Home Office
 Printable version
|
 E-mail this to a friend
|
Smarter working could transform policing - Flanagan
Sir Ronnie Flanagan GBE MA
Radical changes to policing could deliver the equivalent of over 3,000 additional police officers
A new model of policing in which the police service direct their resources specifically to areas that will have the biggest impact on reducing harm to communities is proposed by Sir Ronnie Flanagan today (Thursday 7 February).
Better management of resources, less paperwork and greater use of technology could help free up valuable police time and transform the police - giving individual officers more discretion, delivering efficiencies, and enabling police forces to focus on the specific threats to their communities.
Publishing his final Review of Policing report, Sir Ronnie recommends a fundamental re-evaluation of the management and deployment of police resources, a reduction of unnecessary bureaucracy, a strengthening of the partnership working between the police and other agencies and a better emphasis on local accountability.
The report estimates that between five and seven million hours a year - the equivalent of 2,500 - 3,500 police officers - could be refocused on front line duties if changes he recommends are made.
Key points in the review include:
Reducing bureaucracy
* Reduce the amount of information routinely recorded for many crimes while retaining extensive recording for serious crimes - trialling a new streamlined crime recording process across four forces Staffordshire, Leicestershire, West Midlands and Surrey.
* Better collaborative working of the agencies currently responsible for inspecting and auditing the police, including HMIC, to prevent duplication and share best practice.
* Overhaul of the stop and account process - removing the form and replacing with a 'receipt' of the encounter and a verbal record on Airwave that an encounter has taken place (with the person's ethnicity). This will be trialled this year.
* That the receipt based system for stop and search remain, but be streamlined as new technology emerges.
* The adoption of standardised forms based on the minimum appropriate reporting requirements as recommended in his interim report needs to be followed by the implementation of mobile data technology over time, such as handheld computers.
Managing resources
* Clearer roles for NPIA, Home Office, ACPO, APA to avoid duplication and improve efficiency
* The Government's new Assessment of Policing and Community Safety should focus on fewer indicators and high level priorities.
* Removing the floors and ceilings from the operation of the police funding formula so that funding goes to the areas of highest need.
* Temporary relief from capping for police authorities and forces who opt for voluntary mergers to improve efficiency and delivery.
Better partnership working
* Partnership working between the police and colleagues from local and central government that is properly integrated into mainstream policing and that the police are fully equipped to work effectively in partnership to enable them to deliver strong public protection.
* The successful implementation of Neighbourhood Policing should be used as a model for this.
Greater local accountability
* Strengthening local accountability so that the public's views are heard and their police service is responsive to their needs.
* That the citizen focus and quality of service commitment approach be embedded in forces.
* Options for significant structural reform.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan said:
"This is an opportunity to alter the course of how we deliver policing. We can free up valuable police time and transform the working environment of individual officers. But this has to be in the service of public protection.
"Police forces must be freed up from unnecessary bureaucracy and better targeted at responding to the threats the public face and reducing the harm caused by crime. But individual officers and forces must be accountable for the decisions we give them the freedom to make.
"By improving the management and deployment of resources, exploiting technology, working in partnership with other agencies and thus increasing productivity, the police will be better able to manage the risks they bear on society's behalf.
"Only by creating high quality engagement and involvement with local people can we accurately understand what matters to communities, what their priorities are and how the police should be targeting their efforts.
"Over the past 25 years our police service has been transformed with many changes improving the service. But in the process of improving the service we have also become process bound. That is why we must address the drivers of bureaucracy. We must strive for a police service that gives the police the flexibility and support to act with their own professional discretion and one that offers accountability to the public.
"The police service cannot stand still and the best customer service and citizen engagement are critical to the delivery of successful policing in the 21st century."
Notes to Editors
1. The report can be found on the Home Office website at http://www.police.homeoffice.gov.uk/police-reform/flanagan-police-review/
2. Sir Ronnie Flanagan's interim report on his Review of Policing was published on 12 September 2007 and can be found at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk
3. The review was announced on 27 March 2007. The terms of reference can be found at http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/police-reform/flanagan-police-review
4. Sir Ronnie Flanagan is Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary (since 2005) and formerly chief constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. He was asked to conduct this independent review in his role as the Home Secretary's senior professional adviser on policing.
