British policing has lost its way, says a think-tank in a report titled ‘What do we want from the next Prime Minister’. The report is from Policy Exchange, and it’s by David Spencer, a former Met Police Detective Chief Inspector.
Among his proposals, of particular interest to private security may be his suggestion to end ‘the police promotions ‘closed shop’’; and staying on the recruitment side, he wants to see ‘a corps of data scientists, hackers and programmers’ brought into policing, ‘to tackle the threat from online crime’.
All appointments to chief police officer, superintendent and inspector ranks should be open to external and re-joiner applicants. At least a quarter of all appointments to these ranks should be made to external or re-joiner applicants, the report says.
He calls for tackling online fraud to be made a priority for law enforcement and government. Responsibility for investigating fraud should be transferred to appropriately resourced Regional Organised Crime Units under the leadership and governance of the National Crime Agency, the report argues.
The report complains that there are fewer police officers now than a dozen years ago (that is, when the Coalition took power from Labour); and that the ‘uplift’ of 20,000 police officers ‘provided investment without reform’. As for the police’s record (‘mixed’), the report states that police-recorded data shows levels of violent crime have increased compared with pre-pandemic levels. The report notes that policing does not exist in a vacuum, and is a part of the wider criminal justice system; courts have a backlog, and the Ministry of Justice plan to reduce it is ‘inadequate’.
You can view the 32-page report on the Policy Exchange website.
PM on raid
The Metropolitan Police Acting Commissioner Sir Steve House was joined by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a dawn raid on Wednesday, August 31 by a Specialist Crime Command unit in south London. The two joined Proactive Team officers based at Lewisham Police Station to witness an intelligence-led targeted operation, aimed at combating drug-related violence in the area. A warrant was executed at a property in Norwood Road, Lambeth, where officers discovered class B drugs and paraphernalia, as well as a suspected drugs line phone. After the raid, a man in his 20s was arrested in York Hill, Lambeth, on suspicion of supplying class A drugs.
Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery), described by the Met as a whole-system initiative that combats drug misuse at a local level, was first piloted in the Met in Hackney and Tower Hamlets in April 2021, where it is ongoing. Launched in Lambeth/Southwark in April, ADDER seeks to tackle drugs misuse through coordinated action combining policing with a treatment and recovery service.
Detective Superintendent Victoria Sullivan, lead for South East based Proactive Teams, said: “We have always said that enforcement is only part of the solution – our combined approach seeks to remove the drug suppliers who cause the most harm to our communities, whilst creating a clear space for diversion and treatment for those who need it most.”
