Tom Wood: An arresting case for return to core values

Published on Friday 25 June 2010 13:29

IN ALL the hype about the murder and mayhem that will result from proposed and probably much exaggerated cuts to police budgets, it's easy to lose sight of some basic facts and potential opportunities.

Killer facts first - there is actually little correlation between police numbers and crime rates. Inconvenient though it may be to the Police Federation argument, there is good evidence to suggest that crime rates rise and fall due to a number of socio-economic factors, with police numbers and efficiency having only a marginal effect.

The second truth is that tight police budgets are not new, and while the current generation of police chiefs may not remember it, it's only in the last 20 years that Scottish forces were regularly funded up to GAE (grant aided expenditure) levels. Before that every year was a battle to get local authorities - regions as they were, to fund up to their 49 per cent of the maximum so that the Government's 51 per cent could be secured.

Since then funding has improved substantially, the old struggles forgotten, and all police forces have been able to increase their numbers as well as improve vehicles, equipment, uniform and, crucially, hi-tech communications. And it didn't stop there, the last 15 years of bonanza funding for all public services has allowed the growth of costly national policing bodies such as the Serious and Organised Crime Agency.

At local level, however, increased funding has led police forces to become the victims of their own "can do" attitude. As the music stops and the cycle of prosperity comes full circle, many forces find themselves with substantial numbers of officers in roles more suited to social workers or teachers. Some of these jobs are vital and all are, of course, rewarding to do for they effectively oil the wheels of the partnerships that have become the perceived panacea to public service efficiency.

It's true to say that never in the history of the British police service have so many police officers been involved in so many other people's work, but in the cold light of cost benefit - to what effect?

Ironically, despite record funding and growth on the periphery, the front line has never been more stretched with huge increases in demand and ever growing administrative burdens making it harder than ever to fulfil the basic responsibility of policing. Standing back it's very hard to see what benefit the years of plenty have brought to the front line, to the street or to victims of crime or nuisance.

But in every crisis there is opportunity and as the leaders of the Scottish police service face up to the tricky business of managing decline they have the chance to make some important changes for the better.

But first they must avoid distractions, the quick wins of slash-and-burn tactics like cutting swathes through civilian support staff numbers simply because they can. The truth is that most civilian staff are just as important as police officers and in any case their removal would only displace police staff so it doesn't add up. No, this is the chance for thoughtful re-modelling and perhaps to slaughter a few sacred cows.

Of course it makes sense to look at force amalgamations - eight forces large and small are hardly required for a country of five million but there are bigger wins and bigger economies of scale. Isn't it time we thought about joining up our public safety services - sharing control centres, police, fire and ambulance? It works in many other countries - indeed it used to work here and we already have communications systems that are compatible.

Isn't it time we tackled once and for all the antiquated rotating shift system so inefficient and so harmful to the health of anyone over 40? Perhaps this is even the opportunity to examine the realities of our single-tier police service when most other countries in Europe have a more economic patrol force and a smaller, highly trained criminal police. Perhaps this is also the time to finally modernise the Scottish legal system so that hundreds of our police working hours are not wasted in fruitless court attendance.

Now is perhaps the time when all these things are possible, changes that would not only improve efficiency but help to re-focus the police service on its core responsibility.

The founding fathers of the modern police service gave it a mission statement - "To watch, guard and patrol, protect life and property, prevent and detect crime, report offenders to the court." It's as relevant now as it was in 1829 and I'm sure the police leaders of today will have it in mind when they plan for future re-shaping. Above all things, the police service has always been adaptable and we can be confident that it remains so. And if this new challenge does bring the police back to firmly focus on its core role - as a law enforcement organisation, I know hundreds of hard-working frontline police officers and support staff who would welcome it.

• Tom Wood is the former Deputy Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police