Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and ...

Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions – Final Report
Constables. In 2011, the then Chief Constable of Surrey Police (Mark Rowley, now an
Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police Service) asked the course participants to
examine the growth in demand for police services in the coming two years. The responses
were mixed but identified a considerable range of potential internal and external factors that
could require the police service to respond. For example, Chief Superintendent John Robins
of West Yorkshire Police produced a PESTEL (political, economic, social, technological,
environmental and legal) analysis of the external challenges facing policing. He identified over
60 pressures, including the possibility of an increase in crime resulting from reductions in state
benefits, a growth in public disorder, and diversifying technological crime20 . The number and
breadth of pressures and factors likely to be encountered in the next two years alone show that
the demands on policing are difficult to predict in the short-term, let alone the long-term.
1.1.16 The purpose of this section is not, of course, to provide an exhaustive list of all the possible
future factors with which the police service is likely to have to contend, but to demonstrate
that they are many and varied. With the exception of the number of police officers and staff,
many of the causes of crime and the demands upon the police are likely to be outside the direct
control of the police service. It is clear that a more systematic assessment of long-term future
demands would be beneficial at both police force and national level. However, the review
is primarily concerned with ensuring that the police service has the instruments necessary
to deploy its people and money so as most efficiently and effectively to meet those future
demands. The ability of the police service to manage its workforce is discussed in Chapter
6. How the police service acquires and uses the right skills to meet demand is discussed in
Chapters 3 and 8.
1.2 Political
1.2.1 Any examination of the future of police pay and conditions must take account of changes in
the public’s expectations of policing. Such concern for the public’s expectations is not new. A
report by the Home Office research department in 1997 said that police forces:
“… currently use a range of methods, such as social surveys and Police Community
Consultative Groups, to canvass local community views on policing priorities, or
expectations” 21 .
1.2.2 As part of that study, the public living and working in a division of West Mercia Constabulary
was consulted and it was reported that “[t]he vast majority of respondents (82.9%) felt the
division did a ‘fairly good’ or ‘very good’ job” 22 .
1.2.3 More recently, police forces and authorities have conducted their own surveys of the public’s
confidence in their local police service. For example, in 2010 a survey found that 49% of the
population of London had confidence that:
“the police and local council are dealing with crime and antisocial behaviour issues
that matter to the community” 23 .
1.2.4 In 2008, the Cabinet Office conducted a detailed survey of public expectations of the police.
The Engaging Communities in Fighting Crime report, conducted by Ms Louise Casey, found
that, for the public, visible foot patrols were the cornerstone of a good local police service.
Research has shown that low levels of police visibility are linked to adverse perceptions of
police effectiveness24 . Those people who reported seeing police officers and police community
support officers (PCSOs) on foot patrol at least once a month were more likely to believe that
20 Gaudi essay: Against a backdrop of tight fiscal planning, the necessity for all public sector agencies to rationalise and
the traditional role of the police as the ‘agency of last resort’ - what is a realistic estimate of the growth in demand for
policing services over the coming two years? Outline examples of the sort of fundamental changes the service will have
to make to keep demand in line with available resources, Chief Superintendent J. Robins, Senior Command Course,
National Policing Improvement Agency, Bramshill, 2011, pages 22-25
21 Measuring Public Expectations of Policing: An Evaluation of Gap Analysis, Police Research Series Paper 24, Home
Office, London, 1997, page v
22 ibid. page 25
23 Surveys in the MPS: Londoners’ Views Count, Metropolitan Police Service, London, August 2010, page 1
24 Engaging Communities in Fighting Crime: A review by Louise Casey, Cabinet Office, London, 2008
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