Some Observations 7

Regular readers will recall that I made mention of David Cameron's statement in the House of Commons last week about major reforms for the police in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal. In particular he mentioned that 'progression' through the ranks from constable to the top would be swept aside, in favour of recruitment from outside for senior positions, including that of Chief Constable.

In drawing attention to the historical precedent of having men of military rank in charge of police forces up to the Second World War, I rather jumped to the conclusion that the Prime Minister did not have a return to such a state of affairs in mind. So, imagine my surprise to see 'Ministers want battle-hardened colnels to shake up police' as a headline on the front page of the Sunday Times. (I think it's ok to buy it again now that the Murdoch spell is broken).

Whitehall sources are quoted as saying 'army officers who had been axed as part of the spending cuts could become chief inspectors, superintendents and chief constables.' The funny thing is, much the same was said when the Berlin Wall came down and the resulting 'peace dividend' would allow unemployed officers to join probation. I guess it might actually happen this time though as there's probably a shade more synergy between the army and police, so far at least.

Talking of the future of probation, the Justice Affairs Commitee have just published their report into the current state of the probation service, and it is not very complimentary of NOMS. They blame the prison takeover of the probation service for a huge amount of micro-management and tick-box filling that results in 'staggeringly' only 24% of an officers time being available to see clients.

The committee calls for an urgent external review of NOMS to assertain if it is delivering value-for-money, or if it requires massive further reform. Pretty much everyone accepts it has been a very expensive mistake by the last government and could do with a decent burial. This report is certainly good news for us in returning attention on NOMS where it definitely belongs. The response from government is entirely predictable of course, coming out with that classic feeble line 'oh that was in the past - things are improving now'  but this simply won't stand up to detailed scrutiny. 

There is a lot in this report and it will require some careful reading. However, my concerns that members had simply not grasped the true effect of OASys have sadly been borne out. The topic does not get much of a mention and it's obvious that they have no idea just how time-consuming the thing is. It is the single most relevant reason why officers have so little time to see clients and it doesn't even deliver the robust and accurate risk assessment that it was designed for.    

Finally, I can't help thinking that the Norwegian serial killer is going to be found unfit to plead. I'm no psychiatrist, but he must have a personality disorder surely, if not some mental illness as well? My hunch is that all the warning signs were present many years ago and it just needs teachers, family, colleagues and friends to fill in the gaps.