Public service `unity` for creation of safe, secure and healthy society
The President of the Police Superintendents Association of England and Wales (PSAEW) has called for unity to address a 50 per cent cut in funding.
The President of the Police Superintendents Association of England and Wales (PSAEW) has called for unity to address a 50 per cent cut in funding.
In her last annual conference speech as President, Irene Curtis said the police service must be more unified with the public, partners and the Government if it is to address the financial cutbacks that will be implemented over the next five years.
Public services must be delivered in a more integrated way, truly joined-up Government, with a new philosophy of joined-up public services, she said.
This would mean Government departments not fighting each other for scarce resources but collaborating to determine how best they can be allocated for the benefit of the public.
The next spending review will result in further cuts of between 25 and 40 per cent, over an eight year period this amounts to a reduction of at least 50 per cent, Mrs Curtis warned this requires urgent radical solutions. But solutions are prevented by disunity from within and outside the police service.
The reality is that the cuts to policing budgets are no longer just policings problem. They are everybodys problem. The police service, Government, our public sector partners and, in particular, the public. Because if we cant provide an effective police service with the resources that are provided, that becomes a problem for society. We might not quite be there yet, but given the scale of the challenges ahead, I believe this is a real risk, Mrs Curtis said.
She believes policing budgets and services can no longer be viewed “in a silo”, as almost everything that the police deal with has an impact on, a crossover with, or a root in another public service.
Mrs Curtis told the conference that all public services must also come together and contribute to a common purpose to create a safe, secure and healthy society but this will only be achieved effectively if they work together more closely than they do now.
There are some great examples of public services working together in an integrated way to deliver better services, and just as importantly to reduce demand. But this way of working is far from being the norm. And this is what I believe it will need to be in the future, she said.
She also said the service must work in unity with the public and politicians. She believes the police have become alienated from the public through an unhealthy performance target culture, that has led to a focus on the wrong things, and the misuse of stop and search.
Performance comparisons have exacerbated a competitive culture and contributed to a lack of shared practice between forces, she told delegates.
This is a crazy situation and it has to stop. Surely every force should want to develop and deliver better policing methods that will benefit the whole public across the whole country, not just their force area? Policing is not a competition its a public service.
Some certainly wont agree with me on this one, but there has to be a degree of unity with the Government, whichever political colour, or combination of colours, is in power.
Despite being personally totally opposed to what the Government is doing, she said police officers must remain apolitical and professional at all times. She believes a government elected by the public has a mandate to govern and to introduce change; it is not the role of the police to determine what laws are introduced.
It is our role to uphold them and to be accountable to them, she added.
I truly believe that unity, in its many forms, will be critical in ensuring that we can continue to protect the public from harm.
And that unity has to start from within the service.
Internally, she believes various ranks have turned against each other. She said there is a genuine fear that current pressures risk eroding a bond within the police family.
It is more important than ever that, from within the service, we stop pointing the finger at, or blaming each other, and start to think about how much stronger we would all be if,