Presidential Address to ACPO Leading Change in Policing Conference 2013

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ACPO Leading Change in Policing Conference 2013

Colleagues, I am delighted to welcome you to this event.

The key reason we are here is, as ever, to share ideas, debate and discuss how we lead police forces that keep the public safe.

We are ever mindful of the need to recognise the centrality of local policing. It remains critical to our model, embedded in community service, tailored to the diverse neighbourhoods we protect.

But the purpose of coming together is to focus on the national threats, those that can only be tackled effectively if we act together.

Against this backdrop we will be addressing:

- the changing picture around crime and the increasing demand for policing services in a public sector dealing with substantial cutbacks.

- a new police governance framework now one year old

- public order

- social media

- child sexual exploitation

- within the new policing landscape: national crime issues

- And of course, the recent review of our own association.

These events are not and have never been just about talking. The value lies in hearing from those who speak from experience and expertise of leading operations. Individuals who routinely deliver in their roles embedded in local policing, who have stepped up and volunteered to share that knowledge and take on the challenge of national responsibility.

We are grateful to the Minister, for taking the time to attend our conference. It is a privilege also to have Baroness Lawrence attending later today and addressing us. And I want to thank chief officers, Police and Crime Commissioners, and all others from the wider police family who are speaking and contributing to the event.

This conference, I think it’s fair to say, comes at a pivotal moment for chief police officers. The question we confront is how we organise the local forces we lead, so that when we need to, we can act together to keep the public safe.

What should the public expect from us? They expect us to act collectively, decisively, effectively and efficiently. With impartiality, motivated by values that put the community first. And around what we do, they expect the assurances provided by transparency and good governance.

How we organise ourselves to act collectively is is not about ‘national policing’. Instead, this is about preserving the local character of the British policing model. How do we manage the tension between operationally wholly independent, locally accountable police forces, and a flexible, responsive, national service?

This is about national support for local policing. Delivered by the senior leadership of the service, who of course, are held to account for the totality of policing through the new accountability arrangements.

This is not the first time we have had this debate, but despite its importance, it is one that has lain stagnant for a few years. The pieces of the jigsaw that make up the national landscape of policing have been up in the air: the end of the NPIA and creation of the College of Policing, the absorption of SOCA, CEOP and other bodies into the National Crime Agency, the emerging police IT company, national forensics, national procurement and of course the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners.

That, by any measure, is a massive change programme.

I have never subscribed to the description: ‘last unreformed public service’: in all my professional life the police have been subject to continual challenge and change.

That is a good thing: we are focussed on continually improving for the benefit of the public. But given the huge upheaval policing has gone through – all the while taking 20% out of the business – surely that phrase can now be consigned to history once and for all.

Now the jigsaw pieces have started to land. Police and Crime Commissioners are at the one year anniversary - and we look forward to hearing from a number of them during this conference. The NCA is up and running, working with police forces to make a difference to serious and organised crime.

The College of Policing is becoming established. And its key strength and unique position within the new landscape is its inclusivity. Every member of the service is a member of our professional body, sworn or unsworn. This is a very good thing which distinguishes it from the leadership of the service. The opportunity the College represents to build an evidence based body of professional practice is hugely exciting.

Within this national landscape, the publication last week of General Sir Nick Parker’s review now gives us in ACPO an opportunity to move forward this critical debate of how we join together local and national police leadership in the public interest.

This work was commissioned by Police and Crime Commissioners, with whom we have been working closely over the last year to secure a stable financial position that enables the critical national structure to plan for the future, dealing with national and international threats to our communities in a coordinated and organised way, without compromising the independence of operational chiefs and their accountability through the new local arrangements.

This is always going to be a complicated and imprecise balance of responsibilities.

To summarise the General:

“there is a requirement for a central focus at the national level which can act as a forum for the senior leadership of the police service. This would provide collective representation for those who are ultimately responsible for output at local level. It would be complementary, but not subordinate to those who ensure that the inputs are right, and who are being gathered into the College. And it needs to work alongside those who deliver national capabilities such as the NCA.”

In other words, the national leadership structure provides a coherent framework and an authoritative and accountable voice to communities on behalf of the leadership of policing.

In addition the General is clear that a Chief Constables’ Council with a full time chair should act as the focus for command and leadership of the police service, maintain direct links to the National Business Areas and speak with a coordinated and independent voice on the delivery of operational policing.

He concludes that current funding arrangements provide value for money, but that there may be scope for efficiencies. PCCs should seek greater involvement in governance. And we welcome conversations to achieve this.

Personally, I am most grateful to the group of three Police and Crime Commissioners: Matthew Ellis, Jane Kennedy and Martyn Underhill who together with Simon Duckworth of the APCC have represented their colleagues on this challenging issue, investing their time in understanding its importance.

We look forward to working with them to achieve a sustainable solution. And I am very grateful that General Sir Nick Parker is able to join us tomorrow to speak directly to this Association’s membership about his review.

In my view the opportunities for conversations between chief officers and PCCs to deal with the Strategic Policing Requirement and other key issues around policing at the national level are absolutely vital.

While for completely understandable reasons it has not been possible this year to hold a joint conference with PCCs, I would hope that it could be achieved in future, in order that we can have robust discussion about the best way to deliver the SPR and national policing arrangements.

This conversation is already well established at the regional level and there is no reason why we should not come together at a national level to complement these discussions. It is in my view what the public would expect.

Notwithstanding any of these thoughts about the future, the basis for the requirement to organise ourselves lies in the past. The enduring and historic focus in the British model of policing on that which is local.

Forces sprang up from local communities and their legitimacy and relationship with the public is built on visible, accountable, local community service. They are independent, both of each other and of central government.

The current Government has deliberately reinforced these traditions through the direct election of Police and Crime Commissioners. In fact in the opportunity we now have to create sustainable arrangements for national coordination there is an echo of a line from the 1962 Royal Commission on the Police’s final report:

I quote: “the Association of Chief Police Officers told us that they attached great importance to the link between the police and local government…” – some things never change.

The size and shape of the units through which policing is delivered is of secondary importance to the service they deliver. This fact was implicitly recognised in legislation which followed the 1962 Royal Commission of Policing, and eventually shrank the number of forces from over 100 down to the current number.

Indeed the need for further cost efficiencies points with compelling logic to fewer forces in the future. If you have heard me speak before you may recognise this theme.

But fewer forces delivers the optimal form of collaboration and anything less comes with more cost. What matters most is not the shape of the organisation but the service the police deliver to the public and the relationship between the two - which should be nurtured at community level. Through visible, responsive, accountable policing.

I was in Scotland earlier this week where recognition of the synergies achievable through amalgamating eight forces into one led to the creation of Police Scotland, a single force, in very quick time. We should watch this development with interest. Speaking to local district commanders I was struck by their determination and commitment to maintain bespoke local policing services within a larger organisational structure.

In any devolved model of forces national coordination remains critical. To preserve this devolved system is to maintain the requirement for interoperability, consistency, and communication which historically led to the creation of ACPO in 1948. A national collaboration between chief officers which sustained the devolved character of policing. It kept the majority of policing services routed at the local level with minimum interference, supported by guidance and leadership from above.

The new National Crime Agency and College of Policing stand as necessary exceptions to that devolved tradition. The NCA is a specialist organisation tackling 21st century threats. It has made a promising start and recognises that partnership with local police forces will be a critical element to their success.

I am equally enthusiastic about the College and its mission to develop professionalism. The inclusive nature of the Professional Committee and the College of Policing board underpin the determination that the College is for all.

As a member of Chief Constables’ Council, its chief executive Alex Marshall provides the connectivity that allows chief officers to operationalise policy and practice developed through the new College arrangements. The two organisations are genuinely complementary of one another.

Looking at the issues currently being examined: body worn cameras, multiple entry points to policing and a code of ethics. All are important pieces of work that the College is undertaking. Through national business areas, chief officers are leading these projects and their potential impact to improve policing is supported and recognised through the College professional committee by representatives of all ranks and Police and Crime Commissioners.

Having mentioned the code of ethics - it would be remiss not to touch on issues of ethics and integrity. High profile failures of integrity are nothing new to our world - though rare when set against the sheer volume of police-public interactions.

But this debate has been highlighted by a number of historic and current cases coming together at once - in part spurred on by ever higher standards of transparency. We should welcome this - transparency is helping to drive up standards higher than they have ever been. The failures we are currently dealing with - critical though they are - may be positive signs of policing changing for the better.

We can take some comfort in the independent work of the IPCC and HMIC on these subjects which found no evidence of routine corruption in our service. This is underpinned by recent public opinion polls which show that public trust and confidence in police remain stable. Indeed only last week, concern about corruption was falling in the public domain.

Moreover, it is reflected in the daily experience of our workforce who find the public want to talk to us about antisocial behaviour, local crime and visible policing.

But that takes nothing away from the importance of this. We recognise it as a critical leadership issue. Ethics and integrity go to the very heart of policing.

A code of ethics will provide a valuable reference point from which I think we can move forward. It will be up to the leadership of the service to turn this document into a living one which is fully understood by officers and staff. Implementation will be crucial: it must be far more than words on a page.

Having implemented a code of ethics in my previous life in Northern Ireland I know that the majority of our people will say, upon reading it: ‘that describes exactly what we do’. They would be right. Police officers, in the routine, operate to a high standard of integrity now to be enshrined in a formal code.

But its importance should not be underestimated. It provides a clear level of expectation. Across the country and for the public.

As leaders we also recognise that a code alone, important though it is, is not sufficient.

We ask a huge amount of our frontline staff and some of the ethical dilemmas they face in their day to day lives are hugely complex and would merit hours of discussion by senior academics. They frequently have to make decisions without the luxury of time, support, or reliable information. They are asked to confront dangers, in situations where no decision is not an option.

One example is the continual challenge posed by mental health. Let’s be clear: mental health is core policing business, as Lord Adebowale pointed out in his report. But in the imprecise world and uncontrolled space in which we ask police officers to operate, the ethical dilemmas it brings are often at the acute end of difficult.

In such an environment, we should take responsibility as leaders when things go wrong, including defending officers who make the right decisions for the right reasons, even when the outcome is not the desired or predicted one.

We must remain open to criticism, ready to learn lessons, but willing to face down the armchair critics who love to rush to judgments without waiting for the facts.

We recognise that at present, parts of our workforce are feeling bruised. As leaders it is a critical part of our role to understand the people in our business, to deal honestly with their concerns. It is not good enough to rely indefinitely on their reserves of goodwill, their commitment and willingness to go the extra mile.

The role of leaders in creating the right culture is ever more important In a world of reducing finances and increasing demand. An appetite for risk is an essential component in dealing with the complexity of modern policing. Those who take risks must be encouraged, supported and defended.

Because all my professional experience tells me that it is those officers and staff who have the courage to do things differently, to try something new, who move policing on for the better. As leaders our role is create the conditions that allow them do that and then give them the trust to get on with it.

I remain hugely optimistic about the future. Policing continues to adapt superbly to the challenges thrown its way. As the Home Secretary has said, it is “the model public service” – it has delivered. The men and women on the frontline are overwhelmingly there for the right reasons, and the vast majority do an outstanding job.

It demands leadership at every level. At local, regional, national and international level policing needs to be structured and corralled to meet the objectives set by communities, partner agencies and central government.

Chief officers remain at the forefront of responsibility, working individually and collectively on behalf of the public to sustain what I consider to be the best police service in the world.

ENDS

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