ACPO comment on direct entry into the police service

ACPO lead for workforce development, Chief Constable Peter Fahy, said:

“Chief constables are already convinced that the business of policing should not be left to the police alone. Every force has experts brought in from outside in areas such as human resources, finance, investigation and IT. The quality of these individuals is high and they add real value to policing. That said, in terms of operational policing, the level of expertise, training and experience required is extremely specialised and it is less realistic to imagine that someone without necessary skills and training can take responsibility for life or death situations, just as one would not expect a medical student to act as a surgeon. I am not sure the public would want people on ‘work experience’ in command of high risk situations. We have many contacts with policing overseas and a constant stream of visitors wanting to learn from our system of locally accountable, largely unarmed policing. American colleagues are clear that police leadership in this country, for all the current debate, is among the best in the world ”

“The police service is open to radical ideas and we are engaging with Tom Winsor in the second part of his review looking at issues which will further improve the protection of the public and ensure that the best people get to senior positions in policing. We hope that these crucial issues will be considered as part of the series of enquiries which have been announced, not as a knee jerk reaction to a particular set of circumstances.”

For more information please contact:

ACPO Press Office
Association of Chief Police Officers
e: press.office@acpo.pnn.police.uk