It has been announced yesterday by the Police Minister, Nick Herbert, that the UK is to get American style Police Commissioners to whom Chief Constables will be responsible. Herbert has also hinted that the first action of a newly elected Police Commissioner will almost certainly be to appoint his / her own political advisor. Hiring a political adviser for every new Police and Crime Commissioner for all 43 forces in England and Wales on around £40,000 a year could be cost up to £2million. This would be added to the cost of £50million that the Home Office has set aside for the process of electing these new Police chiefs. However, given the redundancy costs of the entire staff at the current Police Authorities that figure could well rise to nearer £150million. This sounds inordinately expensive at a time when we are being told that public expenditure is to be cut back to reduce the budgetary deficit.
The ethos behind the concept of the new Police Commissioners is that they will bring transparency, local accountability and a democratic element to policing. This, as we all know is utter baloney. We currently have a sophisticated and transparent system of full local accountability in the form of the Police Authorities. Typically, a Police Authority is made up of seventeen members - nine elected members (who are drawn from the local Authority or authorities for the force area, and should be reflective of the political makeup of those authorities). The remaining eight members are called independent members, and are appointed from the local community for fixed terms of four years by the Police Authority itself. At least one of the Police Authority's independent members must be a magistrate. There is no difference in power or responsibility between the different types of member - there are examples of elected, independent and magistrate members chairing Police Authorities throughout England and Wales. This gives the Police Authority inbuilt checks and balances against political cronyism.
The new Police Commissioners will replace these authorities and lead to a number of inherent risks of corruption, populist political machination, and downright, straightforward dishonesty. Chief Constables will owe their jobs and livelihoods to a single elected Commissioner. This may, (almost probably will), impact on their decision-making capacity, bringing political expediency into policing. This is incompatible with a society founded on the rule of law. Police Commissioners themselves will, in seeking election or re-election each four years, be tempted to put forward a populist platform that may not necessarily be conducive to efficient and effective policing. At its very worst it could lead to corruption of the Police Commissioners by elements of organised crime. We must not pretend that organised crime will not be able and willing to effect the election or re-election of specific candidates for Police Commissioner. It has happened in the USA; it could happen here.
The Coalition Government is bringing these proposals forward, knowing that they are expensive, yet ‘spinning’ them as being ‘progressive’. Their real purpose, however, is crystal clear. It articulates closely with increased powers to head teachers, ‘free’ schools, freeing up the universities to set their own fees etc etc. It is one more aspect of the ‘New Thatcher’ project of the coalition government to take power away from communities and invest it in individuals, as they wholeheartedly beaver away at destroying the infrastructure of the public sector.
