Police in Trouble - Shock!

Even before the whole phone-hacking firestorm errupted, the Police were in trouble. They appeared to be firmly in the sights of the Conservatives well before the General Election, which always was surprising given that they were said to be the party of 'law and order.' But there have been long-standing concerns about working practices and post election there is the need for urgent cuts in all public services.

However, supposedly with a 63% satisfaction rating with the public, serious reforms that didn't meet with Police Federation approval were still far from assured. Add to that many, including myself, who felt that the whole elected police commissioner thing didn't sound like a good idea at all and had all the hallmarks of a political gimmick, meant getting 'reforms' through was far from assured. But I still say insulting Theresa May the Home Secretary when a guest at the Federation conference was a big mistake.  

Speaking as part of a Service that has regularly been 'done over' numerous times by successive governments for purely political ends, I have a great deal of sympathy with the Police, especially front-line officers. As I have previously posted, they alone have been left to deal with all the well-documented social problems of our neglected and disadvantaged communities, because agencies such as Probation have retreated ever-further into edge of town bunkers, now somewhat mis-termed 'Local Delivery Units,' FFS! 

But politics is a strange, mystical dark art. With his back to the wall, the Prime Minister, at long-last released from the iron-grip of the tabloid press and keen to seek revenge from any appropriate quarter, announced yet more massive changes for the Police yesterday in Parliament. It sounded like he intended to settle some very long-standing scores with a Service that up till now he had felt needed to be approached with care for obvious reasons. It's almost certainly unfair, but the deepening horror stories emerging from New Scotland Yard seem to have provided the perfect excuse to introduce even more sweeping 'reforms' to the whole Police Service. 

Not just changes to working practices, employment terms and conditions, but now the spotlight turns to recruitment, training and management. It looks like the age-old principle of progression through the ranks will be swept aside in favour of non-police appointments to senior ranks, including the office of Chief Constable. I think it's unwise, but it's now impossible to argue against, due to emerging evidence of nepotism and possibly other very worrying information yet to be made public fully.

In a sense it's turning the clock back to the days before the Second World War when it was quite common for the office of Chief Constable to be filled from the ranks of the military. I don't think that is on David Camerons agenda - 'if only' some might say - it's much more likely that such posts will be filled by captains of industry, foreigners or even worse, bureaucrats. I was struck by a comment from the BBC political editor Nick Robinson who said afterwards that he felt the Prime Minister had announced the 'smashing' of the Police. That is very strong and serious stuff indeed.

When the time comes to write the history of this whole extra-ordinary phone-hacking saga, I'm sure there will be a very large chapter devoted to the Police. In particular there will need to be an explanation as to how things got to the point they did, necessitating major reforms. To me it serves to confirm the importance of how every individual in any organisation must take personal responsibility for their actions, lest it bring that body into disrepute, but also how important it is that any organisation has a healthy collective culture within it. 

There is no doubt in my mind that there was the distinctive sound of chickens coming home to roost in the Prime Ministers announcement on the need for Police reform. Since I started blogging nearly a year ago, I have been genuinely shocked and dismayed by some of the 'canteen culture' displayed in the comment section of a certain very popular police blog. I hasten to add that I find the entertaining and informative blog itself compelling reading for anyone who wants to understand the constraints and travails of modern policing in Britain today - but the tone and substance of some of the comments are truly shocking. Being the huge success that it is, I'm sure it is read in high places.

By a very strange co-incidence, there has been a recent echo from the past. Over on the jailhouselawyers blog, John Hirst has written about the disgraceful case of David Oluwale. I well remember this scandal being reported in Private Eye at the time and of course the subsequent findings of serious misdeeds, attitudes and behaviour ultimately led to radical changes to policing during the 1970's. It seems history may be about to repeat itself.