APCC Chair: Better policing begins with good leadership
12 Aug 2026 09:40 AM
By Emily Spurrell, APCC Chair
Leadership comes in many styles, but what all great leaders do is inspire and provide direction towards a common goal. They define the culture of an organisation and how it operates. The best leaders take their staff with them in a shared endeavour and, of course, while leadership starts at the top, it exists at all levels of an institution.
Effective leadership in policing is particularly important because our policing by consent model invests the country’s police with significant powers over their fellow citizens. This is why the recent report from the Police Leadership Commission led by Lord Herbert and Lord Blunkett made sobering reading.
The Commission concluded that leadership in policing is “not consistently of a high enough standard to provide confidence and trust in the attainment of the service which the public deserves”.
That really matters because how a service is led impacts on the public’s experience of it. All of us in police leadership roles should use this moment to reflect on how and why this has become such an issue. But, more than that, we must and can pull together to turn things around.
As the public’s voice in policing, police and crime commissioners (PCCs) and deputy mayors for policing and crime welcome the Commission’s work in identifying where police leadership is working well, where improvement is needed, and their recommendations for how that can be achieved.
The police reform programme means significant change is on the way for policing in England and Wales. That offers the perfect opportunity to introduce better ways of supporting and developing the best leaders at all levels.
The culture of the police service is defined by those leading it and it is important to recognise – as the Commission does – that there are many excellent leaders within policing.
Being a police leader can be challenging and often highly demanding, but it is undeniable that in recent years the behaviour and actions of some officers, including the most senior, has too often been far below the standard required.
Bad and sometimes criminal behaviour by a few has severely eroded public trust and confidence in the service as a whole.
Gripping the issue
Uncomfortably regular news coverage of officers being disciplined, sacked or convicted of crimes makes for difficult reading; but it shows policing has collectively gripped this issue and is acting to root out those individuals.
The Commission’s report cited eight serving or former chief constables who were at that moment under investigation or awaiting disciplinary proceedings.
However, the challenges facing policing today are not simply questions of systems, processes or structures. They are also questions of behaviour, values and organisational culture.
Leadership exists at every level of policing, not just among chief officers. The everyday actions of inspectors, sergeants, and managers have a significant influence on workplace culture, staff wellbeing and public confidence.
If we are serious about rebuilding trust and confidence, culture cannot be an afterthought. It must be at the heart of police leadership reform.
Attracting and nurturing talented leaders
Having a cadre of top-quality senior police leaders in place is essential, but so too is ensuring talent and aptitude for leadership is identified and nurtured at the lower ranks.
We also need to attract new talent and, crucially, to retain it. In March 2025, close to a third of officers had fewer than five years’ experience.
And although good progress is being made on female representation, those from an ethnic minority background are significantly under-represented – shockingly so at chief officer levels: just nine of the 258 chief officers in England and Wales.
We must broaden the talent pool, so I support the Leadership Commission’s recommendation of introducing a police leadership fast stream as a way of opening up and supporting access to senior leadership roles.
Police forces have to do better in reflecting the communities they serve if they are to break down barriers between them and those communities where trust is lowest.
The skills needed in policing today are changing rapidly as technology increasingly enables crime. Police leaders should not just reflect that change but be driving it. Policing is in competition with other sectors for those with the technological wherewithal to fight and prevent crime, so it must be an attractive career choice – for candidates from all communities and backgrounds.
It is pointless recruiting capable people into the service if they leave within a few years. We can see the resilience issues that high turnover and having an inexperienced workforce cause. And if it points to possible problems with a force’s culture and employee wellbeing, they must be addressed.
The Police Leadership Commission recommends a comprehensive modernisation of recruitment, training and performance monitoring, which I support. But I am disappointed that it didn’t place greater emphasis on driving improvement in the culture, ethics and inclusive leadership of forces.
A point made consistently by the Leadership Commission’s report is the importance of the ranks of sergeant and inspector. The report highlights that sergeants directly supervise more than three-quarters of the officer workforce and points out the importance they have in setting and influencing the culture within their teams. Developing and supporting those in such pivotal frontline roles makes the whole service stronger and impacts how the public experience policing.
We need to recognise and capitalise on the experience and organisational knowledge of long-serving PCs, so I agree with the idea of a new senior constable rank as exists in several other comparable countries.
The Government’s wider police reform plans include a workforce strategy designed to emphasise professional standards, accountability and performance rather than the overly simplistic metric of officer numbers. There is a plan to introduce a licence to practice for warranted officers, alongside a national system of mandatory vetting.
PCCs support these reforms, but only where they encompass the whole workforce, including police staff and volunteers, and are not overly bureaucratic.
The challenge of funding change
Stretched police budgets are a reality that is unlikely to change any time soon. Difficult choices have had to be made to protect the frontline, so it is perhaps easy to see why investment in learning and development is higher up the list of what can be cut back than some other competing priorities.
But the Police Leadership Commission report demonstrates the unintended negative consequences this can have down the line. If we do not harness and develop the leadership skills of those who display them, we risk them taking their talent elsewhere – but we risk, too, failing policing more widely and society in general.
Perhaps the biggest challenge posed by the Leadership Commission is how policing finds and funds the capability and capacity to build on and improve standards of leadership in the service.
The vast majority of those who make up the police workforce are dedicated to their job, keeping the public safe. They, as well as the public, have been let down and their work undermined by failures to call out unacceptable behaviour. It’s vital we build a culture where people feel empowered and enabled to do that. Good leaders foster such a culture.
After a period of reflection across policing, a lot of good work is being done to establish a new bedrock of high standards to rebuild public confidence. This process is not pain-free as it turns up cases of sub-standard or, sadly, criminal behaviour.
A new police performance monitoring system for English and Welsh forces was launched recently. And legislation that will include a duty of candour on everyone in policing has been passed by the House of Commons and, subject to its safe passage through the Lords, is on its way to becoming law.
PCCs and deputy mayors have been central to the development of both, and we continue to hold our local forces to account in delivering for their communities. Robust scrutiny must remain central to the future model of policing, and we are working with government and policing partners to shape that.
The links between high standards, good leadership and strongly performing forces are clear. Many in policing have recognised the urgent need for improvement, alongside the benefits of scrutiny and oversight.
Good leadership includes being open to challenge even when it is unpalatable or inconvenient. The overarching ethos must be one of better policing for the public, and I and my colleagues are determined to drive that forward.