PSAEW welcomes frontline definition

The Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales (PSAEW) has welcomed Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary’s (HMIC) attempt to define the frontline, but has called for the debate to move on and recognise the value of police officers.

HMIC’s report – Demanding Times: The front line and police visibility – was released today. It said that ‘the police front line comprises those who are in everyday contact with the public and who directly intervene to keep people safe and enforce the law’.

The PSAEW said the report is testament to how difficult it is to achieve a consensus on the meaning of this expression which has become emotive due to the current cuts in funding. Frontline clearly means different things to different people.

Irene Curtis, Vice President of the association, said: “What is clear is that the majority of policing roles are included in this definition and it is apparent that the 20 per cent reduction in budget facing the police service over the next four years cannot be achieved by focusing solely on `back office` functions and reducing bureaucracy.

“As we feared, frontline policing will be affected by the cuts. It is our role as leaders of the service to minimise the impact that these cuts have on the public.

“However, we have been saying for a while now that it is time to move on from the debate around the definition of frontline and look at the value of the roles performed by officers and staff in the police service rather than focusing on their labels. We should concentrate on the quality of service delivery which is what the public expect from us and we know that we have many dedicated people working at all levels of the service who will continue to perform key functions in protecting our communities.”

The PSAEW added that it is encouraging to note that HMIC have added some further clarity around the visibility figure which has often been reported out of context since its last report in this field last year.

Ms Curtis said the data published today should help forces to consider what they need to do to improve their resource allocation and this report helps to provide a benchmark to help the service assess how it is progressing over the next four years as forces reshape themselves to deal with the impact of the cuts.

To read a full analysis of the HMIC report, see this week’s edition of Police Professional or click here http://www.policeprofessional.com/news.aspx?id=12400