Discussion Group – July 2022
The Discussion Group met on Monday 11th July to talk about the police service. The general themes were what the public expected from them, were our expectations reasonable and were they met?
Some basic information suggested the current numbers, 160,000, had declined from 172,000 in 2010 but were still greater than the 155,000 of 20 years ago. The Office for National Statistics conclude that the level of crime has been broadly stable over recent years with 6 million offences recorded. Noticeable was the huge increase in computer related crime which now accounted for over 50% of all criminal activity. The Metropolitan Police have just been placed in special measures, joining several other forces, which made this a very topical subject.
We talked about whether the current 45 individual police forces would be better combined. There are also 3 special forces, British Transport, Civil Nuclear and Ministry of Defence, and some discussion took place on whether such matters as government, royal and foreign embassy protection, and airports would be better served by having their own separate force.
Some concern was expressed that, at a time when computer crime, together with a requirement for evidence purposes of huge amounts of data to be examined, sufficient people with the necessary skills were not being employed. The Police National Computer was 50 years old, suggesting insufficient attention being paid to rapidly advancing technology.
We talked a little of whether we expected too much of officers. We expected both the ability to deal with violent criminals and to police riots, whilst they were the first call for people with mental health problems and other issues such as domestic violence, requiring understanding and tolerance. We asked whether, at the recruitment stage, officers might specialise, and have a career path in a single area of expertise.
We briefly discussed Crime Commissioners and whether it made any sense to have elected political figures with power over hiring and firing the Chief Constable, or whether this function was better exercised by the old style police boards. Mention was made of the policing of the vigil following the murder of Sarah Everard, which some felt to be heavy handed and demonstrated a lack of empathy, which was felt to be too often present in police interactions with the public
Whilst recognising the difficult nature of the job there was concern over the ‘canteen culture’ leading to bad behaviour and a lack of empathy amongst officers, and over the apparent difficulty in getting rid of bad ones. There was a wish for more neighbourhood based policing to take place so that contact between officers and the public were more frequent and remind both the police and the public of their joint responsibilities in a culture that depends on policing by consent to act together in the best interests of the community.
We shall meet next on Monday 8th August when, following Roe v Wade, we shall discuss abortion.
Michael Heyden Convenor
Please note that the views expressed by the Discussion Group may not represent those of the wider Dawlish and District membership.