 42 per cent rated their unit’s officers and staff report moderately high levels of mental and
morale as low and 29 per cent rated their own as low general fatigue, anxiety and depression. They also report
(Ministry of Defence, 2020). poor sleep and relatively low emotional energy. Officers work
hard and feel valued by their co-workers, but not necessarily
by the public or their force. The survey found measures of
9.2 THE CAUSES OF POOR
wellbeing worsen with length of service, until officers reach
WELLBEING IN THE POLICE 20 years when it improves (Graham, 2019).
WORKFORCE The drivers of low emotional energy and high anxiety
There are number of causes of low levels of wellbeing within policing include:
within the police workforce and here we discuss these •  Shift work, though necessary for a 24-hour service,
in turn. leads to below average levels of emotional energy,
poor sleep, and a higher intention to quit. Other
9.2.1 Exposure to trauma research suggests effects are worsened by irregular
The evidence base suggests: working patterns, regular overtime and insufficient
rest days (Peterson, 2019).
•  The majority of police officers experience traumatic
events in their careers (Miller, 2019). •  Poor sleep can lead to fatigue, reduced emotional
energy, lower physical wellbeing and poorer job and
•  Police officers are at greater risk of mental health life satisfaction (Graham, 2021).
conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder
•  Cancelled rest days, extended shifts and overtime
(PTSD) than the rest of the population (Violanti &
can make officers feel depressed, less valued by
Gehrke, 2004). 64 per cent of officers and 55 per
their force and more likely to quit (Graham, 2021;
cent of staff had experienced post-traumatic stress
Elliott-Davies, 2021).
symptoms including re-experiencing trauma and
avoidance of thoughts or acts related to traumatic •  The main reasons given for cancelled rest days and
event(s) (Graham, 2021; Breslau, 1998). Few are overtime was too few people on shift and unrealistic
formally diagnosed (Miller, 2019). expectations (Elliott-Davies, 2021).

•  Repeated exposure can trigger “chronic, cumulative

9.2.3 Hierarchy
and complex trauma” called complex PTSD (CPTSD)
Officers of chief inspector rank and over report higher
(Andersen, 2015). This is associated with feelings of
job satisfaction, more emotional energy and fewer
worthlessness and difficulties with relationships and
symptoms of anxiety, depression and PTSD (Graham,
emotions (Maercker, 2021).
2021). They also report better physical wellbeing,
•  Trauma negatively affects officers’ ability to work. even though they may put in more discretionary effort
Traumatised emergency service workers estimated (Hesketh, Cooper and Ivy, 2016).
their capability to perform was reduced by 37 per
These findings demonstrate a link between authority,
cent (Tehrani, 2020).
autonomy and wellbeing. Those at the top can act and
•  Being longer in service, of low rank and suffering make choices that reflect their values and thus have
humiliation or sexual harassment are linked to better wellbeing (Graham, 2021). Those in more reactive
developing symptoms (Brewin et al, 2020). roles, such as response, local investigations and
safeguarding, where officers have little control over daily
activities and are more likely to be exposed to trauma,
report the lowest wellbeing (Graham, 2021; College of
Policing, 20190; Briône, 2019; Brewin, 2000).

9. Wellbeing 117
9.2.4 Leadership Around a third of officers reported a member of the
Good leadership at all levels is crucial in promoting public, believed to be carrying Covid-19, had purposely
wellbeing. Having “uncaring and unkind” supervisors, threatened to breathe or cough on them over the
who overwork employees can reduce their motivation, past six months, while almost a quarter reported
increase stress and worsen health (Van Der Velden et experiencing actual attempts at doing so (Elliott-
al 2013; Hayday et al, 2007; Bernstrøm, 2012). Davies, 2021). More than half of officers reported being
physically attacked in the past year, which resulted in
Officers with supervisors trained in showing empathy 16 per cent requiring medical attention (Elliott-Davies,
and promoting resilience are more likely to bounce back 2021).
after a traumatic incident (Hesketh, 2015; Jury, 2018).
However, only 22 per cent of line managers report being
trained on supporting individuals to improve wellbeing 9.3. IMPROVING WORKFORCE
(Elliott-Davies, 2021). WELLBEING
There is a widely evidenced link between leadership
styles, change management models and workforce
9.3.1 Existing policies
wellbeing. Organisational change has a negative impact Traditionally forces addressed high sickness/absence
on employee wellbeing if it is imposed from the top rates by setting targets and imposing disciplinary
down and does not involve the workforce in decision- measures rather than addressing the root causes
making (Lewis et al, 2019). Often hierarchies hinder (Bourn, 1997). This still lingers in recent attendance
organisations from effectively communicating future management policies, in which unreliable attendance
aspirations and reasons for change to lower ranks, bars officers from promotion, overtime, and other
leaving them feeling they are victims of “change for opportunities (West Yorkshire Police, 2021; Metropolitan
change’s sake” (Briône, 2019; Graham, 2019; Hesketh Police, 2014; Durham Police, 2014).
and Cooper, 2016; Police Care, 2019).
These policies are aimed at those who “play the
system”, yet also penalise officers who are genuinely
9.2.5 Occupational culture unwell and can encourage both presenteeism and
Deschênes et al (2018) report that police culture has leaveism (Hales, 2018).
more influence in determining an officer’s mental
wellbeing than their actual work. Police culture is often Conversely, many forces seek to reduce sickness
characterised as “antithetical to promoting wellbeing through having clear and consistent policies and
and resilience” as officers crave “excitement”, celebrate procedures that help create a “positive working
“masculine exploits” and are cynical and pessimistic environment” (Lincolnshire Police, 2021).
(Loftus, 2010; Hesketh, 2015). Police culture also
Creating that positive working environment is the aim
discourages help-seeking (Edwards and Kotera, 2020;
of the National Police Wellbeing Service, hosted by the
Johnson, 2016). A 2020 qualitative study of mental
College of Policing. The initiative was launched in 2017
health amongst police officers suggested the culture
to provide access to evidence-based research, share
is still one of “masculinity, self-reliance and emotional
learning and encourage conversations so that “every
control” which discourages help-seeking (Edwards and
member of the police service [is] confident that their
Kotera, 2020; Johnson, 2016). Many with mental health
wellbeing is taken seriously and that they are properly
issues fear being labelled as “time wasters”, so seek
supported by their organisation” (Oscar Kilo, 2021).
help outside policing (Edwards and Kotera, 2020; Miller,
2019). The Blue Light Wellbeing Framework was launched
in 2017 to provide a standard for emergency services
9.2.6 Covid-19 employers and help them understand and invest in
Over the last two years the police service has had to prevention, early detection and rehabilitation (Oscar
deliver “business as usual” while ensuring the public Kilo, 2021). The framework is relatively new so there are
obey the coronavirus restrictions. Consequently, police inconsistencies and gaps in its application across forces
officers report working harder, doing longer shifts (Coleman, 2018).
and not taking annual leave (Aitkenhead et al, 2022;
Humberside Police has been particularly successful in
Elliott-Davies, 2021). Of officers who tested positive for
the area of wellbeing. It aims to create an organisational
Covid-19, nearly half say they were exposed to the virus
culture which prioritises “increased self-awareness,
at work, whereas 18 per cent said exposure came from
prevention, early intervention and appropriate reactive
other sources (Elliott-Davies, 2021).

118 A new mode of protection

support” through initiatives including psychological do what is being asked of it and is organised effectively
screening, wellbeing training for managers, promoting to do so. In that sense the whole of this report can be
reflective practice and a therapy dog (Oscar Kilo, 2021). seen as an answer to the challenge of improving the
These strategies have been credited with reducing the wellbeing of the police workforce.
force’s sickness absence rates. Humberside Police
topped the Federation’s 2019 Pay and Morale survey, Recommendations
with 35 per cent of officers complaining of low morale 35. All police officers and staff should be
compared to 84.5 per cent five years previously (Young,
provided with ongoing clinical support
2019). Despite the pandemic, morale in 2020 was
throughout their careers. In practical terms
higher than the national average (Chandler, 2020).
this means an annual (physical and mental)
health check and appropriate ongoing
9.3.2 What more should be done
occupational health support.
Given the scale of health problems and low morale in
the police service, we believe that further steps are 36. The College of Policing should develop
necessary to better support police officers and staff. national standards to address unresolved
This is not just in the interests of police professionals, trauma. This should include the use of
but it is also in the public interest. There is little point regular debriefing sessions. Training in
in recruiting tens of thousands of new officers if very mental resilience should become a core
quickly they burn out and become undeployable. This part of both initial police training and
is also an important argument against the claim that continuing professional development. In
providing officers and staff with more time for de- addition, frontline supervisors should be
briefing or training means these officers are abstracted trained to recognise signs of trauma and
and unavailable for duty. The service needs the people it support those who are struggling.
has on duty to be fit, well and happy at work.

First, given the high levels of trauma within the 9.4. CONCLUSION
workforce, all police officers and staff should have
access to on-going clinical support tailored to their A healthy, happy and motivated workforce is a
specific needs. This will not just reduce long-term strategic capability for policing. Our police officers
sickness but will reduce the incidence of presenteeism. and staff deserve nothing less. A stressed, anxious
Accurate data should be collected on incidence and and traumatised workforce is not just bad for those
more must be done to identify those at risk of trauma, individuals, but also means the police service is
not just those in specialist roles. operating at only a portion of its full strength. Having
large numbers of officers who cannot be deployed or
Second, police officers need more dedicated time to who are deployed while seriously unwell is not in the
process traumatic experiences. This may be partially interests of policing or the wider community. There
addressed by the introduction of protected learning is a real and long-standing problem with the levels of
time, but it should also be supported by regular sickness and poor morale within policing. The National
debriefing. The role of frontline supervisors in supporting Police Wellbeing Service is a step in the right direction,
this is critical. but we must go further. Police officers and staff should
be provided with ongoing clinical support, including an
Finally, it is worth reflecting on the drivers of poor
annual physical and mental health check. The levels of
morale. Many of these are linked to outdated
PTSD in the police workforce are shocking and police
technology, poor management practices and a sense
officers should also be given the space and support
that the police are struggling against the odds, with
to process exposure to trauma. Facilitating all of this
a fraught relationship with society. The best way to
will require effective leadership, and it is to this final
improve morale would be to deal with these underlying
capability that we now turn.
issues, to ensure that policing has the capabilities to

9. Wellbeing 119
10. LEADERSHIP
Summary: Effective leadership is a critical condition for enabling policing to meet the public safety demands
of the future. This chapter describes three problems in relation to modern police leadership: a weak
leadership development infrastructure, challenges with the selection of police leaders and evidence of poor
wellbeing among senior leaders. To address these problems a new Police Leadership Centre should be
established within the College of Policing, with an early focus on improving the professional development of
frontline supervisors.

Effective leadership at all levels is a critical condition for The adoption of private sector management techniques
enabling policing to meet the public safety demands of into policing from the 1980s onwards to some
the future. There are very many excellent leaders at all extent reinforced that top-down leadership model. It
levels of the police service, but everyone in a leadership emphasised the need to measure performance and to
role, whatever their rank, deserves the support and set targets from the top which those lower down the
development to be the best they can be. hierarchy were expected to follow (Reiner,1998; Boyne,
2002). However, speaking at a Police Foundation
In this chapter we discuss the nature of police
round table, senior police leaders said too much focus
leadership and describe its evolution in recent years.
on ”delivering performance” hindered reflective and
Then we identify three challenges with contemporary
progressive leadership styles and placed too much
police leadership: a lack of development opportunities,
emphasis on tactical, short-term decision-making over
problems with the selection and promotion process
the bigger strategic picture (Hales, 2015).
and finally a lack of support for the wellbeing of senior
police leaders. We conclude by making a set of The College of Policing’s 2015 Leadership Review
recommendations to strengthen police leadership at all stated that while there was space for “command and
levels. control” in policing, such as in public order situations,
its “overuse” was “the greatest obstacle to the culture
of candour and challenge” it sought to promote (College
10.1 THE CHARACTERISTICS of Policing, 2015).
OF POLICE LEADERSHIP In place of ‘transactional leadership’ styles (in
The traditional mode of police leadership was always which followers obey so not to be sanctioned or to
one of command. Many of the first Chief Constables be rewarded) some have advocated for so-called
were military men. The hierarchical rank structure they ‘transformational’ styles of police leadership (Mastrofski,
developed remains in place almost 200 years later. 2004). Former New York City Police Commissioner
Bill Bratton sums up this stance: “Bureaucrats change
Police leaders are in the difficult position of being processes, leaders change culture. I think of myself as
responsible and accountable for police constables a transformational leader who changes cultures’” (Dodd
who possess considerable discretionary power (Hough and Stratton, 2011).
et al, 2016). The traditional “command and control”
model of leadership in the police evolved to maintain In policing, transformational leadership is said to
control despite that constable discretion, to ensure improve communication, establish stronger relationships
rapid mobilisation in crisis situations and to enhance and encourage a more motivated workforce (Cockroft,
legitimacy and accountability by making it clear who 2014). A 2004 UK Home Office survey found police
was to blame if something went wrong (Campbell and officers whose leaders exercised transformational styles
Kodz, 2011). felt empowered to exceed expectations (Campbell and
Kodz, 2011).
In times of crisis, where rapid responses are critical,
police organisations were designed to defer to the However, as Davis and Silvestri (2020) argue,
highest-ranking leader with the “explicit expectation transformational leadership has a darker side too. It
that the person at the top will be the ‘expert’, will have can make conformity desirable and whistle-blowers
the answer, and will know what to do” (Herrington and or other challengers can be labelled as “whingers or
Colvin, 2016, p.10). troublemakers” (Alvesson and Spicer, 2012; Collinson
2012; Davis and Silvestri, 2020).

120 A new mode of protection

Police leadership styles have moved on somewhat 10.2.2 Developing leaders
from these top-down models in recent years. Former The lack of a culture of professional development in
National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair Dame Sara policing also translates into a paucity of formalised
Thornton suggests the adage “think manager think leadership development. This is particularly the case
male” is changing, and leaders of both sexes are for frontline supervisors. A 2016 virtual forum on police
demonstrating a “collaborative approach” focusing Sergeants concluded leaders are promoted based
on encouraging others and building “alliances and on their competence at their current rank, rather than
consensus” (Thornton, 2019). their ability to excel at the next, and are not helped to
acquire those skills after promotion (WeCops, 2016).
This echoes comments from the Leadership Review,
10.2 PROBLEMS IN POLICE
which described the Sergeant role as a ‘development-
LEADERSHIP free zone’ (College of Policing, 2015). Police Now is
attempting to change this by launching the Frontline
10.2.1 Promotion and selection Leadership Programme to help develop the potential of
The HMICFRS Leading Lights report found widespread Constables who wish to become Sergeants.42
dissatisfaction with promotion processes in policing. In
The lack of leadership training and formal development
particular, it found women and ethnic minorities were
is as true for Superintendents as it is for Sergeants.
less likely to seek promotion, especially at higher ranks,
In a Police Foundation roundtable, a senior police
than White men (HMICFRS, 2019). Many senior officers
leader commented “existing Superintendents have
are reluctant to seek promotion outside their force
considerable operational experience but have never
because of a perception of opacity and unfairness.
been trained to be senior leaders” (Hales, 2015).
In 2018, 62 per cent of Chief Constables had been
deputies in their own forces, suggesting the process A lack of ongoing leadership development even
favours internal applicants. External candidates who extends to some of those preparing for the highest
failed the process said their own forces saw them as ranks. In some forces, those tipped for high office
“already out the building” (NPCC, 2018). are coached extensively to pass the Senior Police
National Assessment Centre, yet others receive very
Linked to this there is a chronic lack of competition for
little support, which HMICFRS called highly unfair.
Chief Constable positions. In 2015, over half of Chief
The Inspectorate concluded that while the College of
Constable posts only had one candidate for the job,
Policing provided guidance to forces on the criteria
with two being the national average (Thornton, 2019).
candidates should meet, they did not stipulate how
Reasons given for this lack of competition were:
they should be selected. While some forces had
•  Inadequate preparation for talented officers. rigorous internal application processes, in others the
Chief Constable’s favoured candidate was put forward
•  Perceived financial disincentives. (HMICFRS, 2015).
•  Worries about fairness and transparency.
10.2.3 The wellbeing of police leaders
•  Concerns about what happens if a Chief The dominant idea of the macho, heroic leader
Constable’s relationship with their Police and Crime can mean police leaders are subject to unrealistic
Commissioner breaks down. expectations and unsuitable pressures (Mastrofski,
•  Unwillingness to relocate themselves and their 2002). Complex social problems are framed as
families (NPCC, 2018).  leadership problems and thus police leaders are
burdened by unrealistic expectations that they will “get
Direct Entry schemes have been launched for the results” (Davis, 2020).
superintendent and inspector ranks to bring in high
calibre external candidates, with proven leadership Police forces are beginning to recognise the risks of
skills, to senior roles (Silvestri, 2018; College of poor wellbeing for lower ranking officers and provide
Policing, 2020). However, these have not operated help. But this rarely extends to chief officers (HMICFRS,
without difficulty, as candidates have sometimes been 2019). Bullock and Garland (2018) argue the emphasis
viewed with open hostility by officers who believed their placed on ‘resilience’ within police rhetoric leads to
existence devalued their own knowledge gained over a conception of the chief officer as a “stalwart figure
years on ‘the Job’ (Williams, et al, 2021). able to cope in face of adversity” and therefore inhibits

42. See more at https://www.policenow.org.uk/frontline-leadership-programme/

10. Leadership 121

them from asking for help or showing emotion. In improving professional development, wellbeing and
consequence, chief officers can feel isolated and conduct.
pressured by unsustainable workloads – with ten per
cent registering critical anxiety scores (HMICFRS, Recommendation
2019). 37. The College of Policing should establish
This pressure on Chief Constables has contributed a Police Leadership Centre which would
to a shortening of their average tenure, which has have the following responsibilities:
decreased steadily since the 1980s, to an average of
• To promote the learning and development
3.65 years. Between 2021 and 2016 female chiefs
of police leaders at all levels, from
had a turnover 20 percentage points higher than male
Sergeants to Chief Constables.
colleagues (HMICFRS, 2019). During the 1980s there
were 18 chiefs outside the MPS with over a decade’s • To provide structured support to promote
service in that rank. In the 2010s there were five (NPCC, the wellbeing of police leaders.
2018). Although some shortening of tenure can prevent • To directly fund police leadership training
‘staleness’, this level of “churn” is unsettling for police and professional development throughout
forces and risks Chief Constables leaving just as they the system.
have got on top of doing the job.
• To ensure that the learning and
development opportunities for police
10.3 STRENGTHENING POLICE leaders meet national standards.
• To focus in its first two years on a
LEADERSHIP
development programme for police
We draw two main conclusions from this review of sergeants, considerably strengthening the
the challenges facing police leadership. First, while support Sergeants receive and increasing
there are very many outstanding leaders in policing, the learning time available to them.
the police service has generally under-invested in the
• To build on the international reputation
development of its leaders over many years. This is
of British policing by offering courses for
true at almost all levels, but it is particularly true of
police leaders overseas. The fees from
frontline supervisors. We cannot emphasise enough
these courses would be reinvested to
how vital Sergeants and Inspectors are in promoting
support the work of the Police Leadership
effective policing. The relationship between a frontline
Centre.
officer and their supervisor is critical for wellbeing,
for promoting a learning culture and for tackling poor
Second, promotion and selection processes ought to
norms and unethical conduct. Radically strengthening
be reviewed to ensure fairness and transparency. There
the leadership development programmes available for
is a widely perceived opacity as to promotion processes
frontline supervisors is the key to unlocking many of the
and these would benefit from greater regulation by the
problems surveyed in this Review. Senior leaders should
College of Policing.
also be supported by more programmatic professional
development programmes. We are particularly concerned about the lack of
competition for chief officer posts. The College of
The College of Policing is now exploring the idea
Policing ought to review the reasons for this, looking
of a Police Leadership Centre which would have
at pension issues, relocation costs and whether
responsibility for developing the police leaders of the
potential applicants receive sufficient support. There is
future. We support the establishment of such a centre.
also a concern that this problem has got worse since
We think that this Centre should be outward looking,
the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners
establishing links across sectors and with business
(PCCs), with a widespread perception taking root that
and universities around the world. We think it should
PCCs tend to favour appointing local deputies which
partly finance itself by offering courses to police leaders
puts off external applicants.
internationally, building on the world class reputation
of British policing. It should focus in particular on
the development of frontline leaders, Sergeants and
Inspectors, who in many ways possess the real ‘social
power’ in the police service and who are the key to

122 A new mode of protection

 Recommendations

38. The College of Policing should review

police leadership selection processes and
should explore whether greater national
regulation and oversight of these processes
would improve fairness, transparency and
competition.

39. The appointment process for Chief

Constables should be reformed to increase
competition for these vital posts. While
the Police and Crime Commissioner
should continue to make the appointment,
they should do so from a short list of
candidates drawn up by a national Senior
Appointments Board constituted from
among the relevant national bodies. That
Board would have a responsibility, working
with the College of Policing, to actively
identify suitable applicants.

10. Leadership 123

124 A new mode of protection
 PART IV
ORGANISATION
11. STRUCTURE
Summary: The organisational structure of the police service needs radical reform: it does not provide a
sound basis for tackling cross-border crime, delivering specialist capabilities or providing value for money. In
particular the regional tier of policing should be considerably strengthened such that specialist capabilities
and back-office functions are provided at that level. The money saved should be reinvested in policing.
There should be a stronger strategic centre, in which the Home Office plays a stronger role in setting the
strategic direction for the service. The national public safety landscape should be rationalised such that
there are three main national delivery organisations: the National Crime Agency, an expanded College of
Policing and the new Crime Prevention Agency.

So far in this report we have argued that we need Second, we have seen the gradual formation of what
to generate greater social capacity and new police we now call a national police service. Over time the local
capabilities to deal with the volume, complexity and force structure has been supplemented by a range of
diversity of the public safety risks we face. We now national functions: a national police inspectorate was
turn to how the police service ought to be organised to formed in 1856; after the first world war the landmark
deliver those capabilities. Desborough Committee saw the establishment of a
national pay structure, the Police Federation and a
The chapter comes in seven parts:
central conference of Chief Constables, alongside an
1.  We describe how we got to where we are now, increase in the contribution of national government
offering a brief history of the evolution of police funding relative to local taxpayer contributions; after
organisation since 1829. the second world war a National Police College was
established; and in the 1980s we saw the rise of the
2.  We describe the main characteristics of the current
Association of Chief Police Officers as a nascent national
system.
police headquarters, prior to its abolition in 2015.
3.  We make the case for a strong local dimension
to policing, with robust mechanisms of local Third, as public concern about crime grew over the
accountability. course of the 20th century the Home Secretary took on
an increasingly powerful role in police matters. After the
4.  We argue that the current structure is not able to first world war the Home Secretary was given powers
provide the police capabilities we need effectively or to set police pay. From the 1960s onwards operational
efficiently. policy was increasingly shaped by a succession of
5.  We describe six options for change. Home Office circulars.

6.  We call for a stronger strategic centre in policing and In the 1990s Michael Howard took the power to set
describe what that might look like. national objectives, targets and codes of practice
7.  We conclude with recommendations for reform to and to initiate the dismissal of Chief Constables. In
the way policing is organised in England and Wales. the 2000s David Blunkett took powers to suspend
Chief Constables, set targets and issue compulsory
guidance. After 2010 under Theresa May the Home
11.1 HOW WE GOT HERE Office stepped back, expecting the new Police and
Crime Commissioners to shape policing policy locally.
Looking back at the history of police organisation in
However, since 2019 the Conservative government
England and Wales we can identify six trends. First, we
has taken a more interventionist stance, including the
have seen a gradual decrease in the number of police
reintroduction of some national performance metrics
forces, which fell from 231 in 1888 to 43 in 1974. Since
with a clear expectation that the government expects
then, the existing structure has remained, although
forces to focus on these.
there was an attempt to move to a smaller number of
regional forces in 2005. This was ultimately dropped Fourth, local police governance has been democratised.
following political opposition and concerns about the During the 19th century there was a major debate as to
equalisation of council taxpayer contributions. whether the new police forces should be controlled by
the county councils, representing the new democratic
power, or by the magistrates, representing the old

11. Structure 127

feudal system which had controlled policing prior to •  It is a localist system in which 92 per cent of police
1829. The solution found was to create joint standing funding is allocated through the local Police and
committees of both. The 1962 Royal Commission led Crime Commissioners (PCCs) or their equivalents
to the introduction of police authorities made up of (NAO, 2018). The Home Secretary has backstop
two thirds councillors and one third magistrates, later powers to intervene as described in the next
replaced with a model of councillors plus independent chapter, but these have rarely been used in practice.
members. In 2000 the Greater London Authority was The Strategic Policing Requirement sets out some
created and for the first time the Metropolitan Police national expectations of PCCs but these lack detail
Service was made formally accountable to the people and PCCs are only required to ‘have regard’ to
of London. In 2012 directly elected Police and Crime them. There is no apparent penalty for failing to do
Commissioners were introduced with the aim of this.
sharpening the accountability of the police to the public.
•  It is a system in which ultimate legal authority rests
Fifth, in the post war period we saw various flirtations with two corporations sole: the Chief Constable
with regional organisation within policing. Regional who has direction and control of their officers,
training centres were established, police forces and the PCC who holds the budget, appoints and
increasingly collaborated to police the motorway dismisses the Chief Constable and sets a Police and
network and in the 1960s Regional Crime Squads were Crime Plan the Chief Constable must follow.
introduced to focus on serious and organised crime.
•  The system is governed by a tri-partite system
Although these were later subsumed into the National
in which authority is shared between the Chief
Crime Squad they re-emerged in 2009 in the form of
Constables, the PCCs and the Home Secretary.
Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs).
Accountability and responsibility can be somewhat
Finally, the police service has responded to the diffuse in this system, but it is to some extent diffuse
diversification and increased complexity of police work by design, so to avoid any one set of actors having
by establishing a growing number of specialist units, excessive control over a public service with intrusive
often on a national basis, sometimes led by lead forces powers.
and sometimes based in national agencies. These
•  Specialist and cross border functions have been
include the Counter Terrorism Network, the National
increasingly brigaded into an ad hoc patch work
Fraud Intelligence Bureau and CEOP, now part of the
of regional and other collaborations between
National Crime Agency.
forces.
Looking back, it is hard to disagree with TA Critchley’s
•  There are multiple lines of accountability within
remark in his landmark history of the English and Welsh
the system: Chief Constables are accountable
police that ‘No grand design emerges and there is no
to their PCCs and to some extent to the
evidence of adherence to lofty constitutional principles.
Home Secretary who represents the national
The system has never been a tidy or logical one.’
interest; HMICFRS inspects forces on grounds
(Critchley,1978, p.xiv).
of effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy; the
Independent Office for Police Conduct exists to
11.2 THE CURRENT STRUCTURE independently investigate complaints against
police officers and PCCs; the Home Secretary is
The way in which policing is currently organised in accountable to parliament.
England and Wales has the following characteristics:

•  Most policing functions are delivered through 43

11.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF A
general purpose territorial police forces. This
contrasts with more segmented or disaggregated STRONG LOCAL DIMENSION IN
systems as exist for example in France, where there POLICING
is a national police organisation, a gendarmerie of
military provenance and various municipally funded The main benefit of the existing 43 force structure is
local police units, or in the United States where that it provides a strong local dimension in our policing
there are different police organisations with varying system. This is important for three reasons. First,
responsibilities at the county, state and federal visible, engaged and responsive local policing is critical
levels. for improving public confidence in the police. There
are strong indications that that it was the roll out of

128 A new mode of protection

neighbourhood policing in the 2000s that was a key that be in terms of new technological solutions or
driver for improving public confidence in the following trialling evidence-based ways of reducing crime.
years. It is also no coincidence that public confidence
The current system is less good at capturing learning
levels have fallen as people have noticed that the police
from local innovation, with information often remaining
have been less visible (see Chapter 6). If we are to
trapped within local forces. There is also the negative
tackle the recent fall in public confidence, we need to
flip side to local variation, which is a lack of consistency.
make sure policing is anchored in and responsive to
This is important in areas where society expects
local communities. This goes beyond neighbourhood
common standards. We return to how to ensure greater
policing and means that more widely police force
consistency, particularly in the area of professional
priorities are reflective of the concerns of local people.
standards, in the next chapter.
The 43 forces vary considerably in size of course and
“Big is not always better. The agility of smaller
in some of the larger forces decision-making may be
forces to change direction, shape, focus and
more remote from local communities than in the smaller
innovate has been extremely beneficial to the
county forces. Particularly in larger forces there is a
service as a whole.” CE2.13
strong case for more autonomy for Commanders at
what used to be uniformly called the Basic Command So, any structural reform considered by this Review
Unit level, normally covering a town, city or district. must ensure that there are clear mechanisms for
Nevertheless, a system in which 92 per cent of the local people’s views to influence the priorities of the
money flows through a locally elected PCC means local police. It must also ensure that there is sufficient
policing has to have regard to the views of the local autonomy for decision makers at the local level that
population. We return to the position of PCCs in the they can work collaboratively with other local services
next chapter on police governance. and try out new ideas.
“the 43 force model … create[s] the necessary
flexibility to enable each to deliver services 11.4 THE CASE FOR CHANGE
bespoke to the needs of their communities. This
recognises that the public we serve is not one Having described the current system and outlined its
homogenous group for which a ‘one size fits all’ main benefits, we now turn to its drawbacks. We argue
approach will do. The culture in the Merseyside that the structure as currently configured is simply
population is markedly different from the culture of unable to deliver the policing capabilities required in a
say Cumbria or London”. CE 2.02 way that is effective or efficient.

The second reason why a strong local dimension 11.4.1 Cross border crime
is important is the need for policing to increasingly The 43 force structure struggles to deal with the
collaborate with other local public services in order rising forms of crime that cross force and national
to tackle complex public safety problems. There is borders. These are crimes in which the victim and
no solution to problems such as mental health crises the offender do not generally live in the same police
and vulnerable children going missing that does not force area or even in the same continent. This makes
involve improved collaboration between the police, the investigating these offences more complex and doing
NHS and local government. To enable such improved so often requires a degree of specialisation that smaller
collaboration local chief officers or superintendents forces are not able to provide on their own. Some of
need the autonomy to make decisions about these cross-border crime types also tend to be less
budgets, deployment of staff and police policies in visible to the local public and are therefore less likely to
ways that work in conjunction with the plans of other be prioritised in Police and Crime Plans.
local partners. Any structure that reduces that local
autonomy would make it harder to deal effectively with For example, fraud is the single biggest crime type
the complex problems we now face. affecting people in England and Wales, and yet the
amount of police resource dedicated to tackling it locally
Finally, a strong local dimension in policing structure is tiny. There were five million fraud offences reported
also means there is space for innovation. Chief in the Crime Survey for England and Wales in the year
Constables and PCCs do not need permission to test to June 2021 (ONS, 2021), while just 0.8 per cent of
a new programme or project. They can simply decide the police workforce is dedicated to tackling economic
to do it. There are plenty of examples of police forces crime and just 5,000 people are charged annually with
running with an idea and achieving real results, whether fraud offences (Skidmore et al, 2018). Getting on top of

11. Structure 129

fraud and wider economic crime is critical to making the There is evidence that that a number of specialist
UK a place in which people want to invest and for the capabilities are not being effectively delivered through
future of the financial services sector. the current structure.

The number of child sexual abuse material offences

Roads policing
increased six-fold between 2014 and 2018. However,
charging rates for these offences have fallen over the Since the birth of the motorcar in the 1890s the police
same period and just one in ten reports leads to a have always played a role in enforcing the rules of the
criminal justice outcome (Aitkenhead et al, 2022). road. In the last decade, however, austerity has hit
this area of policing particularly hard (Halkon and Muir,
Computer misuse offences increased by 85 per cent in 2022).
the year to June 2021, partly due to increased online
activity during the pandemic. There were 1.8 million The amount of money spent on roads policing fell
such offences in the year to June 2021, and yet just by 34 per cent in real terms between 2013 and
71 cases (0.2 per cent of those reported) resulted in a 2019, compared to 6 per cent for all police functions
charge or summons in the year to March 2021 (ONS (HMICFRS, 2020). This has led to a significant loss
2021, ONS 2021a). of traffic officers, whose numbers fell by 22 per cent
between 2010 and 2014 and by a further 18 per cent
Tackling these forms of crime requires a combination of between 2015 and 2019 (Home Office, 2020).
the following: specialist teams of investigators capable of
operating across local, regional and international borders; Police traffic enforcement has dropped
political and professional leadership that prioritises this commensurately. The number of Fixed Penalty Notices
work and is accountable for it; a commitment to invest in issued for using mobile phones while behind the
the technology required; and systems for sharing crime wheel fell by 70 per cent between 2011 and 2018
and intelligence data across the whole law enforcement (Green, 2020). Between 2015 and 2018 the number
system. The current system of police force organisation of breathalyser tests carried out in England and Wales
does not possess these characteristics. dropped by 25 per cent (HMICFRS, 2020).

This has played a role in the stalling of the UK’s

11.4.2 Specialist capabilities progress in reducing the numbers of deaths on the
The model does not support the development of effective roads: the number of people killed on the roads
specialist capabilities. There are five reasons why it each year has remained more or less constant since
generally makes sense for specialist capabilities to be 2012 (DfT, 2020). This contrasts with other European
brigaded at a level higher than a county police force: countries where the number of road traffic collisions
fell by 23 per cent in the last decade (European
•  These capabilities tend to have high fixed costs in
Commission, 2020).
terms of training and equipment.
Some argue that technology has made the work of
•  There are learning benefits from concentrating
traffic officers less relevant, but international research
expertise rather than having it spread out and
shows that a physical police presence on the roads
isolated across forces.
network is one of the most effective way of reducing
•  Risk can be pooled at a higher level to help smaller road deaths (Halkon and Muir, 2022).
forces deal with infrequent but intensive levels of
One of the reasons for the lack of investment in this
demand.
area is that it has not tended to be prioritised locally.
•  Some of these capabilities do not require an HMICFRS found that road safety was listed as a
immediate physical presence. priority in only 19 of 43 police and crime plans in 2019
(HMICFRS, 2020).
•  Public confidence in the police is to some extent
dependent on the police managing high risk areas Major crime
of work in a professional and consistent way. The
As described earlier in this report the National Police
consequences of mistakes or poor conduct in areas
Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) estimates that there is a national
such as firearms or undercover work can be severe
shortfall of 6,851 detectives (NPCC, 2021). In Chapter
both for the individuals directly involved but also for the
7 we identified significant capacity and skills shortages
reputation of policing. This ought to be a strong driver
across a range of investigatory specialisms.
for developing a more consistent national approach
and a concentration of specialism in regional centres.

130 A new mode of protection

One sign of this significant capability gap is the with wider work to tackle serious and organised crime
difficulties involved in securing mutual aid to support through the ROCUs. It would also go some way to
major crime investigations in smaller forces. For address the concerns of the Treasury Committee who
example, we were told by officers within the National recently asked the government to consider making
Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) that they struggled economic crime the responsibility of a single government
to secure mutual aid from other forces requested by department and a single law enforcement agency (House
Essex police following the discovery of 29 Vietnamese of Commons Treasury Committee, 2022).
migrants who had died in the back of an articulated
lorry. The shortage of detectives, victim identification 11.4.3 Value for money
officers and other skilled personnel, alongside high The third area where the current structure
workloads across the system, meant that forces were underperforms is value for money. As the 2015 report
unable to provide sufficient mutual support. by the HMIC-initiated National Debate Advisory Group
The shortage of investigatory skills is one of the factors argued there are strong efficiency grounds for specialist
responsible for the fall in detection rates from 15 per capabilities, operational support functions and business
cent in 2015 to 7 per cent in 2021. Providing these support functions being organised at a level higher than
investigatory resources at a regional rather than a force that of county forces (National Debate Advisory Group,
level would help smaller forces pool the risk of being 2015). This is because of economics of scale in areas
faced with intensive but infrequent surges in demand like procurement and reductions in duplication.
when faced with a major incident. However, in 2014 HMIC found that just 10 per cent of
the savings requirement for police forces was being
Cybercrime
achieved through collaboration (HMIC 2014). There
Repeated studies have found that local forces do not were also substantial differences between forces, with
have anywhere near enough capability to meet rising one force (West Mercia) achieving almost half of its
demand in the arena of cybercrime (Aitkenhead and savings through collaboration, while for others such as
Skidmore, forthcoming; HMICFRS, 2019a). West Midlands, Merseyside, Sussex and Devon and
Cornwall just 1 per cent or less of their savings were
The Inspectorate has concluded that: resourcing for
being achieved by collaboration (ibid).
cybercrime teams is short term and lacks strategic
planning; there is duplication of work across forces; The Inspectorate warned that:
there is a lack of specialist analysts; there is too
little sharing of good practice; and there is a lack of “Collaboration between forces, public and private
intelligence gathering. Although HMICFRS welcome the sector organisations remains patchy, fragmented,
switch to regional tasking in this area it has concluded overly complex and too slow….With some notable
that this is voluntary and not being consistently exceptions, the pace, breadth and depth of
implemented (HMICFRS, 2019a). collaboration remains disappointing.” (HMIC 2014,
p.33).
Economic crime
The potential efficiency gains from increased
We have already noted that only 0.8 per cent of the collaboration and restructuring are illustrated by the
police workforce specialises in economic crime, despite example of Police Scotland (Box 11.1). In 2013 Police
fraud now being the single largest category of crime Scotland replaced the previous eight Scottish forces as
affecting people in England and Wales. Research by the a single national police service. It is currently estimated
Police Foundation has found that fraud is not prioritised that Police Scotland will achieve £2.2bn in savings
by local forces, specialist economic crime teams have in the period up to 2026, which is double the outline
very limited capacity to take on new work and that most business case made at the time of the merger. These
fraud investigation is carried out by generalist officers savings come to a cost saving of £200m a year, which
who do not believe they have the skills to carry out is 14 per cent of the £1.4bn that was allocated to
these investigations effectively (Skidmore et al, 2018). policing in Scotland the year prior to the merger (Police
Scotland, 2020; Audit Scotland, 2012).
Two recent major reports into fraud policing have
called for fraud investigations to be largely carried It is unlikely that structural reorganisation would yield
out by economic crime specialists based in regional the same level of savings in England and Wales, simply
units (Skidmore et all,2018, Mackey 2020). This would because police forces here have already banked some
facilitate investigation and victim management across of the same types of savings as those made in Scotland,
force boundaries and it would align work to tackle fraud particularly in areas such as estate rationalisation and

11. Structure 131

 Box 11.1 Police Scotland
Prior to its reform in 2013 there were eight police forces in Scotland along with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement
Agency (SIPR et al, 2019). In April 2013 they were amalgamated into one police force named Police Scotland.

There were a number of drivers for reform:

• Cuts to the Scottish Government’s budget alongside an SNP commitment to sustain officer numbers at 17,234, meant
that savings would need to come from organisational reform rather than fewer police officers (Fyfe and Scott, 2013).
• There was a desire to ensure that every area of Scotland had access to specialist services. The centralisation of these
functions also assisted with savings as it would cut out the duplication of services (Terpstra and Fyfe, 2019).
• A need for the integration of information systems. The eight forces did not use the same IT systems and amalgamating
them into one force would make information sharing easier (Fyfe and Scott, 2013).
• Fyfe and Scott (2013) argue that there was also a political imperative: the SNP could not have been unaware that having
a national police service for Scotland might aid the cause of independence.

Police Scotland has 13 territorial divisions, which are supported by national specialist divisions. The Specialist Crime
Division (SCD) provides investigative and intelligence functions such as major Crime investigation, public protection,
organised crime, counter terrorism, intelligence and safer communities. The Operational Support Division (OSD) provides
specialist support functions such as road policing, firearms, public order, air support, marine policing, dogs and mounted
branch, as well as emergency and events Planning.

Police Scotland is held to account by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA). Its main functions are to appoint the Chief
Constable, allocate funding of Police Scotland and hold the Chief Constable accountable (Terpstra and Fyfe, 2019). Along
with the policing and specialist divisions Scotland retained its national forensic service which is also run by the SPA (ibid).

There were controversies in the early years of reform. There was a view that police tactics used in Strathclyde, previously
Scotland’s largest force covering Glasgow and the surrounding areas, were being exported into areas not used to more
aggressive forms of policing. The use of stop and search increased across Scotland, following the reform, with the number
of searches increasing in the first year in ten of the policing divisions, the most dramatic being a 474 per cent increase in
Fife (Murray, 2015). There was also a greater routine arming of officers, which caused a public backlash (BBC News, 2014).

There was also a view that policing was becoming less present in and responsive to local communities. This may be
connected to police station closures and the fact that, due to cuts in civilian staff, police officers were increasingly needed
to perform office work (Terpstra and Fyfe, 2015).

There has been a small decrease in the number of people saying the police do a good or excellent job from 61 per cent
in 2012/13 to 56 per cent in 2018/19, although the levels have been relatively stable for most of the period since 2013
(Scottish Government, 2020).

The reform has over-performed when it comes to saving money. Compared to a target of saving £1.1bn by 2026, Police
Scotland now estimates it will have saved £2.2bn by that date, with an annual cost reduction of £200m (Police Scotland,
2020; Audit Scotland, 2012).

The evaluation of the reform also found that there was a significant improvement in access to specialist services. Interviews
carried out in year one of the evaluation showed that responses were perceived to have improved significantly (SIPR, 2019).

Looking to the future, it is worth noting that no major institution or political party in Scotland is proposing to reverse the
reform and go back to eight local police forces.

reductions in support staff. All three countries went of a Scottish government manifesto commitment (NAO,
through an austerity programme and cut costs. 2018).

However, significantly more of that £200m a year Even if we assume that a similar reform programme would
saving in Scotland has come through back-office not save as much money as that north of the border,
rationalisation than in England and Wales, where much the savings could still be considerable. To provide an
of the savings came through a 15 per cent reduction in indication, if an English and Welsh reform achieved
officer numbers between 2010 and 2018 (NAO, 2018). just a third of the Scottish savings (5 per cent of its
Officer numbers in Scotland were held constant as part current budget) that would yield £690m annually.43

43. This is estimated by calculating 5 per cent of the Total Direct Resource Funding received by police forces in 2021/22, including police grant, precept and
other specific grants, as set out by the Policing Minister https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CDP-2021-0018/CDP-2021-0018.pdf

132 A new mode of protection

11.4.4 Regional and national functions lack •  Performance management: the centre should
a stable legal and financial foundation put in place a means of monitoring the overall
The existing approach of bottom-up voluntary performance of the system and have an ability to
collaborative arrangements has created a patchwork intervene in areas where performance is poor.
of ad hoc arrangements that lack a stable foundation. •  Human capital: the centre needs to ensure
Most of these are the result of collaboration agreements that there is the human capital in place, properly
under Section 22A of the 2011 Police Reform and regulated, with the required skills and motivation. It
Social Responsibility Act. takes years to train skilled professionals and so this
As HMIC has argued: ‘it is concerning that the national requires long-term planning and a strategic outlook.
picture is becoming increasingly fragmented and How does our policing system weigh up when
complex with extremes in variation to approaches to the assessed against these three metrics?
collaboration agenda’ (HMIC, 2014, p.94).

Rather than forces collaborating in defined regional Strategy

groups, forces have multiple collaboration agreements, Policing lacks a single body responsible for setting the
sometimes with forces on the other side of the country. overall strategy for the police service. In the past this
Forces are also free to pull out of these collaborative strategic function was performed by the Home Office
arrangements which can put their partners at significant itself, which set out detailed plans for police reform and
risk, as occurred when West Mercia walked away from modernisation, particularly in the 1990s and 2000s. This
its strategic alliance with Warwickshire. Warwickshire was supported by ACPO before its abolition in 2015.
was left to essentially rebuild its own force headquarters
Since 2010 there has been an absence of strategic
and secure new collaboration agreements with other
direction in policing:
forces.
•  With the introduction of Police and Crime
Regional Organised Crime Units are the product of
Commissioners (PCCs) the Home Office chose to
collaboration agreements between local Police and
step back, expecting such a strategic direction
Crime Commissioners (PCCs). They lack their own
to emerge from a self-governing system of Chief
legal foundation which means they cannot employ their
Constables and PCCs.
own staff. They rely for most of their funding on local
forces and are therefore vulnerable to local investment •  That self-governing system of Chief Constables
decisions, which complicates business planning. and PCCs through the National Police Chiefs’
Council and the Association of Police and Crime
Finally, important parts of the national policing
Commissioners lacks a mechanism for making
infrastructure have been funded through the Police
national decisions that are binding on all parties.
Transformation Fund and as such suffers from short
term funding allocations, which inhibits their ability to •  Although there is a Policing Vision document for the
plan and develop. This includes vital programmes such service, this is largely aspirational and the centre
as the Forensic Capability Network, the Modern Slavery has few levers to ensure that those aspirations are
Transformation Unit and the Digital Policing Portfolio. achieved.

11.4.5 Policing lacks a strong strategic •  Although the College of Policing has recently
centre produced a strong piece of work on the on the
future operating environment (College of Policing,
In his book How to Run a Government (Barber, 2016)
2020), there is no permanent strategic hub
this Review’s Chair Sir Michael Barber sets out three
responsible for horizon scanning.
roles for the centre in any public service system. This
role he calls stewardship:
Performance management
•  Strategy: someone at the centre (whether the There is a national system of performance management
government or an agency delegated this role) should in policing largely because of the role played by
be looking to the future and thinking about how the HMICFRS. Through its inspections HMICFRS
service can meet future challenges. This involves assesses how well forces are performing on grounds
surveying future technological developments, shifts of effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy. There is a
in global patterns of provision, likely demand and so system in place for intervention, overseen by HMICFRS
on. and backed up by ministerial powers, where police

11. Structure 133

forces systematically underperform. The Home Office is learning and sharing it across the profession. There
also now playing more of a performance management is an online platform, Knowledge Hub, for sharing
role, through the National Crime and Policing Measures practice, but far too often initiatives and the learning
that the National Policing Board has set for local forces. from them remain unknown to anyone outside a
particular force.
There is however room for considerable improvement in
the way performance is monitored and managed from In addition to these system stewardship functions
the centre. Too much police data, particularly outside (strategic direction, performance management and
recorded crime, remains ‘land locked’ on local force human capital development) the centre can also play a
systems. Consistent data on mental health incidents role in delivering highly specialist capabilities. Currently
for example is not collected across the country and for example national agencies or lead forces deliver
therefore is not available nationally. the Counter Terrorism Command, Action Fraud, the
National Police Air Service and, through the National
The Home Office need to build up a state-of-the-art
Crime Agency, investigate and pursue serious and
performance monitoring system that should enable those
organised crime.
responsible for system stewardship to have access to
close to real time data across key metrics. This would However, there are other areas of specialist capability
allow for benchmarking, enable systemic learning and that would benefit from being delivered by a national
facilitate the targeting of resources where intervention may organisation. This is far from an exhaustive list but we
be required. In short, we require a performance monitoring would highlight the following:
system that is much more agile and up to date, powered
•  Procurement: the police service could save
by much better data collection, aggregation and analysis.
substantial sums if there were more national
procurement of goods and services in areas such
Human capital
as equipment, uniform, vehicles and information
The College of Policing has the strategic responsibility technology. Blue Light Commercial has been set up as
for nurturing policing’s human capital. It does this by a relatively new vehicle to do this and was able to lead
setting common professional standards, providing the way on procuring PPE for officers and staff during
a framework for police education and professional the pandemic. However, there is still much more that
development and supporting the development and could be purchased collectively at a reduced cost.
dissemination of the corpus of professional knowledge.
•  Collective intelligence: as discussed above
However, there are three gaps in the national landscape most police data is owned and managed by local
relating to human capital development: forces and is therefore invisible to the service as a
•  There is no central planning function in relation to whole. This inhibits the ability of the service to spot
workforce, as discussed in Chapter 7. Recruitment emerging crime and incident trends and develop
is in the hand of the 43 forces. The result of this is a response. There is also no standing capability
that major gaps in capability can emerge owing to to consistently use existing databases such as
decisions taken at force level, with no one looking the Police National Computer and Police National
across the whole system. Someone within the Database to identify risk and target activity. Having
system should have responsibility for looking ahead a permanent national data centre would mean that
and developing plans to ensure an adequate supply emerging patterns could be spotted early, trends
of people to meet the future needs of the service. identified, problems better understood and existing
databases better used to inform activity.
•  The College of Policing has few powers to ensure that
forces cooperate with its initiatives and implement its •  Forensics: the state of the forensic science sector
standards. While standards are articulated through has been repeatedly criticised by both the Forensic
its Authorised Professional Practice officers and Science Regulator and the House of Lords Science
Chief Constables can diverge from these where they and Technology Committee. See Box 11.2 for why
judge it appropriate to do so. Additionally, where the we think forensics ought to be viewed as a national
College initiates a new programme of work it has no capability.
way of requiring forces to implement these. We will If such capabilities are to be delivered once for the
address these gaps in the next chapter. whole country then there ought to be a national
•  While there is plenty of innovation in policing there is organisational platform to deliver them. We discuss the
not yet a fully developed system for capturing that possible options for achieving this in the next section.

134 A new mode of protection

 Box 11.2 Forensics
Forensic science involves the application of “scientific methods to the recovery, analysis and interpretation of relevant
materials and data in criminal investigations and court proceedings” (House of Lords, 2019) and includes DNA analysis,
fingerprint examination, digital or computer forensics, forensic anthropology and ballistics.

Since the abolition of the Home Office funded Forensic Science Service, private companies have been commissioned by
police forces to undertake forensic examination or, in most cases, it has been provided by the police themselves.

Oversight for standards is provided by the Forensic Science Regulator but the postholder does not have any statutory
enforcement powers to ensure quality standards and compliance across the landscape.

The Regulator highlighted in her latest annual report that in the last six years forensic science has been strained financially,
reputationally and with regard to capacity (Tully, 2021), with the system “on a knife-edge”. Digital forensics in particular has
“woeful levels of compliance with achieving quality standards”. The ultimate upshot of this is misleading evidence (Smit et
al, 2018), long backlogs, innocent people being falsely convicted and criminals escaping justice (Tully, cited in Dodd, 2020).

Fragmented governance, systems, priorities and capabilities across the service (public and private) creates and
compounds a number of existing challenges (Muir and Walcott, 2021).

First, the demand for digital forensics is increasing rapidly; it is now key to most crime investigations. Alongside this, the
sheer volume of data held on digital devices is ever-growing. This increased demand for forensics has not been matched
with increased supply. Approximately £120 million was spent on forensic science in 2008 which dropped to between £50-
55 million in 2018 (NAO, 2018). This has contributed to the fragility of the provider market.

Second, because of this reduced spending, human resources are diminishing. Recruiting police officers with both technical
and investigatory skills is a difficult task. Existing cuts to training have meant basic forensic procedures are not common
knowledge. There is also very little research and development occurring to keep on top of new innovations.

Third, technical resources are sparse and, where they do exist, are often outdated. This is of major concern as the range
of devices and data formats requiring examination is increasing, and criminals are becoming more sophisticated. Different
providers have different technical capabilities which means the quality of evidence being put before courts is inconsistent.
Data is also held in formats that are often incompatible between police forces.

Fourth, gaining consistently high common standards (or ISO accreditation) is increasingly difficult. The Regulator has
expressed concerns about private companies being commissioned who do not meet international quality standards.

In contrast with England and Wales, Scotland’s forensic science service is run by the Scottish Police Authority Forensic
Services (SPA FA) and has complete independence from Police Scotland. It is built on a vision of ”scientific excellence
for safer communities… prevent, investigate and detect crime supporting the delivery of justice and keeping Scotland’s
communities safe”. It has 500 highly trained and skilled scientists operating from four main laboratory sites and its ‘crime
scene-to-court’ model ensures impartiality and independence. Currently in place is an eight-year strategy involving a three-
phase plan to improve service delivery (Scottish Police Authority, no date: p10).

SPA’s annual review found good evidence of SPA FA delivering its strategic outcomes by increasing capacity, adding value,
maintaining high quality standards and improving capabilities (Scottish Police Authority, 2020).

We urgently require a more strategic approach to forensics in England and Wales. The Transforming Forensics Programme
(and the resulting Forensic Capability Network) is striving to tackle these interrelated issues on the basis of voluntary
cooperation between forces. However, we believe that the Home Office should go further and establish a national forensic
science service for England and Wales (see Recommendation 40).

11. Structure 135

 A large number of other functions and capabilities
Recommendation
would be organised at the regional level. These include
40. The Home Office should establish a national serious and organised crime related capabilities and
forensic science service. This would uniformed specialisms (dogs, horses, public order etc).
not necessarily replace existing private They also include both operational support functions
providers but would incorporate most such as forensics and contact management, and
in-house provision currently provided by business support functions such as procurement and
HR. Note we do not set out here a defined number of
forces. This would put forensic science
regions, as this is an area where some flexibility and
services on a stable and secure footing.
adaptation to local circumstances is required. Our
The new service would:
starting point for thinking about this is the existing nine
• Carry out national procurement of English policing regions and Wales, but it is possible
forensics services where these would that some of the large metropolitan forces might be
benefit from being commissioned once on categorised as a region. The reallocation of functions
behalf of the whole service. would largely not affect the Metropolitan Police Service
as it already operates as a regional force.
• Ensure a consistent approach was taken
to meeting international quality standards. We should also note that local police forces will almost
• Carry out horizon scanning and research certainly need to retain some proactive investigative
and development to ensure that capability to deal with issues like local drug dealers and
forensics capability can keep pace with locally based organised crime groups that may not be
technological and scientific innovation. prioritised by the regional level.  There will need to be
detailed work on the precise division of labour within the
• Provide for a concentration of specialism
broad reallocation of functions we have described.  
at the centre, as well as ensuring that
expertise and learning is shared more The national level would focus on system stewardship
effectively. functions (strategy, performance management and
One option would be to house this service human capital development), plus the delivery of some
within the National Crime Agency, with a high specialist capabilities such as air support and the
regional delivery structure. national IT databases.

This reallocation of capabilities and functions is

11.5 A REALLOCATION OF justified on the following grounds. First, it builds the
specialist capabilities required to tackle burgeoning
FUNCTIONS AND CAPABILITIES levels of internet enabled and cross border crime at
a scale larger than the county police force. These
The analysis above strongly suggests a reallocation
specialist teams will be better able to operate across
of capabilities and functions to different spatial levels
force boundaries. They will be led and governed by
would improve efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy.
people who prioritise these areas of work and who are
Here we set out what that redistribution of functions
accountable for achieving results in relation to fraud,
ought to look like, before in the next section looking
cybercrime and so forth. Many of these capabilities
at what such a reallocation means for organisational
currently struggle at the local level in the competition for
structure. Form should follow function rather than the
resources with more visible forms of local demand.
other way around.
Second, it aggregates all police specialisms at a
Our proposed reallocation of policing capabilities and
higher level, creating better conditions for learning and
functions is set out in Box 11.3.44 Under this model
improvement and allowing for the creation of centres
the local level, currently organised into the 43 forces,
of expertise. It also enables areas of high risk to be
should focus on the delivery of local police services:
managed in a more consistent fashion by the police
24/7 response, local crime investigation, neighbourhood
service.
policing, safeguarding and offender management.

44. Note this approach is informed by the HMIC publication Reshaping policing for the public: A discussion paper from the advisory group on the national
debate on policing in austerity published in 2015 and written by a National Debate Advisory Group of stakeholders from across the police service
https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/wp-content/uploads/reshaping-policing-for-the-public.pdf

136 A new mode of protection

 Box 11.3 A reallocation of policing functions to achieve greater effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy

Local level
•  Local crime and harm prevention work led by neighbourhood policing teams, undertaken collaboratively
with partners
•  24/7 response
•  Local crime investigation
•  Safeguarding and offender management

Regional level
Specialist capabilities
Specialist crime investigation Specialist uniformed operations
•  Major crime, economic crime (including •  Roads
fraud), digital investigation and intelligence •  Public order
•  Serious and organised crime •  Firearms
•  Counter terrorism (under the Counter •  Civil emergencies
Terrorism Policing network) •  Dogs
•  Mounted
Operational support

•  Contact management
•  Intelligence
•  Criminal justice
•  Forensics
•  Support (professional standards, firearms licensing, communications governance, performance
management)
Business support

•  HR
•  Finance
•  Procurement
•  IT
•  Learning and development
•  Transport
•  Estate
•  Legal
National level
System stewardship Delivery of national capabilities

Strategic direction Specialist crime investigation

•  National leadership •  Serious and organised crime (including fraud)
•  Horizon scanning •  Counter terrorism
•  National data centre Support functions
Performance management •  Air support
•  Inspection •  Specialist operational resources
•  Intervention •  IT and national databases
Human capital development •  Forensics
•  Procurement
•  Setting common professional standards
•  Mutual aid coordination
•  Educational and qualifications framework
•  Developing and disseminating the knowledge
base
•  Workforce planning

11. Structure 137

Third, it will be more efficient because it allows for All that said it is our view that the existing structure
greater economies of scale in areas like procurement, is poorly designed to help policing deal with the
which would be done regionally or nationally rather challenges of the 21st century. No change is therefore
than locally, and because it strips out unnecessary not an option.
duplication. Not every local police force should need
its own IT or HR department nor should they require Option1. More collaboration
uniforms or vehicles that are distinct from their This option is essentially the status quo, although with
neighbouring force. an additional push by the Home Office to persuade
Fourth, it creates the opportunity to put the regional police forces to deliver more collaboratively, using the
serious and organised crime infrastructure on a more existing legislative framework.
stable footing, by locating it within a more robust Under this model cross force collaboration would
regional tier with secure funding and clear leadership continue to be a bottom-up patchwork, negotiated
and governance. according to the needs of particular forces at particular
Finally, it builds a stronger strategic centre in policing times.
with a greater ability to set a long-term strategic However, it seems unlikely that further exhortation from
direction, monitor performance in fulfilling that strategy ministers, without legal direction, will achieve the step
and developing the people policing will need to meet change required. Under this model it is almost certain
future demands. It also provides a firmer base for highly that most of the capabilities that we think would be best
specialist capabilities that ought to be provided once for delivered regionally would continue to be delivered by
the whole system, whether that by specialist areas of local forces. Continuing with the existing laissez-faire
forensics or major components of IT infrastructure. approach leaves us with an ad hoc set of collaboration
Having defined in principle where we think these arrangements that can easily be unpicked by any of the
functions should sit, we now turn to the question of parties.
what organisational form would best support this We reject this option of ‘one more heave’ because it
allocation of capabilities. will not achieve significant change and therefore scores
poorly on grounds of efficiency and effectiveness.
Its impact on public confidence, as with most of our
11.6 OPTIONS FOR CHANGE
options, is more ambiguous. Retaining the 43 forces
Box 11.5 outlines six options for reform to the means that the system remains anchored in local
organisational structure of the police service in order to priorities. However, it should be said that failure to
best deliver the redistribution of capabilities and functions provide specialist capabilities to an adequate standard
described above. We use four criteria for assessing the might also undermine public confidence, particularly in
desirability of these options: first, effectiveness: will it high-risk areas where the public expect consistency.
help the police to deliver the outcomes we want them
to achieve? Second, efficiency: will organising police Option 2. Regional lead forces
capabilities in this way provide better value for money Under this option the 43 force structure would continue
and realise efficiencies that could be invested in frontline but within each region one force, normally the largest,
policing? Third, public confidence: will organising policing would become the organisational home for specialist
in this way improve public confidence in the police? capabilities, operational support and business support
Finally, deliverability: how difficult in practical terms will functions. This already happens to some extent through
such a reform be to achieve? some of the Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs),
We should be clear that we do not believe there is a which are delivered on a lead force basis as in the
structural magic bullet to the challenges facing policing. South East and the West Midlands.
Nor do we believe in structural reform for its own sake. This option could improve effectiveness by organising
Radical structural reform would inevitably distract the specialisms at a regional level. It could also drive
leadership of the service from day-to-day delivery. It efficiencies if the lead force were to deliver more
might be worth it in the end, but we should not pretend business and operational support functions to its
there are no transition costs. Finally, every option has smaller neighbours.
its downsides and in choosing one or another one may
have to choose between different desirable objectives. However, there are two main problems with this model,
There are some unavoidable trade-offs. which mean it scores poorly on deliverability grounds.

138 A new mode of protection

One is that not every region has a large metropolitan success of this regional tier and so any configuration
force surrounded by smaller county neighbours. Some would have to ensure both a degree of national and
regions like the North West have two large metropolitan local accountability.
forces. Others such as the East Midlands are
One model would be to have a board of local PCCs
composed of roughly equally sized county forces.
and Chief Constables who would provide much of
Another problem is governance. Under such a model the funding for the regional tier and would appoint its
it is difficult to develop arrangements which give the leadership, set its priorities and so forth. The national
smaller forces sufficient voice and weight when relying interest would be secured by having a stronger
on a larger neighbour for so much of their capability. Strategic Policing Requirement which would set
out much more clearly than at present the national
A lead force model may be appropriate for some
expectation particularly in relation to serious and
regions, however, and so while we reject this option,
organised crime.
some regions could take forward a version of this under
Options 3 and 4 below. However, as we have seen the Strategic Policing
Requirement does not currently have much bite and
Option 3. Regional police units even under a revised approach central government may
This model is a much more structured system of have a legitimate concern that serious and organised
regional police collaboration. The 43 forces would crime will not be sufficiently prioritised and resourced.
remain, avoiding the need for structural upheaval, but Related to this is a concern that the funding for ROCUs
local forces would be principally focused on delivering is too unstable, depending on myriad local decisions. To
local policing services, namely neighbourhood policing, resolve that problem it might be better to separate out
24/7 response, safeguarding, offender management the serious and organised crime capabilities, in which
and local crime investigation. They would do this there is arguably a stronger national interest, from the
through more extensive collaboration with other local other functions (support, uniform specialism etc) which
services as described in Chapter 4. are more properly a concern for local forces. Option 4
describes such an approach.
The Home Office would legislate to create Regional
Police Units to deliver most specialist capabilities, Option 4. An expanded National Crime Agency
business support and operational support functions at plus regional police support units
the regional level. Cooperation with this process would
This option would see the same spatial reconfiguration
be mandated, although adequate time would have to
of policing capabilities as Option 3, but it would take a
be provided for forces to put their plans in place and to
different approach to organisation and governance (see
rationalise their existing collaborative arrangements.
Box 11.4).
This option scores relatively well on effectiveness
Under this model the serious and organised crime
and efficiency because it means specialisms will be
(SOC) capabilities currently housed within the ROCUs
concentrated at a more appropriate level, back-office
would be transferred to regional headquarters of the
duplication will be reduced and more procurement
National Crime Agency (NCA). This would include the
could be undertaken at a regional or national level,
significant addition to the existing ROCUs of fraud and
delivering economics of scale.
economic crime investigation, which as we have seen
This option also scores well on deliverability grounds is not being adequately provided by local forces under
as it does not involve a restructuring of the forces and current arrangements. These regional NCA units would
goes with the grain of existing arrangements. be entirely centrally funded to ensure regional SOC
capability is put on a sound and stable footing. They
Finally, this option scores well in terms of its impact would be managed and led by the NCA, accountable
on public confidence: the local connection via to the Home Secretary. The NCA would retain its
local forces and Police and Crime Commissioners existing power to direct forces in relation to serious and
(PCCs) is retained, but we would also expect to see organised crime operations. The Metropolitan Police
improvements in the delivery of specialist services in Service, as an existing regional force, would continue to
high volume public facing areas like fraud investigation. house its own SOC capabilities.

However, a potential downside with this option relates Alongside these, local Chief Constables and PCCs
to governance. Both the national government and would be required to pool their non SOC specialist
local Chief Constables and PCCs have a stake in the capabilities, business and operational support functions

11. Structure 139

 Box 11.4 How policing functions would be allocated under an expanded National Crime Agency
plus regional police support units model

Local policing
•  Local crime and harm prevention work led by neighbourhood policing teams, undertaken
collaboratively with partners
•  24/7 response
•  Local crime investigation
•  Safeguarding and offender management
Regional NCA units Regional Police Support Units
•  Serious and organised crime, including Specialist policing capabilities
economic crime and fraud •  Major crime
•  Counter terrorism would remain under •  Roads
command of the Counter Terrorism Network •  Public order
•  Firearms
•  Civil emergencies
•  Dogs
•  Mounted
Operational support
•  Contact management
•  Intelligence
•  Criminal justice
•  Forensics
•  Support (professional standards, firearms
licensing, communications governance,
performance management)
Business support
•  HR
•  Finance
•  Procurement
•  IT
•  Learning and development
•  Transport
•  Estate
•  Legal
National
System stewardship Delivery of national capabilities

Strategic direction Specialist crime investigation

•  National leadership •  Serious and organised crime (including fraud)
•  Horizon scanning •  Counter terrorism
•  National data centre Support functions
Performance management •  Air support
•  Inspection •  Specialist operational resources
•  Intervention •  IT and national databases
Human capital development •  Forensics
•  Procurement
•  Setting common professional standards
•  Mutual aid coordination
•  Educational and qualifications framework
•  Developing and disseminating the knowledge
base
•  Workforce planning

140 A new mode of protection

into Regional Police Support Units. These units would •  There was intense local resistance to what was seen
be funded via pooled local funding and accountable as a centralising measure.
to local Chief Constables and PCCs, whose forces
•  Council taxes would likely rise for many people
would of course be critically dependent on the quality
because taxpayers’ contributions to policing would
of provision. The savings made via reduced duplication
have to be equalised across a region.
would be shared locally for reinvestment, although the
government may decide to allocate some of the savings •  Unlike in Scotland in 2013, the reforms were not
to help build up regional SOC capability and to deliver central to the government’s political agenda and
other national priorities. hence they were dropped quickly following Charles
Clarke’s (unrelated) resignation as Home Secretary
This model would deliver similar effectiveness and
(Brain, 2010).
efficiency gains as with Option 3, but it would have
clearer governance for the different capabilities, with the As with Options 3 and 4 there are strong effectiveness
NCA taking charge of regional SOC capability and with grounds for regional mergers and a full merger
local chiefs and PCCs retaining control of the support programme would no doubt release considerable
functions on which their forces rely. While it does mean efficiencies.
that there are in effect parallel regional organisations,
it has the significant advantage of achieving a clearer However, regional mergers would break the local
focus and governance for the different elements of the connection in our current system, by operating across
regional tier. The Counter Terrorism Network would also wider geographies and abolishing the Police and Crime
continue to have its own regional units as at present. Commissioners. As we saw with the Scottish merger,
there were certainly complaints about a loss of local
Option 5. Regional forces responsiveness following police reform and there was a
drop in public confidence during the early years of the
A more radical approach with a view to maximising
process (see Box 11.1).
the effectiveness and efficiency gains described above
would be to merge the 43 police forces into a smaller This would not only create a risk of reduced public
number of regional forces. This was the plan proposed confidence it might also hamper efforts to achieve
by then Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Denis greater collaboration between local police forces
O’Connor in 2005 and supported by the then Home and local public services. Police regional boundaries
Secretary Charles Clarke. would not match the boundaries of other local public
services. Although these risks might be mitigated
In the 2005 Closing the Gap report O’Connor argued
by providing greater managerial autonomy for local
that:
police commanders, in the end the locus of authority
•  The best local unit for policing was at Basic in a regional force would be at regional not local level.
Command Unit (BCU) rather than at force level, Local commanders would look upwards rather than
given that the BCU is closer to local communities. outwards in terms of command. This is a considerable
disadvantage given the need to increase local public
•  There was a need to develop much better service collaboration as described in Chapter 4.
capabilities to tackle serious and organised crime,
terrorism and other cross border threats. One of the greatest challenges to this option is political
deliverability: as in 2005-2007 there will be intense local
•  The ‘protective services’ required to meet these resistance and any programme would have to involve
challenges are better developed at a larger scale more money up front to dampen any potential council
than most existing police forces. HMIC found that tax rises. It would also require a government willing to
forces with fewer than 4,000-6,000 members of staff expend political capital on a reform to police structures.
struggle to meet the standards required to provide There are no signs at present that any major political
protective services. party is willing to do this.
•  Mergers would release efficiencies of around £250m
annually and a net present value of £2.5bn Option 6. A national police force
Our final and most radical option is the establishment
Off the back of the report Charles Clarke proposed to
of single national police forces for England and Wales.
go from 43 forces to 13.
A national option was put forward in 1962 by AL
However, the 2005-06 reforms collapsed for the Goodhart in his famous dissenting memorandum
following reasons: to the Final Report of the Royal Commission on the

11. Structure 141

Police. Countering the likely criticism that such a reform As discussed earlier this not only poses a potential
would run against our long-standing policing traditions, risk in terms of public confidence but could also make
Goodhart argued: it harder to promote local public service collaboration
which is critical to tackle complex social problems.
“There is no need to apologise for recommending the
establishment of a regionally administered police force As with a regional force model it may be possible
under the direction of the Home Secretary, although to counter this by introducing an element of local
it has been suggested that such a system would be accountability. So, for example, a model could be
unconstitutional and un-English. The police constable is adopted in which the Superintendent for Oxford would
an officer of the Crown; he enforces a national law; and be accountable to Oxford City Council for the delivery
his rights, powers and duties, when not statutory, come of a local policing plan. The local authority would agree
from the national common law…the recommendation the local police and crime plan for their area and would
that the final steps should be taken in the interests of be able to use the council tax precept to commission
efficiency and good government cannot be regarded as policing services from the BCU Commander.
a radical or revolutionary proposal.”
However, those local commanders would need the
Unlike his colleagues on the Royal Commission, requisite autonomy to make decisions and choose
Goodhart recommended a single Royal English and priorities that are responsive to local needs. Our
Welsh Police and a Royal Scottish Police. The latter has concern is that almost inevitably in a single national
now of course been introduced in the form of Police organisation in which operational authority rests at
Scotland and so to that extent Goodhart was ahead of the centre those commanders would look upwards to
his time. It is probable that if a national police force were their chief officers rather than outwards towards local
to be introduced south of the border then there would communities.
be separate national forces for England and Wales, with
Second, there is a deliverability challenge. Such a major
policing matters being devolved to the Welsh Senedd,
upheaval would unquestionably distract the service
and so we make that assumption in what follows.
away from the day job, possibly for a few years as the
As Goodhart argued then there is a strong efficiency new system was implemented and bedded in. In the
case for going to a single national force, because meantime, the public may start to be concerned that
of the reduction in duplication and economies of the police are not focused sufficiently on basic service
scale. There is also a strong effectiveness case, as it delivery.
would enable specialist capabilities to be provided in
Third, politically this option would inevitably create
concentrated locations, whether regionally or nationally
significant local opposition and would require any
as appropriate, and it would provide a simple single
government to expend considerable political capital
national platform for delivering support functions and for
to bring it about. As AL Goodhart pointed out in his
tackling cross border crime (Goodhart, 1962).
memorandum, a Review of this kind should not make
However, there are three problems with the move. First, recommendations based purely on grounds of political
there is a real danger of centralisation and a loss of expediency. Nonetheless we should not be blind to
local responsiveness. We note that there was a drop in the political reaction that such a proposal would likely
public confidence in the early years of Police Scotland, engender.
which has been linked by observers to a loss of local
So, a national force would perhaps be more effective in
responsiveness (see Box 11.1). We also note similar
some ways and efficient, but there is a real risk that it
signs of a reduction in local responsiveness in other
would break the local connection that it is at the heart
countries that have adopted national or regional force
of effective and legitimate policing and that it would
models (see the international case studies on Sweden
distract the system both with political opposition and
and Norway below).
with a major organisational restructure.
These dangers are even greater with a national force
than with the regional force model described above.
While a single organisation might work for Scotland
covering a population of 5.4 million, and conceivably
for Wales with a population of 3.1 million, England has
a population of 55.9 million. A single organisation to
cover a population that large poses a real risk of over
centralisation and a reduction in local responsiveness.

142 A new mode of protection

 Box 11.5 Options for structural reform

More collaboration Regional lead force Regional police Expanded National Regional forces National force

11. Structure
units Crime Agency (NCA)
and regional police
support units

National Status quo Stronger strategic Stronger strategic Stronger strategic centre Stronger strategic Police England
centre centre centre and Police Wales
hosting full range
of specialist
capabilities
and support
functions

LEVEL
Regional Some specialist Specialist capabilities Specialist capabilities Serious and organised Specialist capabilities, Regional
capabilities and and support functions and support functions crime capabilities support functions divisions of
support functions delivered by the lead delivered by a within regional NCA and local policing the national
carried out in force in a region Regional Police Unit headquarters, with delivered by regional force delivering
partnership, but this uniformed specialisms police forces specialist
varies from force and support functions

SPATIAL
capabilities and
to force and is not delivered by Regional overseeing local
regionally brigaded Police Support Units policing

Local Most policing Local force delivers Local force delivers Local force delivers Local Basic Local Basic
functions with many neighbourhood neighbourhood neighbourhood policing, Command Units Command Units
specialisms and policing, response, policing, response, response, safeguarding, delivering local delivering local
support functions safeguarding, offender safeguarding, offender offender management policing, with policing, with
being provided management and management and and crime investigation accountability to local accountability to
through local forces crime investigation crime investigation authorities local authorities

143
11.7 A STRONGER STRATEGIC 11.7.1 Strategic capabilities
In order for the centre to perform an effective system
CENTRE stewardship role it requires a number of strategic
Earlier we described which policing functions ought to capabilities, some of which are currently lacking. These
be delivered at the national level. These can be divided capabilities include:
into system stewardship functions (ensuring the overall
•  Setting the overall strategic direction for policing.
system achieves optimal outcomes) and national
delivery functions (the delivery of some highly specialist •  Horizon scanning.
capabilities that it makes sense to deliver once for the
whole system). •  National data analytics.

In Box 11.6 we map out which organisation (if any) •  Workforce planning.
currently performs these critical national functions.
Responsibility for setting the overall strategic direction
The current national landscape is highly fragmented for the police service, as a publicly funded, publicly
with a number of organisations performing these accountable service, should rest with the Home
system stewardship and delivery roles. It is far from Secretary. The Home Secretary should perform this
ideal to have such a cluttered landscape as this risks function in consultation with the other tripartite partners,
poor coordination, inefficient duplication, confused represented by the Association of Police and Crime
ownership and gaps emerging between institutions. If Commissioners and the National Police Chiefs’ Council
possible, we should seek to rationalise this landscape. (NPCC). The National Policing Board is the main forum
Below we set out how we might do this by 1. where a national strategy for the police service ought to
developing stronger strategic capabilities for the police be determined every five years.
service, 2. providing a single home for national policing
In order that this strategic role of the Home Office
improvement functions and 3. strengthening the
is strengthened we think there is a strong case for
National Crime Agency.

Box 11.6 How national functions are currently delivered

System stewardship Delivery of national capabilities

Strategic direction Specialist crime investigation

•  National leadership (National Police Chiefs’ •  Serious and organised crime (including fraud)
Council (NCA)/Association of Police and Crime (NCA , City of London Police)
Commissioners) •  Counter terrorism (Metropolitan Police Service)
•  Horizon scanning (not delivered) Support functions
•  National data centre (not delivered)
•  Air support (National Police Air Service, under
Performance management (Her Majesty’s West Yorkshire Police)
Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue, •  IT and national databases (Police Digital
Home Office) Service, Home Office)
•  Inspection •  Forensics (not delivered nationally but
•  Monitoring of national outcomes coordinated through the Forensic Capability
•  Intervention Network, under the NCA)
•  Procurement (Bluelight Commercial)
Human capital development
•  Mutual aid coordination (National Police
•  Setting common professional standards (College
Coordination Centre (NPoCC), under NCA)
of Policing)
•  Educational and qualifications framework
(College of Policing)
•  Developing and disseminating the knowledge
base (College of Policing)
•  Workforce planning (not delivered)

144 A new mode of protection

establishing a new Crime and Policing Strategy Unit •  Developing common professional standards.
within the department to develop the evidence base on
•  Improving training, development and leadership.
which strategic decisions can be taken. This unit would
monitor overall system performance, reporting progress •  Promoting national procurement.
back to the National Policing Board. It would also be the
most appropriate location for a horizon scanning function, •  It also hosted a number of operational support
serving all parts of the system including the Crime functions such as the Missing Persons Bureau and
Prevention Agency and all of the national policing bodies. the Serious Crime Analysis Section.

There are other strategic capabilities that are better The NPIA was abolished as part of the coalition
located within a policing body. We argued above that government’s desire to reduce the number of quangos.
the police service needs a workforce planning function The crime related and operational support functions
and a national data analytics function. Both of these went to the eventual National Crime Agency (NCA), IT
functions ought to be located within the principal body went to the Home Office (although part of this has now
responsible for national policing improvement. It is to been taken on by the Police Digital Service), training
that function that we now turn. and standards went to the new College of Policing
and national procurement has (latterly) been picked up
11.7.2 National policing improvement by Blue Light Commercial, a collaborative vehicle for
A major flaw with the national policing landscape is collective purchasing.
that what we call the national policing improvement
There is a strong case for having a consolidated
function is disaggregated and lacks powers to drive
national home for police improvement:
change.
•  The current landscape is highly fragmented
This function used to be located in the National Policing
which leads to overlapping remits and confused
Improvement Agency (NPIA) which was established
responsibilities.
in 2007. The NPIA’s aims were to support the delivery
of effective policing and foster a culture of self- •  This fragmented landscape contributes to a lack of
improvement, strategic direction from the centre.

The functions of the NPIA included: •  The existing bodies lack powers to make things
happen, and such powers would be more
•  Providing national police IT systems.
strategically exercised if they belonged to a single
•  Developing standard processes for recording and coherent body responsible for police improvement.
sharing data and developing a shared approach to IT.

International case study: Sweden

Prior to its police reform programme Sweden was policed by 21 forces each with a county board which controlled
administration and budget decisions. These were overseen by a National Policing Board (NPB) whose job it was to
regulate, inspect and support the police forces. A 2012 review found the NPB had limited power to enforce guidelines and
ensure consistency, and there were imbalances in the resources and capabilities of different forces. Reform was triggered
by a belief that the existing governance system was behind rising crime, particularly in so called “specially crime affected”
areas, and a stall in clear-up rates despite increases in officer numbers. It was hoped centralisation would improve
efficiency, transform the police force into a learning organisation and increase the quality of the service provided.

In 2015 a single national Swedish police force was created. An oversight body, the Swedish Police Authority, was created
by merging the National Police Board and the forensic science services. The force was divided into seven regions (The
Local, 2016). Seven police insight boards, made up of elected politicians, replaced the county police boards. Each local
area was given a neighbourhood officer responsible for crime prevention and police now make a formal promise to citizens
guaranteeing they will give resources to the things that are important to them (Cameron, 2017).

The reform was unpopular with police officers, although public confidence was not affected. Many officers left, meaning
there was understaffing, specialist units were broken up to meet the demand for local officers and reorganisation meant a
loss of local knowledge. There were complaints that reform took people by surprise and was rushed, and that the budget
allocated to it was too small. Budget cuts meant the numbers of lower managers increased while the higher levels were
reduced, causing an imbalance in the chain of command. By 2019 a review concluded citizen contact with the police and
the service’s performance had not improved (Holmberg, 2019).

11. Structure 145

 International case study: Norway
The Norwegian Police has been reformed multiple times over the last 20 years, with varying degrees of success.
Centralisation was attempted in 2002, with 54 districts reduced to 27, which was believed to be good for local citizens and
was intended to save hours of administrative work (Holmberg, 2014). In reality many local police leaders and officers found
that they had fewer resources.

After the 2011 terror attack by Anders Behring Breivik an inquiry found the police were not trained sufficiently, had weak
coordination and communication and lacked leadership (Christenson et al, 2018). There were accusations the police
service was not equipped to deal with such emergency scenarios. A commission argued for a more reactive police service
focused on core functions. The merging of districts and stations was seen as a way to make more resources available,
reduce bureaucracy and reduce response times. The commission also recommended a more knowledge-based approach
to policing focused on continual improvement.

In response, further centralisation took place with the 27 districts reduced to 12 (SIPR, 2019). The Norwegian Police
Service is now made up of the National Police Directorate, seven specialist agencies and the 12 police districts. Each of
these districts is led by a Chief of Police. The police service is accountable to the Ministry of Justice.

Although it is too early to judge the reform’s success, surveys indicated officers and partners did not believe reforms had improved
public service, and there were reports that larger districts had created further distance from communities (Wijnen, 2019).

There are some specific functions that are not well We rule out 3 and 4 on the following grounds:
served within the existing landscape:
•  The NPCC is the product of a collaboration
•  IT: police IT remains poor and fragmented, just as it agreement between the forces and does not exist as
was in 2004 at the time of the Bichard Report into a legal entity able to employ staff or spend money
the Soham murders. The Police Digital Service has in its own right. It is also best seen as part of the
the right aims and is committed to making progress governance framework rather than the national
but has no powers to promote a common approach. delivery framework.

•  Procurement: Much more procurement could •  Founding another agency makes the existing
be done nationally, as shown by Blue Light cluttered landscape even more complex.
Commercial’s successful purchase of PPE during
So, let us now review Options 1 and 2.
the pandemic. This could be extended to many
more areas of vehicles, equipment and uniform. It 1.  The National Crime Agency is expanded to take
would make sense to have a national procurement on the improvement function
function alongside the IT function so that a single
agency can grow the new technological capabilities The NCA would be expanded to become a national
required to keep pace with cybercrime. policing agency (Police England and Wales or the
National Policing Agency), which would become the
•  There needs to be a stable basis for developing new lead national policing agency, with two or possibly three
policing capabilities to meet the changing demands directorates:
we have described and this will be done much more
effectively nationally rather than on a force-by-force •  A serious and organised crime directorate (the
basis. existing NCA).

There are four options for hosting the police •  A police improvement directorate (IT, procurement,
improvement function: core national infrastructure, research and
development of new capabilities).
1.  The NCA is expanded to take on the improvement
function •  It could also host some of the strategic capabilities
described in box 11.6.
2.  The College of Policing is expanded to take on the
improvement function The advantages of this option include:

3.  The NPCC takes on the improvement function •  The NCA is an operational organisation well suited
to delivering major pieces of national business.
4.  A separate agency is created to take on the
improvement function

146 A new mode of protection

•  It is the largest national organisation and therefore functions, it would free the College to pursue
in a good position to become essentially the lead a future as College akin to one of the medical
institution in policing. colleges. If we gave the College substantial delivery
functions in relation to IT and forensics for example
•  It would reduce the clutter in the landscape.
it would clearly need to be primarily accountable to
The disadvantages include: the government (and the tripartite partners) rather
than to its members.
•  There is a risk that the NCA loses its focus on
serious and organised crime (SOC) by getting pulled On the balance of these arguments we believe that
into the national management of the police service. Option 2 (expanding the College of Policing to take on
Given the importance of the SOC and internet these functions) makes most sense:
enabled crime this is a very significant downside.
•  It would consolidate the improvement function (and
•  The governance of the NCA would require reform improvement related powers) in one place.
as it is currently solely accountable to the Home
•  It would keep the NCA focused on SOC, which is
Secretary.
a growing and changing threat and one which will
2.  The College of Policing is expanded to take on require more focus and resource.
the improvement function
•  Learning, standards and improvement are a better
The advantages include: fit.

•  Improvement sits comfortably with learning and •  It might be possible to ‘ring fence’ the membership
professional standards. element of the College’s role from some of its
expanded delivery functions and we would
•  It would leave the NCA to focus on serious and encourage the College and the Home Office to
organised crime. explore this.

•  It would bring together all the improvement functions •  Although the College is small it could be built up.
in a single home, which would then have powers to Simply to attach functions to the NCA because of its
deliver in two critical areas: using its existing (and current size does not seem very strategic.
seldom used) regulatory powers to set national
minimum professional standards in high-risk areas 11.7.3 The National Crime Agency
where consistency is essential and being given new
The National Crime Agency (NCA) is a core part of the
powers to mandate common standards in relation
national landscape and should be strengthened so that
to IT.
it is better able to tackle serious and organised crime.
•  It reduces the clutter in the landscape, essentially
First, it needs more resources. To provide an
consolidating the system around our proposed
international contrast, the FBI has a budget which is
National Crime Prevention Agency, a National Crime
15 times larger than the NCA (£7.4bn compared to
Agency and a national police improvement function
£504m), despite the US having a population that is just
hosted by the College.
five times larger than that of the UK (NCA, 2021, FBI
The disadvantages: 2022). Given the increase in complex and serious crime
the NCA will need a significant increase in its budget
•  The College (staff of 600, budget of £43m) would over the next decade if it is to successfully target the
require significant investment and development so most harmful organised crime networks.
that it could become an organisation capable of
hosting these additional functions. In this sense it Second, as articulated above, there is a case for the
would be less ‘ready to go’ than the NCA (staff of NCA taking more of the lead in delivering serious
4,000, budget of £450m). and organised crime capability at the regional level.
Under Option 4 (above) the NCA would be expanded
•  It raises the question as to whether this would to incorporate the existing Regional Organised Crime
move the College away from being an autonomous Units (ROCUs), plus regional economic crime teams,
membership based professional body and towards including fraud. We should emphasise that, given our
becoming a Home Office quango like the old NPIA. reallocation of specialist functions, this also means most
It has always been a half-way house between these cyber-enabled and cross border fraud investigation
two identities. If we gave the NCA the improvement would be lifted out of local police forces, where it is not

11. Structure 147

 Box 11.7 Fraud
As a society we have yet to get a grip on the problem of fraud. Fraud offences made up over 40 per cent of crime in 2021,
the most common type of crime experienced by people in England and Wales. Fraud is estimated to cost the UK around
£15 billion a year and nearly half of fraud victims say their financial loss has affected their emotional wellbeing (Skidmore et
al, 2018). While some frauds result in just a few hundred pounds lost and many victims are compensated by their banks,
some victims can lose their life savings and receive no compensation at all.

Despite the scale of fraud and the harm caused the police response to it is extremely limited:

• In the year to March 2021 4.6 million frauds occurred, but only 806,637 of these were reported to Action Fraud, CIFAS
or UK Finance.

• Of those 806,637 reports just 3 per cent (24,805) were disseminated by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) to
police forces for investigation.

• In the same period just 4,853 fraud cases resulted in a charge or summons, which represents just 0.6 per cent of those
recorded that year and just 0.1 per cent of those frauds that took place in that period (Home Office 2021, ONS 2021x).

The term “fraud” covers a wide range of offences, from the misleading door-to-door salesman through to complex City
frauds and, increasingly, organised online scams which affect millions of people and inflict great economic cost. Each
requires different capabilities, and is most effectively tackled at different levels in our public safety system. At present, not
enough is done to prevent fraud and the police struggle with unrealistic expectations of what they can achieve. There is
a national reporting system for online frauds, but, through lack of well-placed capacity and capability, it rarely leads to
positive outcomes.

The restructuring we are recommending should enable a much more comprehensive approach.

The new Crime Prevention Agency we propose would be able to give priority to working with service providers on
measures to prevent online fraud on their platforms. One of the main measures of the success of the Agency would be its
ability to bring down fraud volumes.

There will be instances where it is most appropriate for fraud investigations to remain with local forces, such as where
the victim and the suspect are in a single police force area. Local forces should also have a responsibility to identify and
support vulnerable victims.

Where the fraudulent activity crosses force boundaries and involves organised crime, the new regional units, building on
the ROCUs but reporting to the NCA, would assume responsibility. Given the volumes of cases, this would also involve
some tasking of local forces.

The City of London Police, with its world-renowned expertise in tackling complex fraud, would continue to lead on serious
financial sector and commercial fraud, including such cases where they are complex and beyond the capacity of the
regional units.

The strengthened NCA, supported by the regional crime units, would lead on investigating and disrupting large-scale online
scams, many of which are international in character. This would be new territory for the Agency, not least because the
characteristic which marks out these frauds is that they are simultaneously organised and serious, and volume crimes in
the sense that they impact on a very large number of victims. The NCA would need to adapt to this, both culturally and in
terms of the specialist capabilities they were able to deploy.

This structure would, we believe, enable the delivery of a more comprehensive and effective strategy for countering fraud.
Within it, there is a question to be resolved about how best to ensure that reports from the public of online fraud were
received and collated in such a way as to support well-focused investigative activity, and to build intelligence on fraud
networks. At present, this is done by Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, both of which are located
in the City of London Police, but with this reconfigured landscape the government would need to consider how best to
discharge these functions.

148 A new mode of protection

prioritised, and would instead sit within NCA regional There are four options for change that would address
units. the main weaknesses of the system by ensuring that
specialist and support functions are brigaded at a
This overall package would have the following
regional level: Regional Police Units, the expanded
advantages:
NCA plus Regional Police Support Units, regional police
•  It would ensure regional SOC capability was put on forces and a national police force. We believe that all
a stable financial footing, rather than as at present four have merit in terms of efficiency and effectiveness,
leaving it subject to decisions made by local forces. but that regional forces and a single national solution
risk centralising power and diluting the connection
•  It would create a national SOC network comparable between policing and local communities.
to the Counter Terrorism Network, with a clear chain
of command to ensure SOC assets are directed in a Of the remaining two options the expanded NCA
coherent and rational way. approach, combined with Regional Police Support
Units, has the considerable advantages of clearer
•  It would recognise that the centre will always own governance and a stronger national model for delivering
more of the risk when it comes to SOC, which is serious and organised crime capabilities, which would
less visible to local publics and less likely to be be comparable to the way the Counter Terrorism
prioritised by local police. If the centre owns most of Network operates.
the risk it should control the assets.
While this option means the existing 43 forces would
Third, there is a case for some highly specialist remain, we should note that we do not consider 43
crime related capabilities which need to be provided to be the right number of forces.  It is in many ways
nationally, being housed within an expanded NCA. an arbitrary figure.  We do not rule out future force
These are operational crime related functions that police amalgamations if these would promote effectiveness
forces are not in a position to deliver. This might include and efficiency.  However, we have taken a ‘form
for example a new national forensic science service or follows function’ approach, which means we are less
national police air support. concerned with the ‘right’ number of police forces and
more concerned with what capabilities should sit at
Finally, we should note for clarity that we see no case
what geographic levels.
for moving the Counter Terrorism Command out of the
Metropolitan Police Service. All of the evidence we have Recommendations
seen during the course of the Review has highlighted
that this is one of the most successful components 41. The National Crime Agency (NCA) should
of the national policing landscape. It should therefore be given control of regional serious and
remain where it is. organised crime assets. Regional NCA
units would host serious and organised
crime capability at the regional level, plus
11.8 CONCLUSION specialist economic crime teams including
In this chapter we have argued that the current expanded regional fraud investigation
police service structure does not provide the best teams. These units would be 100 per cent
organisational platform for delivering the capabilities we centrally funded through the NCA and
set out earlier in this report. It provides a poor basis for would be accountable to the Director
organising increasingly important specialist capabilities General of the NCA for delivery. As an
and for tackling surging levels of cross border crime. It existing regional force, the Metropolitan
is inefficient and hundreds of millions of pounds could Police Service would continue to host
be saved if it were reformed. The existing patchwork its own serious and organised crime
of collaboration initiatives does not provide a robust capabilities.
basis for organising cross force policing. Finally, there is
a weak strategic centre in policing, meaning that there
is lack of strategic direction for the whole system and
a fragile organisational basis for delivering important
national capabilities.

11. Structure 149

 42. The government should legislate to Recommendation
mandate the creation of Regional Police
43. The national policing landscape should be
Support Units. These would host most
rationalised in the following way:
specialist capabilities outside of serious
and organised crime, alongside operational • The Home Secretary should set the
and business support functions for forces. national strategic direction for the
These units would be funded by pooling service, working in partnership with
local force budgets and a significant the Association of Police and Crime
proportion of the savings made would Commissioners and the National Police
be reinvested in local policing. The units Chiefs’ Council through the National
should be accountable to regional boards Policing Board.
made up of the local Chief Constables and
• This strategic role of ministers would be
Police and Crime Commissioners. Local
supported by a new Crime and Policing
police forces would focus on delivering
Strategy Unit within the Home Office
local policing: neighbourhood policing,
which would develop the evidence base
24/7 response, local crime investigation,
to inform the national strategy, monitor
safeguarding and offender management.
performance across the system and
This should be accompanied by a stronger strategic horizon scan to ensure the system is
centre to ensure that there is a clearer strategic always thinking ahead.
direction for the police service and that there is a • There should be three main delivery
stronger organisational platform for delivering important organisations at the centre: the Crime
national capabilities. Prevention Agency, the National Crime
Agency and the College of Policing.

• The National Crime Agency should

remain focused on serious and organised
crime, but should take on more of a
role in tackling large scale online scams
particularly where these are international
in character. It would also be a possible
home for other national crime related
functions such as a new national forensic
science service.
• The College of Policing should be
expanded to become the single home
for all national policing improvement
functions including learning and
development, professional standards,
developing the evidence base, IT and
national procurement. It would also host
a national workforce planning function
and a data analytics function. The College
would have powers to direct Chief
Constables in relation to national minimum
professional standards, workforce
planning and common standards in
relation to IT.

150 A new mode of protection

12. GOVERNANCE
Summary: The police governance system must ensure that the police are accountable to the public
while remaining independent operational decision makers. The fundamentals of our system (the office of
Constable, the operational independence of Chief Constables and the sharing of power between the Home
Secretary, Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables) remain the best means of achieving this.
Police and Crime Commissioners and directly elected Mayors provide a robust form of local governance
and their role should be expanded into other parts of the criminal justice system. The biggest problem with
our system of police governance is the lack of any mechanism for making binding national decisions. As a
solution to this the Home Secretary should be ready to proactively use her powers to direct Police and Crime
Commissioners and Chief Constables in the national interest. The College of Policing should also set binding
national minimum professional standards, common standards in relation to IT and mandatory requirements
in terms of workplace planning.

The central question in police governance is how the and disorder. Police officers are expected to use their
police can be made accountable to the public without powers “without fear or favour”, free from “improper
being controlled by politicians or overly influenced in political interference” and to do so “faithfully according
their operational decisions by public opinion. to law”.

The English and Welsh system of police governance Police officers are given training and guidance on the
has evolved over the years as a response to this lawful and effective use of their powers and authority
question, essentially seeking to strike a balance but as office holders they have discretion to act or not
between the lawful discretion of police officers on to act; for example, they cannot be ordered to make an
the one hand and the powers of elected politicians arrest.
on the other. Other sources of accountability have
Each sworn Constable is an independent legal official
also long existed, in particular the police inspectorate
and has personal liability for their action or inaction,
(HMICFRS) and since the Macpherson Report into the
although the Chief Constable and the force have a level
murder of Stephen Lawrence the body that is now the
of corporate responsibility.
Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
All police officers, no matter their rank, hold the
In this section we explore these issues by, first,
office of Constable. Out of that common law office of
describing how this complex system of police
Constable has evolved a further constitutional principle
governance has evolved, second, appraising the
that structures our system of police governance: the
current system of police governance (looking both at
operational independence of the Chief Constable.
the individual institutions and at how the system as a
whole works), and finally making recommendations for The legal basis of this was set out by Lord Denning in
change. his famous 1968 judgment, where he said:

“‘I have no hesitation, however, in holding that, like

12.1 HOW WE GOT TO WHERE every constable in the land, he should be, and is,
WE ARE NOW independent of the executive. He is not subject to
the orders of the Secretary of State,….I hold it to
The three central constitutional building blocks of the be the duty of the Commissioner of Police, as it
English and Welsh system of police governance are the is of every chief constable, to enforce the law of
office of Constable, the operational independence of the the land. He must take steps so to post his men
Chief Constable and the tripartite system. that crimes may be detected; and the honest
citizens may go about their affairs in peace. He
The office of Constable is a common law concept
must decide whether or not suspected persons
that goes back way before the creation of the first
are to be prosecuted; and, if need be, bring the
professional police force in 1829 and so it is not defined
prosecution or see that it is brought; but in all
in a single piece of legislation. It grants police officers an
these things he is not the servant to anyone, save
array of powers to prevent, detect and investigate crime
of the law itself. No Minister of the Crown can tell

12. Governance 151

 him that he must, or must not, keep observation Chief Constable in turn only paid “lip service” to them
on this place or that; or that he must, or must while doing what he or she wanted (Caless and Owens,
not, prosecute this man or that one. Nor can any 2016).
police authority tell him so. The responsibility for
Partly as a response to the weakness of local
law enforcement lies on him. He is answerable to
accountability, the history of policing from the 1964
the law and to the law alone” (R. v Commissioner
Act was a process of increasing centralisation, with
of Police of the Metropolis, 1968)
the Home Office taking greater control over the police,
This definition of operational independence has, more or through issuing of policy circulars, tightening controls
less, persisted to this day, despite efforts by politicians over senior police appointments, imposing frameworks
of all parties to push at its boundaries (Brain, 2010). of centralised performance management, and taking
control of funding (Jones and Lister, 2019). By the
The tripartite system emerges from that
middle of the 2000s, the government had overseen the
understanding of the lawful discretion of the Constable
introduction of a ‘National Policing Plan’, supported
and the operational independence of the Chief
by national objectives, priorities and targets for the
Constable. This is a way of sharing authority over
police, and the Police Standards Unit to monitor the
policing between operationally independent Chief
performance of local forces and intervene in those seen
Constables and local and national elected politicians.
as ‘failing’.
Over many centuries, local ‘Watch Committees’, often
The Police and Magistrates Court Act 1995 and
consisting of lay magistrates and justices, oversaw the
the Police Act 1996 reduced the size of the police
work of parish constables and shire officials charged
authorities and transferred direct management functions
with keeping the peace. The establishment of county
and control over budgets from police authorities to
police forces, following the Municipal Corporations
Chief Constables. The 1996 Act also enabled the Home
Act of 1835, led to more formal oversight, and Watch
Secretary to call on a police authority to require its Chief
Committees were empowered to appoint ‘constables
Constable to retire. Further powers formerly exercised
to keep the peace’, and also took on a formal, local
by police authorities were given to the Home Secretary
governance role (Caless and Owens, 2016).
by the Police Act 2002 and Police and Justice Act
Following the Royal Commission on the Police in 1962, 2006, including powers to take remedial action where
the Police Act 1964 put in place a formal tripartite there has been a negative inspection (Home Affairs
structure for governing the police comprised of the Select Committee, 2008).
Home Secretary, Chief Constables and local police
It was in response to these failings that the coalition
authorities. The tripartite arrangements gave the Home
government elected in 2010 legislated the most radical
Secretary an overall duty to secure an effective police
change to police governance since 1964 with the
service; made local police authorities responsible for
introduction of directly elected Police and Crime
maintaining an effective police force in their area and
Commissioners. The motivation behind the reform
charged Chief Constables with the direction and control
was to sharpen the accountability of Chief Constables
of their officers (Caless and Owens, 2016).
to directly elected representatives of the public (Caless
However, almost from the beginning the tripartite and Owens, 2016). This would then enable the Home
system was characterised by the relative weakness of Office to step back from intervening in local policing
the police authorities, the relative autonomy of Chief matters and focus on counter-terrorism and serious and
Constables and, in response, the increasing power of organised crime (see Box 12.1 for a description of the
the Home Secretary. way the current system works).

Police authorities were usually comprised of nine In in the rest of this chapter we review the existing
local councillors appointed by the local authorities, system of police governance. We do this in three parts.
five independent members selected following local First, we examine whether the three constitutional
advertisements and three magistrates from the local building blocks of the system remain sound. Second,
area. Over the years they were much criticised for we look at the component institutions of the system in
being little known by the public and for their lack of turn. Finally, we examine how the system as a whole
robustness in challenging the police. One Police and operates, in particular the process for making collective
Crime Commissioner describes police authorities as decisions.
“futile” in that they failed to hold the Chief Constable
to account but only “okayed” his decisions, while the

152 A new mode of protection

 Box 12.1 The role of Police and Crime Commissioners, Chief Constables and Police and Crime Panels
The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 abolished police authorities and replaced them with Police and
Crime Commissioners everywhere but in the City of London. In the Metropolitan Police area the role of the Police and
Crime Commissioner (PCC) was assumed by the Mayor of London and Mayors would later take on the role in Greater
Manchester and West Yorkshire.

The 2011 Act gave PCCs responsibility for the “totality of policing” within their force area, requiring them to hold the Chief
Constable to account for the operational delivery of policing including in relation to the Strategic Policing Requirement
published by the Home Secretary.

The Act also established a Police and Crime Panel in each force, made up of co-opted independent members and local
councillors, to scrutinise and review the PCC’s key decisions.

The Policing Protocol Order 2011 provides a framework for how the relationship between PCCs, Chief Constables and
Police and Crime Panels should operate.

The main responsibilities of the PCC are:

• To set the strategic direction and objectives of the force by issuing a Police and Crime Plan.
• To hold the Chief Constable to account for the performance of the force.
• To set the force budget and the council tax precept.
• To appoint the Chief Constable (except in London where the appointment is made by the Queen on the
recommendation of the Home Secretary).
• To remove the Chief Constable subject to a process laid out in the Act.
• To enter into collaboration agreements with other PCCs that improve the efficiency or effectiveness of policing.
• To monitor complaints made against officers and staff.

The main responsibilities of the Chief Constable are:

• To lead the force in a way that is consistent with the attestation made by all Constables and to ensure the force acts
impartially.
• To appoint officers and staff.
• To assist the PCC with planning the budget.
• To support the PCC in delivering the Police and Crime Plan.
• To have regard to the Strategic Policing Requirement.
• To explain to the public operational actions.
• To enter into collaboration agreements with other Chief Constables where this will improve the effectiveness and
efficiency of policing.
• To remain politically independent of their PCCs.
• To manage complaints against the force.
• To have day to day control of the financial management of the force.

The Police and Crime Panel has powers:

• To veto (outside the Metropolitan Police District), by a two-thirds majority, the level of the PCC’s proposed precept.
• To veto (outside the Metropolitan Police District), by a two-thirds majority, the PCC’s proposed candidate for Chief
Constable.
• To ask HMICFRS for a professional view when the PCC intends to dismiss a Chief Constable.
• To review the draft Police and Crime Plan and make recommendations to the PCC who must have regard to them.
• To review the PCC’s Annual Report.
• To require the PCC to attend the Panel to answer questions.
• To appoint an acting Police and Crime Commissioner where the incumbent PCC is incapacitated, resigns or is
disqualified.
• To manage complaints against the PCC, except where serious, in which case these are referred to the Independent
Office for Police Conduct.

In effect, the legislation means that PCCs define the “what” of policing – what police forces should and should not
prioritise, what the public wants, what money is available for various priorities, and what should happen if the police are
perceived to be underperforming.

The Chief Constables are responsible for the “how” – how the policing plan is put in place, how money should be spent,
how police officers should be managed and led and how the public should be kept informed. (Shannon, 2021).

12. Governance 153

 Finally, some would argue that the tripartite system
12.2 THE CONSTITUTIONAL disappeared with the abolition of police authorities
BASIS OF THE SYSTEM and the advent of Police and Crime Commissioners.
However, it remains the case that authority within
The common law office of Constable is the
our system of police governance is shared between
fundamental basis of the English and Welsh model of
three parties: the Home Secretary representing the
policing. The office provides the basis for a model of
national interest, the Chief Constables representing the
policing in which Constables enforce the law impartially
operationally responsible leadership of the service and
“without fear or favour” and in which they have the
the Police and Crime Commissioners representing the
discretion to make appropriate and proportionate
views of local people.
judgments regarding the issues in front of them, subject
to law, regulation and guidance. These are fundamental The implicit principle behind this tripartite structure has
and important principles and they have helped make always been that power ought to be shared between
the ‘British model of policing’ one of the most admired the three parties and that none of those parties
around the world. For this reason we believe that the should accumulate too much power. That principle of
office of Constable ought to remain the basis of our balancing the professional judgement and operational
policing system.45 responsibility of Chief Constables, with the views and
interests of the public filtered through both national
The principle of the operational independence of
and locally elected representatives, remains essentially
Chief Constables is more contested. Few would argue
sound.
with Lord Denning that a Chief Constable should
never be instructed by the Secretary of State as to
how to direct their officers or whether to bring a case 12.3 POLICE AND CRIME
before the prosecutorial authorities. These are clearly
operational matters and politics should be kept out of
COMMISSIONERS
them. However, as Lord Patten noted in his 1999 report The Police Crime Commissioner (PCC) system has now
on policing in Northern Ireland: been in place for a decade and we have been through
three rounds of PCC elections. We can therefore come
“In a democratic society, all public officials must be fully
to some conclusions about how well the system is
accountable to the institutions of that society for the
working.
due performance of their functions, and a chief of police
cannot be an exception. No public official, including First, the aim of those who created the PCC system
a chief of police, can be said to be “independent”. was essentially to sharpen the accountability of Chief
Indeed, given the extraordinary powers conferred on Constables to the public. We concur with the finding
the police, it is essential that their exercise is subject of the Home Affairs Committee that PCCs “have
to the closest and most effective scrutiny possible.” provided greater clarity of leadership for policing” and
(Patten, 1999, p.32). that they “are increasingly recognised by the public as
accountable for the strategic direction of their police
In his report Patten proposed that instead of
force” (Home Affairs Committee, 2016, p.3). Although
‘operational independence’ the term ‘operational
most members of the public could probably not name
responsibility’ should be used instead. This is a subtle
their local PCC, nor could most people name their
but important difference. It means that:
local council leader or even their MP, we agree with the
•  It is the Chief Constable’s right and duty to take Home Affairs Committee that having a single person
operational decisions and that neither ministers accountable for policing policy has made the office
nor PCCs should have the right to direct the Chief more visible and accessible than the old police authority
Constable in an operational matter. system.

•  But that the Chief Constable’s conduct of all Second, by strengthening local accountability in this
operational matters should be subject to public way the PCC system has helped to anchor the police
inquiry or review after the event. service around the demands and concerns of local
people. While there are concerns about how well the
We prefer this formulation of the remit of the Chief
system is responding to cross border and serious crime
Constable.
(which we have sought to address in Chapter 11), the
45. The office of Constable does have some negative consequences, such as the fact that police officers found guilty of gross misconduct cannot be
dismissed under the standard procedures of UK employment law. This can sometimes mean lengthily misconduct proceedings under the police
regulations, which can be frustrating for victims of police misconduct.

154 A new mode of protection

PCC model has cemented the strong local dimension The Police and Crime Panels have the power to hold
to our policing system that is so important for public a scrutiny meeting when the PCC moves to dismiss
confidence and for promoting collaboration between the the chief constable and to go to HMICFRS to ask for a
police and other local public services. professional view on the PCC’s decision. However, in
practice, these checks and balances are weak: the PCC
Third, the PCC system has, by concentrating authority
only has to “consider the panel’s recommendation”. The
in one individual’s hands, unlocked innovation among
power of going to HMICFRS for an opinion has only
those responsible for police governance. One elected
been used once since 2012 and in that case did not
person with a budget can ‘get things done’ in a way
ultimately change the outcome (Cooper, 2020).
that is inevitably harder with a committee structure. This
is particularly true for the ‘and crime’ part of the PCC The concern is that such untrammelled power in
role, through which PCCs can fund and implement new the hands of one person has created job insecurity
crime and harm reduction and victim support initiatives throughout the Chief Constable rank and this in turn has
(see Loader and Muir, 2016 for some examples). led to increased churn and reduced tenure. According
to a paper commissioned by the National Police Chiefs’
Finally, it also worth saying that the worst fears of the
Council published in 2018 the average tenure of a Chief
critics of the PCC model have not come to pass:
Constable (excluding the Metropolitan Police Service) is
•  It has not led to a general ‘politicisation of policing’; just 3.65 years. Not all of this is due to the PCC system,
or at least policing today is no more or less political but it is notable how many Chief Constables retired
than it has always been. prior to the last PCC elections.

•  By and large it has not led to PCCs interfering with One way of addressing these concerns is to introduce
the operational responsibilities of Chief Constables, greater checks and balances into the dismissal process.
or at least no more so than previous forms of police
Recommendation
governance.
44. The Police and Crime Commissioner
•  It has not led to the election of ‘extremist’
should retain the power to dismiss the
candidates.
Chief Constable, but this should be subject
However, there are number of problems with the way to a confirmatory vote of the Police and
the system operates that ought to be addressed. First, Crime Panel, requiring a majority of the
there is the issue of the concentration of power in one total membership. The Panel may ask
person’s hands and whether there ought to be further HMICFRS for a review of the Police and
checks and balances introduced into the system. The Crime Commissioner’s decision prior to
area where there is most concern is in relation to the that confirmatory vote.
appointment and dismissal of Chief Constables.
Second, there are no mechanisms in place to deal with
In terms of appointments there has been a notable
PCCs who have lost the confidence of the public
trend for local Deputy Chief Constables being appointed
as a result of poor conduct. There is a mechanism
often without a competitive interview (Shannon, 2021).
for the Police and Crime Panel to suspend the PCC
We addressed this in Chapter 10 by recommending that
in the event that the PCC receives a prison sentence
a national Senior Appointments Board play a stronger
in excess of two years. However, there is a case
role in the appointment process.
for extending this in a way comparable to the recall
The power of the PCC to dismiss the Chief Constable mechanism for members of parliament.
has been the subject of even greater controversy.
According to the Home Affairs Committee:

“The statutory process provides little safeguard,

since there is nobody—not the police and crime
panel, not the Inspectorate of Constabulary,
not even the Home Secretary herself—who can
over-rule a commissioner who has set his face
to dismissing a chief constable.” (Home Affairs
Committee, 2013, p.4)

12. Governance 155

 Recommendation Recommendation

45. The Home Secretary should put 46. Where a police force area is coterminous
legislation before parliament to introduce with the jurisdiction of a directly
recall referenda for Police and Crime elected Mayor, the Mayor should
Commissioners. The possibility of a recall automatically become the Police and
referendum would be triggered where the Crime Commissioner for that area. The
Police and Crime Panel has voted by a two government should also seek where
thirds majority to express no confidence in possible to promote coterminosity between
the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) police force areas and the jurisdictional
on the following grounds: boundaries of city-regional or regional
Mayors.
• Where the PCC has been sentenced to a
custodial prison sentence. The fourth flaw with the current system is that because
• Where the PCC has been found following Police and Crime Commissioners are ‘corporations
an investigation by the Independent Office sole’ and are not elected like MPs to seats on a
for Police Conduct to have breached the representative body, they have no system for making
Nolan Principles on Standards in Public collective decisions that are binding on all their peers.
Life. We address this problem later in this chapter.
Following such a vote by the panel there Finally, we note that the Home Office’s current review
would then be a recall referendum where of PCCs (see Box 12.2) is exploring whether additional
10 per cent of the local electorate sign a responsibilities should be given to PCCs. In particular,
petition to support one. the Home Office is considering whether their role should
be extended into the wider criminal justice system.
Third, there is a need to resolve the relationship Although it has not been within the scope of this
between PCCs and the growing number of directly review to consider wider criminal justice matters, we
elected Mayors in England. We consider that the are supportive of PCCs (and their mayoral equivalents)
mayoral model has significant advantages. A Mayor taking on a greater commissioning role within the
can set common outcomes across a range of public criminal justice system.
services, bring together joint funding streams and
encourage joint working. If we want public services This is because there are elements of the criminal
that are capable of tackling complex problems through justice system that would benefit from greater local
greater collaboration then a mayoral model provides a accountability and greater ability to integrate with the
strong governance model for achieving this. work of other local public services (see Lanning, Loader
and Muir 2011). This could include for example some
It seems likely that Mayors will remain a model for youth and adult offender management services. For
the metropolitan areas while counties continue to be example, if a local actor such as the PCC held some
overseen by a mixture of PCCs, local authorities and of the custody budget then this would create a strong
so on. In that case we need to address the anomaly of financial incentive to prevent people getting into prison
some police force areas having both a directly elected in the first place. An obvious next step for extending
Mayor and a PCC. To have both a Mayor and a PCC is the PCC role would be to explore whether PCCs could
unnecessary and dilutes the clarity of accountability. commission youth custody places.

Recommendation

47. The government should consider

extending the remit of Police and
Crime Commissioners (and their
Mayoral equivalents) to include greater
commissioning of wider criminal justice
services, particularly youth custody and
probation services.

156 A new mode of protection

 Box 12.2 The Home Office review into the role of Police and Crime Commissioners.
The Home Office is currently working on a two-part review of the functions of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs)
which intends to examine improving their visibility, ensuring they are accountable to the public, and whether their remit
could be expanded into other areas.

The first part of the review, released in March 2021 recommended:

• Changing the supplementary vote system by which they are elected to first past the post.

• Making sure PCCs provide the public with clear information on their force’s performance.

• Mandating the appointment of deputy PCCs to ensure continuity in unforeseen circumstances.

• Making changes to ensure more effective and consistent relationships between PCCs and Chief Constables.

• Potentially transferring fire and rescue authority functions to PCCs in England (Patel, 2021).

Phase two of the review, which is expected to conclude soon, is examining:

• Whether PCCs should be given a bigger role in parts of the criminal justice system including youth justice programmes,
parts of the prison estate and (jointly) probation services.

• Whether they have sufficient “tools and levers” to drive and coordinate local activity to reduce crime, combat drugs
misuse and tackle antisocial behaviour

• The police and crime panel model, specifically the benefits of independent members, identifying and securing the right
skill sets and options to strengthen panel support.

• The existing mechanisms for investigating complaints and allegations against PCCs.

• Considering recall for PCCs for very serious breaches of behaviour.

• How PCCs use data in holding Chief Constables to account for the efficient and effective delivery of policing services
(Malthouse, 2021).

•  The power to issue codes of practice for chief

12.4 THE HOME SECRETARY officers.
The Home Secretary retains significant powers within
•  The power to give directions to the College of
the policing system, including:
Policing.
•  The power to direct a Police and Crime
•  The power to request information from chief officers.
Commissioner (PCC) or Mayor following a negative
HMICFRS inspection under Section 40 of the Police •  The power to set police pay and regulate working
Act 1996. conditions.

•  The power to set the Strategic Policing In addition the Home Secretary appoints the Chief
Requirement, to which PCCs and Chief Constables Inspector of Constabulary, the Director General of the
must have regard. National Crime Agency, the Director General of the
Independent Office for Police Conduct and the Chair of
•  The power to recommend that a person be
the College of Policing.
appointed by the monarch as Commissioner of the
Metropolis. Fundamentally of course, the Home Secretary provides
most of the funding for police forces through the police
•  The power to require that the Metropolitan Police
grant.
Commissioner is suspended and to call upon the
Metropolitan Police Commissioner to resign or retire. The 20th century was characterised by greater
control of the Home Secretary over policing, partly in
•  The power to direct that certain policing functions
response to the perceived weakness of local police
be organised through collaboration agreements.
accountability and partly in response to the political
demands of dealing with rising crime. The 2010s

12. Governance 157

marked a significant departure from this historic trend.
Recommendation
Theresa May as Home Secretary saw Police and Crime
Commissioners as the principal figures responsible 48. The Home Secretary should use her
for holding the police to account. The Home Office powers to put in place a stronger strategic
consequently ‘stepped back’ and wanted to see centre in policing. In particular, she should:
policing act as a self-improving system without the
need for constant ministerial intervention. • Through the National Policing Board
set out a five-year national strategy for
However, as crime started to climb back up the political
policing.
agenda, the Home Office has increasingly started to
reassert itself. In particular as the government has
• Develop the Strategic Policing
invested in 20,000 additional police officers there has Requirement into a much more detailed
been an emphasis on wanting to see evidence of document setting out the nature of the
impact. capabilities the government expects
regional and local police organisations to
A National Policing Board has been brought together put in place to tackle terrorism and serious
to provide greater strategic direction to the police and organised crime, including fraud.
service. In addition the Home Office is now expecting
• Legislate to mandate Police and Crime
police forces to report back to it on their performance
Commissioners to collaborate in Regional
in relation to a set of National Crime and Policing
Police Support Units that would provide
Measures, with an aspiration that these show
specialist and support functions for local
improvement over a three year period. These cover
forces.
murder, serious violence, drugs supply and county
lines, neighbourhood crime, victim satisfaction and
cybercrime. 12.5 HMICFRS
We believe that central government must play an active In England and Wales, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
system stewardship role in policing, in particular (as Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS)
articulated in Chapter 11) in setting a strategic direction, is responsible for assessing and reporting on the
ensuring performance is managed well and preparing efficiency and effectiveness of police forces in relation
the police workforce of the future. It should also be to operational policing, and has done so since it was
ensuring that core national capabilities are put in founded in 1856. In July 2017, its remit was expanded
place to support policing to deal with the public safety to include responsibility to assess and report on the
challenges of the 21st century, whether these be the IT efficiency, effectiveness and leadership of the 45 Fire
infrastructure required or the forensic capability upon and Rescue services in England (HMICFRS, 2019).
which the whole system depends.
The inspectorate is legally independent from political
In Chapter 11 we described what a stronger strategic bodies and the police, and the inspectors are crown
centre ought to look like in policing and the Home servants rather than being civil servants or employees.
Secretary should play a leading role in putting that This independence and the fact that it reports directly
stronger centre in place. to the public, is important in ensuring the objectivity of
its reports. Its budget is determined by the government.
Under the Police Act 1996 HMICFRS’s annual inspection
programme for police forces became subject to the
approval of the Home Secretary (HMICFRS, 2019).

HMICFRS makes clear it is not a regulator as it does

not have the hard power of intervention, direction
and enforcement but only the soft power of its “voice
and authority” (HMICFRS, 2019). Tensions between
HMICFRS, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs)
and Chief Constables have emerged, in particular, over
the resource implications of forces accommodating
the PEEL regime. Critics have claimed that HMICFRS
makes no allowance for the fact that forces have to
make choices between competing priorities.

158 A new mode of protection

There have also been criticisms of the inspection regime national stakeholders. There should be a regular forum
becoming too onerous. For example, forces are now through which the lessons emerging from the work of
required to publish an annual ‘Force Management both HMICFRS and the Independent Office for Police
Statement’ detailing management, resource and Conduct can be discussed with the Association of
performance information (Jones and Lister, 2019). Police and Crime Commissioners, the National Police
These are intended to aid forces in understanding Chiefs’ Council, the College of Policing and the Home
current and future demand so it can be proactively Office.
managed but have been seen by some as another
administrative burden (EMPAC, 2019).
12.6 THE INDEPENDENT OFFICE
In interviews with chief officers, Shannon (2021) found FOR POLICE CONDUCT
that many resented significant aspects of Inspectorate
oversight and half said the Home Secretary used The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)
HMICFRS to exert pressure indirectly through instructing oversees the police complaints system in England
it to carry out longer and more frequent inspections. and Wales. It is independent of the police and the
Chief officers reported that HMICFRS contributed to government, although its budget is set by the Home
their anxiety and added little to the quality of policing. Secretary, who also appoints its Director General. It
An Assistant Chief Constable interviewed by Shannon investigates the most “serious and sensitive cases”
described the relationship between HMICFRS and chief including injury or death after police contact, which
officers as “adversarial” whereas prior to the the Police must be referred automatically to the IOPC. Most
Reform and Social Responsibility Act, 2011 it had been complaints are dealt with by the professional standards
“supportive and advisory”. departments of local forces, although the IOPC can
assess the case for a review. In 2020/21 the IOPC
Some submissions to our Call for Evidence called for received 4,674 referrals from police forces, began 465
HMICFRS to be given powers to direct forces to make investigations and completed 460 (IOPC, 2021).
changes, rather than rely on the discretion of PCCs.
Another said HMICFRS “lacked bite” and can easily be The IOPC is the latest manifestation of various police
ignored by those who do not agree with it (CE2.20). complaints bodies and took over the function previously
performed by the Independent Police Complaints
It is our view that HMICFRS plays a critical role in Commission (IPCC).
ensuring that police performance is measured and
assessed transparently. The PEEL process is well One consistent cause for concern, directed at both the
structured and the clarity with which outcomes are IOPC and the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints
presented on its website contribute significantly to the Commission), is around the timeliness of investigations.
transparency of policing and its accountability to the Speaking at a recent Home Affairs Committee Inquiry,
public. We do not think there is a need for HMICFRS a Police Federation representative said while there had
to take on regulatory powers and that its use of ‘soft been progress, the pace of change was far too slow.
power’ (voice and authority) is sufficient to drive change. He characterised the organisation as being “completely
We welcome the recent changes to the PEEL regime unaccountable” and “shrouded in secrecy”, meaning
which aim to make it more proportionate and less it was not under any pressure to ensure investigations
onerous on forces, particularly those that are performing were completed rapidly and transparently. He told the
well. committee that those being investigated felt “treated
as though they are guilty” unless the Police Federation
There are two areas where we think change ought to could actually prove their innocence from the start
be considered. First, it is not altogether clear what the (Home Affairs Committee, 2021). Although the purpose
relationship is between the standards set by the College of the organisation is specifically not to “punish police
and the standards HMICFRS uses in its inspections. officers” (College of Policing, 2017, p.6), studies
This could be clarified somewhat if, as we argue below, suggest police officers do feel punished by the length
the College were to craft a clear basket of national of investigations, the lack of communication from
minimum standards that all forces must follow. If investigators, the lack of awareness of the effects of
this were the case there would be an important role being investigated and a perception that investigations
for HMICFRS in reporting on compliance with those are weighted against them. Moreover, there is little
standards. acknowledgement about the effect of the process on
Second, there is a need for more systemic lesson the mental health of those being investigated (McDaniel,
learning from HMICFRS inspections with the other 2020).

12. Governance 159

These same concerns about the length of investigations qualified chairs may have backfired as these chairs
and poor communication are shared by representatives appear more reluctant to dismiss officers (Busby, 2021;
of the families of victims who have died as a result of Home Affairs Committee 2021).
police contact. Representatives from INQUEST told the
We welcome the progress made by the IOPC in seeking
House of Commons inquiry that families bereaved due
to conclude investigations more speedily and this
to police-related deaths are often failed by a system
progress needs to continue. We also welcome its shift
which does not meet their needs or give them the
away from a ‘blame’ focus and to more of a ‘learning
speedy justice they deserve (Home Affairs Committee,
focus’, with the aim of ensuring that lessons are learned
2021).
so that the same problems do not reoccur in the future.
However, a self-commissioned report states that We do think that more could be done to ensure that the
the IOPC has made progress in in reducing the lessons learned from IOPC investigations are considered
time investigations took (IOPC, 2021). The current at a strategic level in the police service. Again, there is
Director General Michael Lockwood argues that while a strong case for establishing a regular forum at which
there are some “legacy issues” relating to the length the major national bodies can discuss the implications
of investigations, these are left over from previous of both IOPC investigations and HMICFRS inspections.
iterations of the organisation (Shannon, 2021). In addition the IOPC ought to work with the College
Speaking to the Home Affairs Committee in 2021 of Policing to discuss how learning points from its
Nottinghamshire Chief Constable Craig Guildford investigations can get into the hands of police officers so
(whose role includes implementing changes to the as to inform everyday practice.
police complaints and discipline system) echoed this
view. He stated that under the IPCC, the average length Recommendations
of investigation was 12 months, whereas under the 49. The national policing bodies should
new system, the majority were over in eight months,
establish a regular forum to share learning
and 90 per cent were concluded within 12 months. He
from Independent Office for Police Conduct
also said the regulations had recently changed so IOPC
(IOPC) investigations and HMICFRS
investigations were now less focused on sanctioning
inspections and agree actions to ensure that
individual officers but rather on addressing systemic
learning is taken forward.
issues and seeking to generate and share learning
so that mistakes were not repeated (Home Affairs 50. The IOPC should work with the College
Committee, 2021a). of Policing to look at how lessons learned
The IOPC and IPCC before it have also been criticised
through IOPC investigations can be turned
for being too close to the police. It has been pointed into learning points and put into the hands
out that 30 per cent of its investigators and 40 per cent of frontline police officers.
of its senior investigators are former police officers.
Some accuse the organisation of having “divided 12.7 THE COLLEGE OF
loyalties between enforcing the law and protecting
their brothers-in-arms from legitimate criticism”
POLICING
(Gould, 2021). It is however common for independent In Chapter 11 we set out an expanded role for the
complaints bodies to employ some former members of College of Policing as the single home for national
the service they are overseeing. This is for the simple policing improvement functions. Here we set out the
reason that they understand the way the system works. governance implications of these changes. To perform
There is inevitably a balance to strike between having its function effectively the College should possess
investigators from inside and outside policing. powers in three areas.
There has also been a criticism of the fact that so few First, the College’s powers to issue ‘codes of
officers (just 8 per cent found to have a case to answer practice’ should be strengthened so that it can (with
for gross misconduct actually end up being dismissed the support of the Home Secretary) issue binding
(Busby, 2021). However, the IOPC does not make those regulations, mandating compliance with a basket of
decisions, which are made by police forces themselves national minimum professional standards. Authorised
under the misconduct process. Professional Practice would remain as guidance to
which chief officers must ‘have regard’, but for these
As discussed in Chapter 6 recent attempts to improve
minimum standards, compliance would be mandatory.
transparency by bringing in lay members and legally
HMICFRS would inspect against these standards at the

160 A new mode of protection

relevant points in the PEEL process. These standards he has called the ‘Network Code’. This should apply to
would be in areas where risk is high, where the public any area of policing where there is a need to make joint
expect consistency or where the evidence base is so decisions and to provide a shared capability. The result is
strong that there is no excuse for police forces not to a system for collective decision-making in which majority
follow the standard. or qualified majority votes would be binding on all parties.

Second, the College would be given new powers We consider that such a legally binding agreement
to require compliance with common IT standards would be necessary if we were to retain an essentially
across policing, so to ensure interoperability and much ‘self-governing’ police decision-making system.
more effective sharing of police data. We support the However, there is an alternative, which does not
notion of operational independence (or operational require establishing a national decision-making body.
responsibility) of Chief Constables but this relates to the This is that the Home Secretary takes a much more
direction and control of police officers and should not interventionist approach, using the powers she already
extend to complete autonomy in relation to IT. Policing possesses in statute to ensure decisions are taken
needs information systems that work across force in the best interests of the country. For example,
boundaries. the Home Secretary can require Police and Crime
Commissioners to collaborate to provide particular
Third, the College would have powers to require
functions jointly, which might be one mechanism for
police forces to cooperate with national recruitment,
creating a national forensics service.
educational and learning and development programmes
and to address emerging skills gaps. So, for example,
if a decision is taken nationally to promote direct entry 12.9 CONCLUSION
programmes or to create new career pathways for
digital forensic examiners or financial investigators, We have argued that there is much that is good in the
then forces would have to cooperate with these. English and Welsh system of police governance. The
Operational independence (or, as we prefer, operational fundamental building blocks of the system (the office
responsibility) does not mean the freedom to opt out of of Constable, the operational responsibility of Chief
workforce programmes that are in the public interest as Constables and the tripartite system) are essentially
determined by the National Policing Board. sound and should be retained.

Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) have

sharpened the accountability of Chief Constables and
12.8 THE NATIONAL SYSTEM
anchored police forces around local priorities. They
OF POLICE GOVERNANCE are superior to the less visible and powerful police
authorities that they replaced and should be considered
One of the most significant problems with the existing
as the core local anchor in our system of police
system of police governance is that it lacks formal
governance. Nevertheless we think the PCC system
mechanisms for making collective decisions. The legal
requires reform: the power of the PCC to dismiss the
entities in the system are the 43 Chief Constables and
Chief Constable ought to be reformed to provide for
the 43 Police and Crime commissioners or Mayors.
greater checks and balances and there should be the
Each of these is a ‘corporation sole’ and cannot be
possibility of a recall referendum if a PCC is convicted of
bound by any collective decision of the others.
a criminal offence or if they are found to have breached
The result is a system which, for the purposes of standards of conduct.
making national decisions, moves at the speed
We also observe that the mayoral model has the benefit
of the slowest passenger. Requiring unanimity to
of helping with the integration of public services and
develop shared national capabilities in critical areas is
we think that more areas should adopt this model. In
preventing policing from keeping pace with the major
those cases the Mayor should automatically take on the
transformations we described earlier, not least in terms
functions of the PCC.
of technology. The fact that we lack a national forensics
capability or a common framework for IT is because the We think PCCs could in principle play a commissioning
system has tried to develop policy in these areas on a role in relation to offender management, which would
voluntary basis. help to create a more preventative emphasis within the
criminal justice system and which could help to improve
The Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor
collaboration between the criminal justice system and
has proposed to resolve this by establishing a legally
other local public services.
binding decision-making process for policing, which

12. Governance 161

We do however believe the time has come for a
stronger role for the centre in our system of police
governance. In particular the Home Secretary should
be ready to intervene and use her powers to ensure
binding decisions are taken with regard to policing
in the national interest. In addition the College of
Policing should be given regulatory powers in relation
to professional standards, workforce planning and IT.
Much more needs to be done to ensure that systemic
lessons are learned from HMICFRS and IOPC findings.

162 A new mode of protection

13. FUNDING
Summary: In this chapter we propose a new funding system for the police service. This would retain the
principle that local policing is funded in part by government grant and in part from local revenues. However,
it would ensure that the funding system better matched the distribution of functions we have proposed
between the local, regional and national levels. It would be designed to ensure that several of the priorities
we identify are adequately funded. We also urge the government to attempt again to design and win
support for a fairer and more targeted system for allocating the Police Grant among forces.

Although local government structures are outside our terms of reference, we favour the spread of more integrated
models, in which the police and other services with a part to play in crime prevention are accountable to a Mayor.
On that scenario, we argue for consideration to be given to a single specific government grant to support the
crime prevention and harm reduction activities of all the relevant local agencies.

Finally, we review the cost implications of our recommendations and assess them against a framework of
public value.

13.1 PRINCIPLES 13.2 THE EXISTING FUNDING

The principles which have informed our approach to SYSTEM
this part of the Review are these:
Plans for government spending are set by regular
1.  The funding of local policing should continue to Spending Reviews (SRs). These Reviews are, in
reflect the shared interest of local communities and principle, multi-year, in the sense that they make plans
central government. for the current financial year and several successors,
with revisions as necessary through more limited annual
2.  The arrangements for funding local forces should be reviews. In practice, political and other considerations
transparent, as fair as can be achieved consistently (including, most recently, Covid) often intervene, and the
with a strong element of local discretion, and based planning cycle becomes more irregular.
on need, and ensure the provision of at least a
minimum level of policing provision. The conclusions of the most recent SR were published
in October 2021. The white paper (HC822 2020/21)
3.  Funding should ensure that long-term priorities, indicated that the planned Home Office totals
such as training and leadership, which represent included an extra £540m by 2024/25 to complete
investments for the future, are not neglected as a the recruitment of the final 8,000 police officers of the
result of short-term pressures. promised 20,000 uplift, taking the total number of
officers to 148,000 by 2023. It provided Police and
4.  National functions should continue to be wholly or
Crime Commissioners (PCCs) with the flexibility to
largely government-funded, including the Crime
increase funding in each year, with a £10 council tax
Prevention Agency and the National Crime Agency
referendum limit (see below), noting that, if all PCCs
(NCA), including the new NCA regional units to
took advantage of this, it would raise up to an additional
tackle serious and organised crime.
£774m by 2024/25. There was also an indication of
5.  The funding arrangements should provide a timely new money for crime prevention and to tackle drug
and reasonably certain basis for business planning, misuse (£42m) and, from 2022/23, money laundering
both at force level, and in the national and regional and fraud.
institutions, extending beyond a single year.
As each financial year approaches, the Home Office
6.  Funding should support, and not obscure, rigorous splits the Departmental planning totals for the following
assessments of performance and outcomes. year between the services they support - police,
immigration control etc; and within the total for policing,
the amounts for the National Crime Agency (NCA)
and the centrally funded “arm’s length” bodies (the
College of Policing and the Independent Office for

13. Funding 163

Police Conduct (IOPC) (all of which, save for income To the government contribution can be added, for
generated, are 100 per cent government funded), and each force, a local contribution. Police and Crime
for the main Police Grant to forces. Commissioners (PCCs) are required to agree with
their Chief Constable a medium-term financial strategy
As an indication of the amounts involved, for 2021/22,
aligned with their four-year Police and Crime Plan,
of the £14.6bn provided for the Home Office, the
and an annual budget which meets the statutory
estimated amounts for policing were £4.7bn for the
requirement in the Local Government Finance Act
main police grant, £564m for the NCA, £49m for the
to achieve a balanced budget. In meeting these
College and £73m for the IOPC (HM Treasury, 2021).
requirements, they have discretion to top up the central
The amount available for Police Grant is then divided government grant, with a precept on the council tax
among the 43 police forces in England and Wales, revenues for the area. There are rules governing this.
according to a formula which has been applied since Above a certain level, set by the government as a
2013/14, and was originally developed in 2006 by proportion of revenue raised on a band D property,
the then Department of Communities and Local it requires the approval of a local referendum. But
Government (DCLG). This is an attempt, based on the government has, in recent years, been willing to
historic information, some dating from the early 2000s, increase the trigger point to allow more local funding, as
to weight the different activities undertaken by the they did in the example quoted above from the recent
police in each area. The original data have never been white paper.
updated. The formula is simply rolled over from year to
This increased flexibility was particularly important
year and applied to whatever total sum is available.
during the period of austerity, when there was a
The formula is widely believed to be an inadequate substantial real terms increase in the local contribution.
reflection of the real relative needs of individual forces. Between 2015/16 and 2019/20, it increased from
It has been criticised in successive reports by the £3.1bn to £4.1bn, and as a proportion of total funding
National Audit Office (NAO) and the Public Accounts from 28 per cent to 35 per cent (ref).
Committee (PAC) and has been acknowledged by the
The current funding system for local policing is therefore
Home Office to be increasingly detached from the real
a hybrid of central and local funding, with the central
demands on policing. Following a review, the Home
element including a substantial specific grant from
Office consulted about a revised formula in 2015, but
the Department with the strongest interest in policing
it ran into opposition, mainly from parts of the country
(Home Office, 2019).
which would have stood to lose out financially and
was abandoned in 2017. In 2018, the PAC returned
to the charge, noting that the Department “needed to 13.3 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE
change the formula, to take account of all the demands
on police forces, funding from local taxation, forces’
REVIEW
efficiency, and their financial resilience” (House of The first question for any review from first principles
Commons Public Accounts Committee, 2018). is whether this mixed system of central and local
funding makes sense. There are two obvious alternative
There are two other elements of central government
approaches. The first would be 100 per cent central
support for local policing: a share of the DCLG formula
government funding. Had we been recommending a
funding for local government as a whole; and a smaller
national police force, this might have been a natural
amount for legacy council tax grants.
corollary. But the model we favour, with local forces
These three elements come together in the annual concentrating on local issues amenable to their
Police Grant Report, which is usually published as a capabilities, a stronger regional tier and a stronger
provisional settlement towards the end of the financial centre, if anything highlights the shared interest of
year and laid before Parliament in final form weeks central and local government in policing, and therefore
before the beginning of the financial year to which it the case for a mixed funding model, with a significant
relates. Taking 2021/22 as an example, the formal element of local discretion.
determination, published on 22 February 2021, set
The other possible model would be to treat policing
out the distribution among the 43 forces of total Police
like any other local service, and fund it entirely through
Grant of £8.46bn, of which £4.7bn was the main Home
the rate support grant mechanism, i.e. to abolish the
Office grant, £3.6bn from the DCLG formula funding
specific grant. But even with local forces focusing more
and £0.5bn from legacy council tax grants (Home
on the local problems which they are best placed to
Office, 2021).

164 A new mode of protection

deal with, the government’s interest in outcomes and
Recommendation
professional standards would exceed that in most other
locally delivered services. The Home Office is the natural 52. The government should design and win
home for that interest; and although, as discussed support for a fairer and more intelligent
below, the Police Grant is, at present, ill-fitted to be system for allocating Police Grant between
used as a vehicle for this, it still makes sense to have it. forces. Such a system would be based
With local forces even more locally focused than at on up-to-date data, revised annually, and
present, there is, however, a case for further relaxing the (consistent with this review) with a focus
restriction on PCCs’ and mayors’ exercise of discretion on the social factors influencing policing
to supplement police budgets by precepting on council demand as well as crime levels. It would
tax revenues. take account of Inspectorate perceptions
and findings bearing on the capabilities
Recommendation and financial resilience of individual forces
51. The funding of local police forces should (a source which has become markedly
continue to be a mixture of central and richer in recent years), and of government
local contributions. Police and Crime priorities. It would aim to secure
Commissioners and Mayors should have acceptable minimum levels of service
greater discretion to raise further revenues in all parts of the country, and be robust
for policing via the precept. enough to avoid or at least mitigate the
marked disparities in outcomes which the
There are however real weaknesses in the existing combination of a mechanistic formula and
arrangements. The first is the inadequacy of the funding the exercise of local discretion produced
formula, as noted above, as a distributional mechanism during the period of austerity.
for the Police Grant. This goes beyond the fact that
The second significant weakness in existing
the base data for the formula are out of date. The
arrangements is in the funding of the Regional Organised
justification for a specific grant should be that it gives
Crime Units (ROCUs). These are, at present, funded by
the government an opportunity to secure a measure of
the PCCs and Chief Constables in their region, with a
fairness between forces, and at least a minimum level of
smaller contribution from the Home Office. There is an
service across the country, to influence priorities, and to
annual negotiation between the head of each ROCU and
mitigate the fact that wealthier areas have more scope
the PCCs in the region, an annual budget which isn’t
for using the precept to increase spending than poorer
settled until the last minute or later, and no certainty at
ones. The present formula does none of these. The
all about funding in later years. The ad hoc nature of the
existence of local discretion to top up the Police Grant
ROCUs’ funding has been criticised by the NAO and
from local sources means that the distribution of spend
in successive Inspectorate reports, the most recent of
is never going to be absolutely fair. But there is evidence
which, published in April 2021, concluded that funding
that some forces do much better from the Police
was “the single greatest barrier to ROCUs operating
Grant than others. Moreover, there is evidence that the
efficiently and effectively”, and recommended that
gap between the best and least well provided forces
the Home Office should lead work to identify a more
widened during the period of austerity, in part because
sustainable funding model (HMICFRS, 2021).
of the government’s decision to reduce the grant evenly
across all forces (“damping”), without regard to their Moving the ROCUs into the National Crime Agency
historic funding, council tax base or financial resilience (NCA), which this report recommends, provides an
(Hales, 2020). That gap is being perpetuated by the opportunity to put the funding of regional serious and
mechanistic application of the formula in funding the organised crime capabilities on a sounder footing.
20,000 uplift in police officer numbers. In line with Recommendation 41 the regional NCA
units would be 100 per cent funded by the central
government grant. The other part of the regional tier
(the Regional Police Support Units) should remain
funded by local forces, accountable to local chiefs and
PCCs, given that they are essentially a pooling of local
specialist and support functions. A significant proportion
of the money saved by pooling these functions should
be retained for investment in local policing.

13. Funding 165

 Recommendation 13.4 A NEW FUNDING MODEL
53. To avoid the kind of protracted negotiation The new funding model would therefore be as follows:
over essentially voluntary arrangements
1.  The organisations responsible at a national level
which has bedevilled the Regional
for policing and public safety, including the Crime
Organised Crime Units, the National Crime Prevention Agency, the National Crime Agency
Agency regional units should be 100 per (NCA) and the College of Policing, would be 100 per
cent government funded. cent government-funded.

Third, several of the respondents to our initial Call 2.  The new NCA regional units hosting regional serious
for Evidence argued that the current funding system and organised crime functions would be 100 per
was so complex and short-term that it provided a cent government funded.
poor basis for longer-term business planning at force
3.  The Regional Police Support Units would be placed
level. It is certainly the case that the arrangements are
on a statutory footing but they would be funded
complicated, with multiple sources of funding. The sum
from local police force budgets, given that they
available for any individual force in a given financial
represent a pooling of existing local capabilities.
year becomes known with any precision only a matter
of weeks before the money begins to be spent. For 4.  Local police forces would be funded through a
future years, in relation to the government contribution, revised formula which more accurately reflected an
the best police planners have to go on is broad up-to-date assessment of need, improved incentives
statements in expenditure white papers of the kind and ensured the provision of a minimum level of
quoted above. All this sits uneasily with the PCC’s duty service.
to agree a medium-term financial strategy with the Chief
Constable. 5.  Above that level, there would continue to be
discretion for the grant to be topped up by
Others whom we have consulted, well placed from contributions from council tax revenues. The
experience to comment, take the view that this is less of restrictions on the exercise of such discretion could
an issue than it might appear. In practice, experienced be further relaxed.
police finance officers have a good sense of how
funding from the various sources is likely to stack up, 6.  The overall policing budget would be redesigned
sufficient to enable them to construct the budget. As to create a number of national ring-fenced funds
in local government generally, the ability to hold and to ensure that the priorities we have set out in
draw on reserves and carry funds from one year to this report are protected. These are set out in
another provides more flexibility than exists in central Recommendation 55.
government.

Nevertheless, we think that it is desirable for the

government to provide a more reliable guide to future
funding. In particular, the implementation of a new
funding formula should be done gradually so as to allow
for proper financial planning.

Recommendation

54. In any redesign of the police grant formula,

the government should have regard
to the need to give Police and Crime
Commissioners and Chief Constables good
notice of changes, to enable well-informed
business planning.

166 A new mode of protection

 a more systematic, integrated approach could provide
Recommendation
the political leadership that is badly needed.
55. A number of earmarked national funds
Under such an approach, a funding option worth
should be established to ensure that the
considering would be a government grant specifically
priorities identified in this report are directed at cross-agency work to prevent and reduce
protected. These funds would be: crime. This would not be easy to design or operate, not
• A Serious and Organised Crime Fund: all least because the government itself tends to be siloed
and ill-adapted for the purpose; and the position of
funding dedicated to tackling serious and
the NHS as a significant player organised on a largely
organised crime, including the funding
national basis would complicate the picture. But the
for the National Crime Agency and its
idea, in our view, merits further examination.
regional units.
• A Counter Terrorism Fund: all funding Recommendation
dedicated to tackling terrorism.
56. We would encourage the development of a
• A Crime Prevention Fund: all funding more consistent and integrated approach to
dedicated to crime prevention activity, local government structures in England and
including the funding for the Crime Wales. Under such an approach, we would
Prevention Agency and the funding for recommend a more detailed examination of
local Crime Prevention Units. the idea of a specific government grant to
• A Learning and Development Fund: support cross-agency work to prevent and
most funding for police learning and reduce crime.
development would be channelled
through this fund and disseminated by
the College of Policing, which would 13.5 THE RESOURCING AND
commission learning and development PUBLIC VALUE IMPLICATIONS
from police bodies.
OF THIS REVIEW
• A Technology Fund: to ensure adequate
funding for national technology In this final section we offer a broad assessment of the
programmes. resource implications of the report’s recommendations.
We also assess them against the public value
There is one further change which would be consistent framework recommended to the government by Sir
with our recommendations, but would be hard Michael Barber in his 2017 Review of Public Value (HM
to implement without significant changes in local Treasury, 2017).
government which are beyond our terms of reference.
Perhaps the greatest impediment to the prevention of 13.5.1 Resource implications
crime and social harm is the weakness of collaboration
This Strategic Review has been charitably funded and
between the police and the other public agencies
carried out with the assistance of a small team of the
with a stake in the issue and enough locus to make
Police Foundation’s staff. Without the resources of a
a difference. The need for such cooperation is well-
government department it has not been possible for
established, and serious efforts have been made
us to fully cost all of our recommendations. But it is
over many years to create and operate machinery for
possible to outline, with a degree of confidence, their
that purpose. But all too often, whether as a result of
implications for the resources devoted to policing and
austerity or just the pressure of other, seemingly more
public safety.
immediate, demands on resources, these achieve less
than they should. The first, and in some ways most significant, point
to make is that the time frame within which we have
A concerted cross-agency effort to tackle the deep-
cast our recommendations is intentionally long, and
seated problems in society which the police end up
extends beyond a single expenditure planning period.
dealing with, frequently beyond their own capabilities,
Some recommendations, we believe, are urgent, and
would be greatly assisted if there was a more integrated
where that is the case we have said so. But elsewhere
system of local accountability. As remarked earlier in
our purpose has been to set a long-term direction
this report, where elected Mayors also have oversight of
and argue for a shift in focus over the next decade,
the police, there have been moves in this direction. But
principally towards prevention and public safety,

13. Funding 167

which, over time, would have profound implications for 6.  A technology uplift for policing through an increased
resources and how they are used. This is not, however, police technology budget, with priorities including
to say that they would necessarily add significantly to the modernisation of the national databases,
public expenditure, for reasons which are set out below. the delivery of interoperability and a significant
investment in digital forensics.
The main changes we are recommending, which would
have resource implications, are: 7.  Establishing a national forensic science service.

1.  The creation of the Crime Prevention Agency, and of a Some of these are, as noted, primarily about priorities within
ring-fenced Crime Prevention Fund, to fund both the existing resources, and therefore cost neutral. Others would
Agency and its regulatory activities and an expanded undoubtedly add to cost, but we also set out areas where
system of Crime Prevention Units (CPUs) in each significant savings could be made. In particular, doing much
police force area. Some of the funding for the latter more procurement nationally would deliver economies of
would come from the existing Violence Reduction scale in areas like uniform, vehicles and equipment. Most
Units which would be incorporated into the CPUs. significantly, forming mandated Regional Police Support
Units would reduce duplication across local forces in
2.  An uplift in community policing, though this is relation to specialist capabilities and support functions.
largely about the priority to be given, within existing The lesson from the formation of Police Scotland is that
resources, to community and neighbourhood significant funds would be saved by such a move over a
policing. We envisage more of the already funded ten-year period. These savings ought to be invested in
extra 20,000 police officers being dedicated to delivering the spending priorities highlighted in this report.
neighbourhood policing to deliver this commitment.
At a broader level, the holistic approach to crime
3.  The establishment of a dedicated Learning and
prevention and public safety outlined earlier in this report,
Development Fund, to be used by the College of
and in particular the statutory duty to prevent crime would,
Policing to support minimum levels of training for
if implemented, mean that much of the cost of essential
continuous professional development and leadership
preventive measures fell on businesses providing services,
programmes. This is intended principally as a means
especially in the technology and finance sectors. These
of ring-fencing existing funds to give priority to such
costs would, of course, need to be taken into account by
training, although the improvements to the quality
the government, but there is a strong argument that they
and extent of the learning offer, plus the new Police
would also be business-justified, in terms of reputation and
Leadership Centre, will require additional funds.
the consequent enhancement in consumer confidence.
4.  Improved clinical and occupational health support for
13.5.2 Impact on public value
police officers.
Sir Michael Barber’s 2017 report to the government
5.  A larger budget for the National Crime Agency so Delivering Better Outcomes for Citizens (HM Treasury,
that it is better able to build up national and regional 2017) set out a public value framework, which has since
capability to tackle serious and organised crime. been adopted by the Treasury as a tool for assessing the
This would include funding for the new regional capability of public services to turn funding into policy
units, which would also incorporate existing force outcomes for citizens. The framework is summarised in
funding for serious and organised crime. the graphic below (reproduced from the report).

The outcomes being

seen from the policy
or programme Outcomes

The Four Pillars

The Four Pillars
of the Public
of the Public
1 2 3 4 Value Assessment
Value Assessment
Engaging Developing Framework cover
Framework – how to Pursuing Managing
users and system 16 ‘areas to consider’
use funding effectively goals inputs
citizens capacity with criteria to enable
to deliver outcomes
judgements against a
and maximise value
four-point scale
for the taxpayer

The funding that has

been provided for the Total funding
policy or programme

168 A new mode of protection

The framework is intended for use by government relevant capabilities, and for high quality leadership. Our
departments and others responsible for public services. recommendations for an enhanced College of Policing
In the time and with the resources available, we and ring-fenced funding for training and leadership
have not undertaken any formal assessment of that development are relevant to this, as is the proposed
kind. But we have considered, for each of the four redistribution of functions geographically, which should
pillars, whether, and if so to what extent, this report’s provide an impetus and resources to build skills in areas
recommendations will lead to a stronger policing and such as cyber and combatting online crime.
public safety system, more capable of delivering public
Finally, if our report succeeds in driving down the
value.
burgeoning levels of online crime, it will have enabled
The first pillar (Pursuing Goals) highlights the importance the creation of substantial public value. Online fraud
of understanding the organisation’s goals, and of is estimated to cost business and the public £15bn a
ambition in pursuing them. We believe this report’s year (Skidmore et al, 2018). The economic impact of
recommendations, if adopted, would bring greater removing even a proportion of that would be significant.
clarity about objectives, by defining the principal goals Even more significant, in human terms, would be
as being the prevention of crime, the improvement of the benefit if, together, our public safety agencies
public safety and the prevention of harm, and through could prevent much more of the other forms of online
a redefinition of the police role within a wider system criminality, notably child sexual exploitation, the human
in a way that is both ambitious and realistic about the cost of which is incalculable.
particular contribution the police are equipped to make.

The second pillar (Managing Inputs) draws attention 13.6 CONCLUSION

to effective processes for managing resources, the
quality of data, benchmarking and cost control. Our In this chapter we have called for a recalibration to
recommendations for a revised funding system should the way the police service is funded. We support the
contribute to better use of public money, through principle of a system that is partially locally funded and
a better targeted police grant, more responsive to partially nationally funded. We do however think there
local needs, and active steps to ring-fence funds for is a strong case for reviewing the outdated funding
priority purposes. The establishment of Regional Police formula that leads to the allocation of Police Grant.
Support Partnerships, delivering shared capabilities The politics of such a move are always treacherous but
and support services at a geographical level where they in principle there is no justification for keeping such a
can be provided more economically should release very flawed formula as it is. We also think Mayors and Police
significant efficiency savings. and Crime Commissioners should have greater flexibility
to raise additional funding via the council tax precept.
The third pillar (Engaging Users and Citizens)
emphasises the importance of legitimacy and The redistribution of policing capabilities set out
engagement with the public. These are issues to which in Chapter 11 of this report also has financial
we have given much attention, because winning and consequences. The new regional National Crime
retaining legitimacy with the public seems to us to be Agency units ought to be 100 per cent centrally
one of the biggest challenges facing the police. Our funded which will require a reallocation of the resource
recommendations in Chapter 6 are directed towards from local forces that currently goes to the Regional
that end, as is our support for a revival of community Organised Crime Units. The Regional Police Support
policing. Units would be locally funded, given that they represent
a pooling of local specialist and support functions.
The fourth pillar (Developing System Capacity)
is focused on the longterm stewardship of the Finally we think that the government should be more
organisation, building leadership and capability for the active in its use of the funding system to focus resource
future. A recurring theme in this Review has been the on strategic priorities, such as those highlighted in
challenges which, for all its strengths, the police service this report, including serious and organised crime,
faces in the modern world; the need to develop the technology and learning and development.

13. Funding 169

14. CONCLUSION: A CRITICAL
JUNCTURE
We started this report by quoting what Robert Similarly, the impact of humanity on our natural
Peel told parliament in 1828 as part of his call for a environment is creating unprecedented tumult. We will
professional police service to be established. Peel was need to develop new forms of resilience to cope with
clear that England was undergoing such profound the kind of large-scale exogenous shocks that are likely
change (a growing population, rising wealth and what to result.
he described as ”the multiplying development of its
Society is changing radically too, generating new
energies”) that the country had ‘outgrown her police
demands and expectations. Social needs have become
institutions’. The old system of the voluntary parish
too complex to be dealt with by single agencies
constable and the raising of hue and cry that went
operating in professional silos. The criminal justice
back to the Statute of Winchester of 1285 was simply
system has appeared unable to cope with rising
untenable as a basis for public order during the raging
reports of male violence against women and girls and
tumult of the industrial revolution. Peel concluded that
of non-recent sexual abuse. The police have been left
what was required was a ”new mode of protection”.
struggling both to deal with these new forms of demand
It is our assessment in this report that we have reached and at the same time deliver their traditional service
a similarly critical juncture. In the last year alone there offer.
have been a number of events that have tested the
So how do we promote public safety in these changing
relationship between the police and the public. The
conditions? First, the scale and complexity of these
police have been asked to enforce unprecedented
challenges mean that the police on their own cannot
restrictions on civil liberties during the pandemic. They
meet them. Instead, we need to take a much more
have been challenged over racial disproportionality
systemic approach to preventing crime and harm.
following the murder of George Floyd. The Metropolitan
We need a public safety system as well as a criminal
Police has been rocked by the horrific abduction,
justice system. Such a public safety system should
rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police
be anchored around a Crime Prevention Agency and
officer. Further disgrace came with the conviction of
backed up by a duty on business to design crime out
two officers for sharing photographs of murder victims
at source. Locally public services should become much
Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry.
more integrated, so that the police, councils, health
These events have taken place against a backdrop of providers and others can design preventative services
longer running tensions and debates about the police that take a holistic approach to complex needs.
use of stop and search, falling crime detection rates
Second, we need to provide the police service with the
and the use of new technologies such as automatic
capabilities it needs to successfully fulfil its mission. We
facial recognition. Establishing police legitimacy may be
require a police service that is trusted and in which all
a process of ongoing dialogue, but it is hard to escape
members of the community have confidence. Almost
the conclusion that we are at a critical point in the
everyone agrees with that, but if we are to make it a
conversation.
reality it means putting ‘legitimacy first’ especially when
In this report we have also identified a number of that is in tension with other objectives. It means that the
structural trends that have weakened our existing industrial use of stop and search must end. It means
‘mode of protection’. The internet has undermined developing a culture where bad behaviour is called out
the traditional criminal justice role of the police, which and those responsible for gross misconduct removed
functioned well where local offenders were committing from policing. It means making neighbourhood policing
crimes against local victims in local places. The the fundamental building block of the local police
technological revolution has created an entirely new system, rather than a marginal extra.
venue for crime and harm that puts offenders beyond
We need a police service that has the skills and
the reach of local police agencies.
technology to meet the demands of the future.
This requires workforce planning to become a

170 A new mode of protection

national function so that action can be taken to fill Agency, and more such capabilities should be delivered
gaps in relational, digital and investigatory skills. at a regional level. These reforms would mean the
We need to develop new career pathways in allied system is better equipped to tackle cross border crime
policing professions such as data analytics, financial and would improve the delivery of specialist capabilities.
investigation and digital forensics. They would also save hundreds of millions of pounds
that would be reinvested in policing.
We need radical reform to police learning and
development. The quality and delivery of training needs There needs to be a much stronger strategic centre in
to change so that it is tailored to the individual officer the police service. This means the Home Office taking
and their aspirations. To transform learning expectations a more strategic role, with enhanced capabilities. This
and raise standards, the College of Policing should means consolidating the currently fragmented national
become responsible for issuing a Licence to Practise policing improvement functions within an expanded
to all police officers. Officers will need to renew their College of Policing, with powers to direct Chief
licence every five years, to demonstrate that they are Constables in relation to professional standards, IT and
up to date in terms of the knowledge and skills required workforce planning.
to carry out their role. And we need to invest much
Policing is at a critical juncture. If it does not embrace
more in the professional development of police leaders,
reform it will likely be overwhelmed by the scale and
particularly frontline supervisors.
complexity of the demands coming down the track.
Third, if those capabilities are to be delivered effectively But if we take the necessary decisions now the prize
and efficiently the police service requires organisational will be great: to develop the conditions in which our
reform. Local police forces should focus on local people can live freely and safely in the 21st century and
policing. Regional police support units should be to renew for our age the promise of the Peelian model,
established that will deliver the vast majority of support a form of policing that serves rather than oppresses the
functions and specialist capabilities. Serious and people and that can continue to be an example to the
organised crime related capabilities should be housed world in the art of reconciling order with liberty.
within regional units of an expanded National Crime

171
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188 A new mode of protection

APPENDIX A –
TERMS OF REFERENCE:
THESE TERMS OF REFERENCE DESCRIBE THE PURPOSE
AND SCOPE OF THE STRATEGIC REVIEW OF POLICING
IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
Purpose and knowledge required to deliver the capabilities
1.  To consider the challenges to public safety the identified.
country will face in the 2020s and beyond.
6.  Consider how the police service ought to be
2.  To consider what kind of strategic response is organised at the local, regional and national levels,
required to meet those challenges; balancing the need for the police to meet both local
and national priorities.
3.  To determine what role the public professional
police service should play as part of that strategic 7.  Consider how to ensure the police are best held to
response. account at these different levels.

4.  To consider what changes may be required to the 8.  Consider the efficiency of the police service and
police service in order that it can play its part in how it ought to be resourced in order to meet the
meeting those challenges, with a view to improving challenges of the 2020s.
the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of the
police. Scope
1.  The Review will focus on policing in England and
In doing so the Review will: Wales, although it will refer to evidence from
1.  Describe the changing nature of crime and the non- Scotland and Northern Ireland and indeed to
crime threats to public safety. international evidence.

2.  Understand the implications of those changes 2.  The Review will be strategic in that it will think about
for how both state and non-state actors should the long term challenges facing policing and public
respond to better keep people safe. safety and will aim to set a strategy for policing that
is designed to take it into the 2030s.
3.  Consider what the mission of the police service
should be in the 21st century, with reference to how 3.  The Review will consider all of the different elements
the police mandate has changed over time and to required to keep the public safe and secure, many
public attitudes and expectations of the police. of which are not within the control of the police
service. It will consider the role of non-state actors,
4.  Describe the main capabilities the police service will as well as other parts of public service, in achieving
require if it is to meet the mission set for it. the outcomes identified. It will focus on the role and
capabilities of policing but understands that policing
5.  Consider what the police workforce of the future
alone cannot achieve the outcomes sought.
will look like and what changes will be required
so that police officers and staff have the skills

Appendices 189
APPENDIX B –
CALL FOR EVIDENCE SUBMISSIONS
Phase One Keith Hunter, Police and Crime Commissioner of
ADS Humberside Police

Amy Aeron-Thomas, Vision Zero Caroline Hynds, a campaigner for Assisted Dying

John Apter, Chair of the Police Federation of England Martin Jelley, Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police
and Wales Arfon Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner for North
Association of Police and Crime Commissioners Wales

Cambridgeshire Constabulary Just for Kids Law

Capgemini Peter Langmead-Jones on behalf of Greater

Manchester Police
Phil Cheatle, right to die campaigner
Edward Leigh of Excogitate Consultancy
Andy Cooke, Chief Constable of Merseyside Police
Lincolnshire Police
City of London Police
London Fire Brigade
College of Policing
Andy Marsh, Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset
Criminal Justice Alliance
Police
On behalf of the Chief Constable of Cumbria Police
On behalf of Darren Martland, the Chief Constable of
Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Cheshire Police
Service
Kevin Moore, Retired Detective Chief Superintendent at
Durham Constabulary Sussex Police
Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Sue Mountstevens, Police and Crime Commissioner for
Commissioner Avon and Somerset Police
Deputy Chief Constable Claire Parmenter and Police David Munro, Police and Crime Commissioner for
and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llewellyn of Dyfed Surrey Police
Powys Police National Aids Trust
On behalf of the Chief Constable of Essex Police National Crime Agency
Roger Geffen, Policy Director at Cycling UK Joint response from the National Police Chiefs Council
Penelope Gibbs, Director of Transform Justice leads for Neighbourhood Policing, PCSOs, Social Media
John Gilli-Ross, Chairman of the National Association of & Digital Engagement, Troubled Families and the Public
Police Fire and Crime Panels Health Approach to Policing
Jodie Gosling, shadow chair, safer communities in Prof Carole McCartney, Prof Michael Rowe, Marion
North Warwickshire Borough Council Labour Group Oswald, Dr Kyriakos N. Kotsoglou of Northumbria
Paul Griffiths, President of the Police Superintendents University, Newcastle
Association On behalf of the Chief Constable and Police and Crime
On behalf of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Commissioner of Northumbria Police
Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping and
Roger Hirst, Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex Chief Constable Craig Guildford, of Nottinghamshire
Police Police

Robin Hodgkinson, retired Sussex Police Officer and NPCC Local Policing Co-ordination Committee (LPCC)
member of Sussex CrimeWatch Alan Pughsley, Chief Constable of Kent Police
Chief Inspector Patrick Holdaway of the National Resolve Anti-Social Behaviour
Business Crime Centre Chris Rowley, Deputy Chief Constable of Humberside
Dr Chloe Holloway of the School of Law at University of Police
Nottingham Royal United Services Institute
Howard League for Penal Reform

190 A new mode of protection

Inspector John Shuttleworth of Devon and Cornwall Craig Guildford and Paddy Tipping”, Chief Constable
Police and Police and Crime Commissioner at Nottinghamshire
Dr Jonathan Smith, Director of Salmon Personal Police
Development Gwent Police
Anthony Stansfeld, Police and Crime Commissioner for Linda Hindle, The Public Health and Policing Consensus
Thames Valley Police Task Force
South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel IOPC
Desmond Thomas, Associate Lecturer at Solent David Jamieson, West Midlands Police and Crime
University Commissioner
Martyn Underhill, Police and Crime Commissioner for John Gili-Ross, Chairman of the National Association of
Dorset Police Police Fire and Crime Panels
Jeremy Vaughan, Deputy Chief Constable South Wales Will Kane. Mark43
Police Kent Police
On behalf of the Chief Constable of West Mercia Police Leicestershire Police
West Midlands Police Lincolnshire Police
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Nathan Mathiot, ADS
West Yorkshire Police Merseyside Police
Dr Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church National Crime Agency
University, Centre for Policing Research
National Police Chiefs Council
Phase Two North Wales Police
Amal Ali, Criminal Justice Alliance Police Care UK
Amy Aeron-Thomas, Action Vision Zero Sherry Ralph, Chief Operating Officer ICVA
Avon and Somerset Constabulary Dr Jonathan Smith, Salmon Personal Development
Mark Brown, MA in Criminal Psychology South Yorkshire Police
Councillor Amanda Carter, Shadow Cabinet Member for South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel
Community Safety, Leeds City Council Louise Sutton
City of London Police Bill Tillbrook, Thames Valley Police
College of Policing Thames Valley Police
Dr Simon Cooper, University of Essex David Tomlinson, retired Chief Superintendent and staff
Elsa Corry-Roake, Revolving Doors Agency officer to Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary
Cumbria Police UNISON
Keith Ditcham and Helena Wood, RUSI Warwickshire Police
Mary Fraser West Yorkshire Police
Owain Gower Vicky Wibberley, Chair Derbyshire Police and Crime
Paul Griffiths, The Police Superintendents’ Association Panel

Appendices 191
APPENDIX C – APPENDIX D –
KEY INFORMANT ADVISORY BOARD
INTERVIEWEES Nick Alston CBE, DL, Former Police and Crime and
Commissioner for Essex
Andy Cooke, Chief Constable Merseyside Police, NPCC Sir Michael Barber, Chair of The Strategic Review of
lead Crime Operations Policing in England and Wales
Olivia Pinkney, Chief Constable Hampshire Police, Dee Collins CBE QPM, Former Chief Constable of West
NPCC Lead for Local Policing and Children and Young Yorkshire Police
People
Nick Dale, Vice President Business Transformation for
Gareth Morgan, Chief Constable Staffordshire Police, the UK Justice Sector, CGI
NPCC Lead Communications and Director of Strategic
Dr Carlene Firmin MBE, Principal Research Fellow at
Command Course
The International Centre Researching Child Sexual
Neil Basu, Assistant Commissioner Metropolitan Police Exploitation, Violence and Trafficking
Service, NPCC Lead for Counter Terrorism
Michael Fuller QPM, Former Chief Constable of Kent
Peter Goodman, Chief Constable Derbyshire Police, Police
NPCC Lead for Cybercrime
John Graham, Adviser at The Dawes Trust
Martin Surl, Police and Crime Commissioner for
Inspector Caroline Hay, Inspector in the Metropolitan
Gloucestershire, APCC Board
Police Service
Paddy Tipping, Police and Crime Commissioner for
Richard Hobbs, UK Policing Lead at Deloitte
Nottinghamshire, APCC Board
Rt Hon Nick Hurd, Former Minister of State for Policing
Nic Pole, Principle Analyst (Futures), College of Policing
Sir Bill Jeffrey KCB, Vice Chair of the Strategic Review,
Nina Champion, Director, Criminal Justice Alliance
Chair of the Police Foundation
Suzanne Jacob, Chief Executive, Safe Lives
Helen King QPM, Principal of St Anne’s College,
Anna Edmonson, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, University of Oxford
NSPCC
Sophie Linden, Deputy Mayor of the Greater London
John Hayward-Cripps, Chief Executive of Authority
Neighbourhood Watch
Stephen Lloyd, Former MP for Eastbourne and
Melissa Case, Director General, Policy, Analysis and Willingdon.
Communications at Ministry of Justice UK
Professor Ian Loader, Professor of Criminology at All
Martin Griffiths, Clinical Director Violence Reduction Souls College, University of Oxford
Network NHS London and Trauma Surgery Lead Barts
Sir Denis O’Connor CBE QPM, Former HM Chief
Health NHS Trust
Inspector of Constabulary at HMICFRS
Professor Martin Innes, Director of Crime and Security
Matthew Polega, Co-founder and Head of Marketing,
Research Institute and Director of Universities’ Police
Mark43
Science Institute
Nick Ross, Broadcaster
Professor Betsy Stanko, Consultant, public sector
analytics and Chair, Ministry of Justice Data, Evidence Rt Hon Jacqui Smith, Former Home Secretary
and Science Board Dame Sarah Thornton DBE QPM, Independent Anti-
Slavery Commissioner at the Office of the Independent
Anti-Slavery Commissioner
Rt Hon Sir John Wheeler JP DL, Vice Chair of the Police
Foundation and former Chair of the Home Affairs Select
Committee

192 A new mode of protection

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193
 STRATEGIC
REVIEW
OF POLICING
IN ENGLAND AND WALES

The world around policing is changing as radically

as the world in which Sir Robert Peel founded the
Metropolitan Police in 1829. It is in that context that
the Police Foundation established the Strategic
Review of Policing in England and Wales, chaired by
Sir Michael Barber. It is the first independent review
of policing for many years and is intended to be
as influential as the last Royal Commission on the
Police in 1962. This final report from the Review is
our attempt to describe what kind of police service we
will need to address the challenges of the 21st century.

Cover: designbysoapbox.com
Inside pages: intertype.co.uk
Printing and binding: rapspiderweb.com

ISBN: 0 947692 81 9