What the Government called a radical new programme of reform to change the face of policing and re-establish the link between the police and the public, tackle organised crime and protect borders was unveiled by the Home Secretary.
As the NPIA quango will come to an end, this calls into question any progress on the national CCTV strategy, which the NPIA was co-ordinating for the last few years, since it was published at the end of 2007.<br><br>Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting Police and the People sets out said the Home Office how the police service in England and Wales will become more accountable to the public and responsive to local people, more focused at a national level and more effective at tackling crime, as well as providing better value for money.<br><br>Elements of the new strategy include:<br><br>• the first election of Police and Crime Commissioners, to hold police forces to account and strengthen the bond between the police and the public, in May 2012;<br><br>• a new National Crime Agency to lead the fight against organised crime and strengthen our border security;<br><br>• greater collaboration between police forces to increase public protection and drive savings;<br><br>• phasing out the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA);<br><br>• cutting bureaucracy, removing restrictive health and safety procedures and freeing up officers’ time; and<br><br>• a clear role for everyone, including members of the public, in cutting crime through beat meetings, neighbourhood watch schemes and voluntary groups.<br><br>Prime Minister David Cameron said: "It is vital that police officers are free to tackle the crime and antisocial behaviour that matters most to people, not tied-down by bureaucracy and form-filling. The fundamental reforms we are announcing today continue our work to deliver a police service that is visible and accountable to the very people it serves in communities up and down the country.<br><br>"By replacing invisible police authorities with directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners, we can forge a direct link between the police and the public, ensuring that the public have a voice in setting police priorities and have the power to hold the police to account for keeping our streets safe and secure."<br><br>Home Secretary Theresa May said: "For too long, people have been faced with crime levels that are too high and a police service that has been too focused on Whitehall targets to really get to grips with what matters locally.<br><br>"Today, I am starting an ambitious programme of reform for policing in the 21st century. At the strategic level, this includes a new National Crime Agency to strengthen the fight against organised crime and toughen policing at the border. On a local level, it will put local people at the heart of policing by giving them the power to elect Police and Crime Commissioners.<br><br>"I am also setting out how we will ensure police forces work more efficiently to strengthen the fight against crime while providing taxpayers with better value for money in these tough economic times."<br><br>The publication of Policing in the 21st Century marks the start of a public consultation on key features of the Government’s reform programme, including directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners. The aim is that these people will hold forces to account, and in turn be directly accountable to the public. This will focus the police on local people’s priorities rather than responding to what national politicians and civil servants think these priorities are.<br><br>This new approach will ensure it’s claimed that everyone has a say in how their area is policed, via their local commissioner, and that everyone plays their part in cutting crime within the Big Society – to use the Cameron-Conservative phrase. This includes it’s claimed more opportunities to get involved in keeping neighbourhoods safe through attending beat meetings and being members of Neighbourhood Watch. It will also provide says the coalition government more opportunities for citizens to volunteer with the police service, and within the wider criminal justice system.<br><br>The strategy also sets out how the Government will seek to tackle the bureaucratic burden on police officers by returning more responsibility to the police to charge in minor offences, scrapping unnecessary paperwork like the ‘stop’ form, and abolishing central targets.<br><br>The Government will also work with the police service and the Health and Safety Executive to strengthen guidance on applying what the government terms a common sense approach to health and safety. This will include scrutinising procedures that act as a barrier to intervening and recognising those officers who put themselves in harms way.<br><br>A new National Crime Agency will lead the fight against organised crime, protect borders and provide services best delivered at a national level. It is envisaged that the new Agency will be made up of a number of operational ‘commands’, under the leadership of a chief constable. This new body will harness and exploit the intelligence, analytical and enforcement capabilities of the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and connect these capabilities to those within the police, HM Revenue and Customs, the UK Border Agency and a range of other criminal justice partners.<br><br>The policing landscape will be further simplified through the phasing out of the NPIA and clearer roles for the Association of Chief Police Officers and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.<br><br>Police and Crime Commissioners will be required to ensure that police forces work more efficiently by collaborating with each other.<br><br>Many of the proposals will feature in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, to be published in the autumn.<br><br>Ahead of the launch of this Bill, the Government is seeking the views of both the public and professionals across the criminal justice system on specific aspects of the reform programme.<br><br>The full document and consultation can be viewed online at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/policingconsultation<br><br>The public consultation will run until September 20.<br><br>You can read the full 52-page document, titled Policing in the 21st century: reconnecting police and the people; at – <br><br>http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/consultations/policing-21st-century/policing-21st-full-pdf
Responding to the Home Office’s consultation paper ‘Policing in the 21st Century’, Cllr Richard Kemp, Vice Chair of the Local Government Association, said: “People quite rightly want a say on what is being done to combat crime and disorder issues affecting their every day lives. The current situation cannot continue. Shifting police accountability to the public and away from Whitehall is something that local government has long been campaigning for.
“However, this paper does not delve deep enough into the government’s proposal of directly elected individuals. In difficult financial circumstances, we have to ask if this is the right time to change structures through additional elections, which could cost the same as 700 police officers.
“If the police are to be truly held to account at local level, then councils must be at the heart of any new system. Councils already have democratically elected councillors overseeing community safety, each of whom are scrutinised and held to account by that authority.
“The reintegration of police oversight into council structures is not only the most cost effective solution, the measure would require minimal legislative changes, drive out duplicate spending and deliver efficiency savings.”
