LOSING THE DETECTIVES: VIEWS FROM THE ... - Police Federation

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if he was interested and when I saw him afterwards he said ‘I thought we were mates, what on earth did you volunteer me for that for?’ The reasons offered for the recruitment problem were chiefly connected with the perceived reduction in the status of the CID, the nature of CID work and the adverse effects of a CID posting on work/life balance. These will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 8. The relative attractiveness of the shift systems worked by 24/7 response officers in many forces, Special Priority Payments (SPPs) and the deskilling of 24/7 response officers through the introduction of prisoner reception teams etc were also frequently given as reasons why response officers are reluctant to apply for attachments to the CID and traineeships. We only had one applicant for the latest post we advertised. Attractions of uniform are the 12-hour shift pattern –4 days on then 4 days off and SPPs. So it cost him to transfer to CID. The unfavourable shift pattern puts off women from applying in particular - we regularly have to work 16 hours at a time - and the belief they will be lumbered with all sexual offences is also a disincentive. For many constables a CID posting is a daunting prospect. What we’re finding [as a result of de-skilling] is that for anyone coming on a traineeship, the gap is so vast they are either put off or struggle to do it within the year. Take putting in complex committal files – there’s a hell of a lot of learning to do there. In the past, people will have put in a few committal files - perhaps not particularly complex ones - but at least they knew the basics. They’d had a grounding. If this argument is correct, and if response officers in a few areas still have a basic grounding in conducting suspect interviews, putting prosecution files together and giving evidence in court, they are less likely to be fazed by the prospect of a CID posting. These areas could be the few BCUs where there was said to be no problem in recruiting into GO CID. Some areas have retained a model that historically provided uniformed officers with a route into the CID. In these BCUs uniformed officers are still given the opportunity of an attachment to a proactive unit which provides an introduction to a similar kind of work and gives those who enjoy the experience the confidence to move onto a traineeship. The new burglary units were said not to provide these training opportunities because of the pressure on them to produce results. An officer in an area where recruitment has become a problem spoke favourably about the system that had previously existed in her force. I think they used to be better prepared. Certainly in this force, there used to be a recognised sort of progression if you fancied the CID. There used to be the burglary units, for example. If you went on the burglary units that was like the way forward to get onto a traineeship. The other areas where there is reportedly no problem recruiting into GO CID are those BCUs where uniformed officers desperately want to escape from 24/7 12
esponse policing because of the even more unfavourable working environment there. There were three traineeship places advertised on the BCU and there were 25 applicants. Because of the staffing shortages in uniform and the shift changes that have been brought in, and all the other problems that they’ve got in uniform, these officers wanted out. Retention problems Some areas reported they experience a problem retaining TDCs whilst others have had no difficulties retaining people after they have been persuaded to take a trai neesh i p. In the autumn time, we had three TDCs and within two months we’d lost two of them. They just said ‘this is not for me’. It was claimed in some groups that this problem is linked with the recruiting issue. Because it is difficult to fill GO CID posts the selection criteria are said not to be applied as rigorously and, as a result, a growing number of those selected lack the required levels of ability, motivation and commitment which applicants had when there was fierce competition to enter the CID. Some applicants who enter the department under the less exacting criteria soon discover they cannot cope with the demands it makes on them. In the last 12 months three people have come to us on attachment from uniform. All three have gone back and these are people with more than 10 years' service. They must have thought the CID sit around eating toast and drinking tea all day. The following quotation is illustrative of many of the points that were made about recruitment and retention in GO CID although the observations about the nature of 24/7 response work would not have been endorsed by members of all the groups. In years gone by you would have four applicants for every vacancy. So you had people who really wanted to be detectives. They had the drive to get in there so if you'd put all that time and effort into getting somewhere you weren't going to give up very easily. Whereas now, you have ten vacancies and, if you’re lucky you have six people applying and really, to be brutally honest, there’s not sufficient evidence in their applications to warrant giving them the job. But you’re under strength so you take those six who haven’t really got the skills to start off with. They get swamped with a massive workload and pressures from above. They soon realise they don’t want it. “Sod this I’ll go back to team”. So they go back to an attractive shift system where they can plan their time off, get their SPP, not carry a crime load and when they finish at 6:00 o’clock in the morning that’s it, they've finished. 13
Page 1 and 2: LOSING THE DETECTIVES: VIEWS FROM T
Page 3 and 4: Acknowledgements Without the cooper
Page 5 and 6: We look for a considered response t
Page 7 and 8: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background to the
Page 9 and 10: Explaining the deficit - where the
Page 11 and 12: •&the achievement of sanction det
Page 13 and 14: Discussion The focus groups placed
Page 15 and 16: CHAPTER 1 Introduction Background t
Page 17 and 18: to do’ bracket because the invest
Page 19 and 20: The forces selected to be represent
Page 21 and 22: The depletion of GO CID CHAPTER 2 T
Page 23 and 24: The replacements Alarming as the fi
Page 25: Group members and particularly supe
Page 29 and 30: We’ve had two staff permanently o
Page 31 and 32: instances, to manage and supervise,
Page 33 and 34: dissolved and the total number of d
Page 35 and 36: Our research on 24/7 officers four
Page 37 and 38: Although forces have MITs potential
Page 39 and 40: [Detective 2] They will always have
Page 41 and 42: up coming back [to the GO CID] for
Page 43 and 44: CHAPTER 5 The workload of GO CID an
Page 45 and 46: •&the lack of supervisory involve
Page 47 and 48: If the sergeant on the shift has sp
Page 49 and 50: provide the required level of stree
Page 51 and 52: The management of critical incident
Page 53 and 54: Although Innes is drawing upon his
Page 55 and 56: prosecution and conviction of crimi
Page 57 and 58: wounding; •&robberies; and •&ca
Page 59 and 60: school-related offences where, for
Page 61 and 62: Detective inspectors who carry resp
Page 63 and 64: The range of housekeeping activitie
Page 65 and 66: At best many investigations will no
Page 67 and 68: prosecutions brought and the convic
Page 69 and 70: They won’t charge without a full
Page 71 and 72: obtained a TIC in their lives. They
Page 73 and 74: offence which merits the degree of
Page 75 and 76: solicitors, you’re waiting around
Page 77 and 78:
minority and management can still d
Page 79 and 80:
ecome disenchanted with the way the
Page 81 and 82:
CHAPTER 9 Consequences of the under
Page 83 and 84:
• not following up on leads - 'wi
Page 85 and 86:
He’s done all he can physically d
Page 87 and 88:
to minor offences which detectives
Page 89 and 90:
standard in Crown Court and its exe
Page 91 and 92:
They’re the ones who need to be t
Page 93 and 94:
We are losing sources because they
Page 95 and 96:
identified the gap that exists betw
Page 97 and 98:
New Public Management and the polic
Page 99 and 100:
consequently attenuated. This estra
Page 101 and 102:
The challenge for senior police man
Page 103 and 104:
2. CID Structure Under the MEP pilo
Page 105 and 106:
justify its selection. Detection ra
Page 107 and 108:
carry out investigations effectivel
Page 109 and 110:
Team differences The team differenc
Page 111 and 112:
To overcome these problems crimes a
Page 113 and 114:
for a punch-up’ and you then had
Page 115 and 116:
as its innovatory feature. The eigh
Page 117 and 118:
In Waverley elements of this ‘res
Page 119:
Irvine, B. and Dunningham, C. (1993
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