Professionalising the future for policing

Gary Beautridge, PIP Programme Manager, NCPE, details the means of improving the professionalism of police investigations.

The performance of the police in the area of investigation is continually under scrutiny by the Government, the criminal justice system and the media. There is widespread recognition in the police service that there is an urgent need to improve the overall professionalism of the investigative response.

Historically, the police service has failed to champion the development of an individual officer’s investigative skills and to equip them to deal with the burden of demands from an increasingly complex society.

The Police Reform Act highlighted these very issues, emphasising the need to provide a modernised, consistent and more professional level of service within policing and, of course, in the public arena.

The Act promoted professionalism as integral to achieving the Government’s core policing objectives: increased detect-ion; more successful prosecutions; greater citizen focus; improved satisfaction within the criminal justice system (CJS).

The Home Office is at the forefront of this drive and has introduced the Professionalising the Investigation Programme (PIP) to address the core objectives of the Police Reform Act. PIP examines the way in which criminal investigations are conducted, with the aim of making the process more professional, ethical and effective through rigorous training, mentoring and the development of accredited investigators.

PIP has the potential to improve standards of investigation nationally, leading to more convictions and a reduction in the number of trials that break down – therefore increasing public confidence and reassurance in the police.

Through increased media coverage and speculation on criminal activities and the effect on the community, the process of criminal investigation at all levels is under increasing scrutiny. In addition, there has been a drive to improve accountability, efficiency and effectiveness through-out the whole public sector – including, of course, policing.

The Programme is expected to impact on the culture and philosophy of policing by fundamentally altering the police service response to criminal investigations. It aims to achieve a better-qualified and better skilled workforce for the future. In line with the Police Reform Act, developing the career pathway of an individual is vital to the success of PIP.

PIP is directly aligned to National Occupational Standards and the Integrated Competency Framework. For staff who are ‘new to role’, their skills will be developed and assessed using the Professional Development Portfolio (PDP). In respect to post-Portfolio and existing staff, an element of ‘grandfather rights’ will apply, and Continued Professional Development (CPD) will be assessed and evidenced within the Performance Development Review (PDR) process.

This inaugural professional development programme will filter through all roles, ranks and capabilities within the police service, and will be implemented right down to grassroots – from probationer through to senior officers and the police staff equivalent. What is also crucial to PIP is that it will provide measurable success in the quality of case files prepared by investigators. Centrex’s National Centre for Policing Excellence (NCPE) is leading the way on this ambitious yet achievable major national change programme.

The Programme covers both uniformed and plain clothes investigative staff with an assessment protocol applying to all levels of investigation.

Definitive guidance – Core Investigative Doctrine

All levels of PIP are underpinned by Centrex NCPE’s Core Investigative Doctrine (professional practice advice), which outlines the core principles of criminal investigation.

This is the foundation of future training and development of business systems for investigation to ensure customer focus and greater accountability.

The Doctrine provides:

•A conceptual framework for all subsequent doctrine developed for the police serv