30
Nov
2013
By Calvin at 11:27 GMT, 12 years ago
Thanks to my friends at Crime Reduction Partnership News for the following:
(The report can be accessed from the link below and from the Library)
A commission chaired by Lord Stevens, former chief of the Met Police, has called for 37 reforms of policing throughout the UK in a report published recently. The so-called Independent Police Commission was set up by the then-Labour government shortly before it lost the last election. Many of the Commission's proposals reflect Steven's view that neighbourhood policing 'is the bedrock on which the service must be built' and that the current government's police reform programme is "confused", "fragmented" and "unfocused".
In his day (he stepped down from the Met ‘s top job in 2005) Stevens was a key actor in the implementation of the then-Labour government's policing strategy. According to his report, government cuts since 2010 have taken some 10,000 police officers off front-line duties in England and Wales - a drop of 8.3%.
The Stevens Commission report will be seized upon by the Labour opposition as a key part of its pre-general election strategy.
The Stevens Commission’s report lists 37 recommendations, some based on a renewed commitment to neighbourhood policing strategy. Specifically, the report says, neighbourhood policing is the "building block of fair and effective policing" and "bobbies on the beat are disappearing and neighbourhood policing must be saved".
TCPW Comment: Thus far I’ve only read the summary. It reinforces the police role in preventing crime, but unfortunately doesn’t say anything specific about the huge reduction of specialist crime prevention posts since the budget cuts were introduced. That said, I wouldn’t really expect a report like this one to be specific in that regard, so just a little wishful thinking on my part!
I shall be reading the report in full and hope you do as well.
Crime Reduction Partnership News – full item: http://www.crp-news.com/htm/n20131125.869711.htm
Policing for a Better Britain: http://independentpolicecommission.org.uk/uploads/37d80308-be23-9684-054d-e4958bb9d518.pdf
