Keywords

Chapter 1

Introduction: Understanding the Management of Police Services

Paresh Wankhade and David Weir

P. Wankhade, D. Weir (eds.), Police Services, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-16568-4_1

The Publisher regrets that chapter 1 had several errors in the printed version and now the correct version of chapter 1 has been typeset again and attached after erratum page.

The online version of the original chapter can be found under

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/10.1007/978-3-319-16568-4_1

Paresh Wankhade

Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK

e-mail: Paresh.Wankhade@edgehill.ac.uk

David Weir

Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK

e-mail: weir53@gmail.com

Introduction and Background

This book is the first of a three volume series on the management of the three blue light emergency services (Police, Ambulance and the Fire & Rescue Services) being published by Springer, USA. This volume aims to provide a broader management understanding of the police services which would be of equal interest to a wide audience including students, academics, practitioners, professionals including the leadership & management practitioners in police forces without compromising the rigour and scholarship of the content. We have invited experts in their particular fields to address the chosen themes, both in the theory and practice of the functioning of the police services in the UK and abroad. The key thinking in this volume is to provide a broad understanding of the major management issues relevant to police services in the UK along with an international perspective. Admittedly it is a difficult endeavour to cover all the possible management themes in a single volume such as this but we are confident that the chosen topics will provide an expert view and a rounded understanding and insights into the management of police services.

More attention is being paid now to the management research on police services given the policy and practice implications of the challenges and changing context of policing. Several factors have contributed toward the need for a better understanding of the role and contribution of the police services in the wider criminological settings. The pressures on police budgets and the resulting implications for service delivery have been well rehearsed. The deteriorating global security climate and the growing numbers of cyber-crime cases coupled with lower public confidence and low staff morale is likely to add more pressures on the use of the police services. The Mid Staffordshire Hospital Inquiry (Francis 2013) and the Keogh Review (NHS England 2013) both highlighted a cultural transformation of the hospital and emergency/urgent care services in England. This calls for a similar understanding of the police services thus making this project particularly timely. The chosen themes in this volume will help to outline the social, cultural, and political context in which the police services is to be understood. This volume covers issues of theory, policy and practice and raises questions, some of which are intrinsically controversial. Each of the chapters seeks to engage with the current debates about the direction of travel. The contributors also examine the latest development in their chosen field of enquiry. This volume thus aims to set out the management understanding of the police services as a significant sub-discipline of emergency management and also provide a basis of learning and teaching in this field.

Changing Context of Policing

In the UK, we are currently witnessing two contradictory trends: that of decline in the policing and crime statistics in the UK amidst escalation of global violence, and the growing threats to world security climate. The international peace is threatened by a range of events, sometimes not connected but each posing a significant policing challenge and having implication for an appropriate police response. For instance, the turmoil from the continuing civil war in Syria, the latest round of escalation of violence in the Arab-Israel conflict including the deteriorating situation in Iraq and the rise of a new militant group are a few cases to note. Another totally unconnected danger is from the pandemic threat of the new deadly Ebola Virus from West Africa, posing a significant challenge to policing with global ramifications .

In the UK, the latest Crime Survey in England and Wales (CSEW) for the year ending March 2014 revealed that there were an estimated 7.3 million incidents of crime against households and resident adults (aged 16 and over) for the year ending March 2014 (see Fig. 1.1). This represents a 14 % decrease compared with the previous year’s survey and is the lowest estimate since the CSEW began in 1981 (Office for National Statistics ONS 2014). However, this is in contrast with the police recorded crime figures which show no overall change from the previous year, with 3.7 million offences recorded in the year ending March 2014. Prior to this police recorded crime figures have shown year on year reductions since 2002/2003 (ONS 2014).

Fig. 1.1
figure 1

Police recorded crime, 1981 to 2013/14. (Source: Office for National Statistics-Crime in England and Wales, Year Ending March 2014)

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There is no consensus among experts about the reasons for fall in the crime figures and a range of factors including the decline in binge drinking, rising alcohol prices and the state of the economy have been reported (Travis 2014). Jon Boutcher, the national policing spokesman on surveillance was reported (Dry 2014) to argue that drop in crime figures was misleading since lot of criminal behaviour has moved online, where much of it goes either unreported or undetected and warned of being complacent to the dangers of cyber-crime. Furthermore, the CSEW (previously British Crime Survey) in use since 1982 has undergone changes from being a research tool to be seen as a system of performance management (Hough et al. 2007). Significant methodological limitations of using surveys as research tools in measuring the performance of public services have been reported (Cantor and Lynch 2000). Recently, Feilzer (2009) examined whether the data collected through the BCS (now CSEW) can be considered as valid and reliable indicators of local police performance. Her analysis showed that perceptual measures included in the BCS and used as performance measures are ‘under-conceptualised, invalid, context dependent, strongly related to social-demographics and are unreliable’.

Meaningful performance reporting by police forces and in wider public services has been under considerable scrutiny (Shane 2010; Wankhade and Barton 2012; Loveday 2008; De Bruijn 2002; Wankhade 2011; Andrews and Wankhade 2014) with the MORI 2007 survey (IPOS MORI 2008) reporting how a large proportion of public do not believe crime is falling and more than 60 % of the public have not heard of the Police Inspection Agency (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary). The Casey Report (2008) describes that less than 1 % of respondents relied on published statistics as their primary source of information to find out whether the crime in their region was increasing or decreasing. Information about policing is increasingly available outside police agencies through different sources including national TV and newspapers, official websites, and social networking sites (O’Connor 2010). Research on factors that drive public confidence conducted by the College of Policing (formerly National Policing Improvement Agency) and Metropolitan Police (NPIA/Home Office Final Report 2010; Neyroud 2010) further highlighted the significance of good quality information put out to public .

It has been generally accepted that opening dialogue with public and improving channels of communication with public acts as another form of contact and helps improve confidence in policing (Bradford et al. 2009). A string of allegations have been levelled at the police in recent months eroding public trust in policing (Hillsborough, 2012; Her Majesty’s Constabulary of Inspection 2011). British media has been dominated by several stories including ranging from undercover Scotland Yard officers trying to influence the family of the murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence in London, to the arrest of a police officer for lying about witnessing the “Plebgate” row involving MP Andrew Mitchell in Downing Street; the alleged Hillsborough police cover up and the arrests of current and former police officers as part of the Met’s Operation Elveden investigation into alleged payments to public officials in return for information (Maybin 2014). The ‘reassurance’ aspect of policing offers another perspective in improving public confidence (Skogan 2009).

Police services are also witnessing a new challenge on the institution of the Police Federation of England and Wales which is a staff association for all police constables, sergeants and inspectors. An Independent Review led by Sir David Normington (2014) has provided a series of recommendations (pp. 65–68) to improve trust and accountability , foster openness and transparency and improving financial priority with a detailed timetable to re-write the terms and reference of the federation’s constitution. Furthermore, acting on a whistle-blower’s case from the Metropolitan Police Service, the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) published a damning report about the massaging of the Police Recorded Crime statistics (PASC 2014). The report recommended to the UK Statistics Agency (UKSA) acting in response to the evidence exposed by PASC’s inquiry, to strip Police Recorded Crime statistics of the quality designation ‘National Statistics’ (PASC 2014, p. 52).

Historically, concerns over police accountability and the control of wide ranging police discretion impacting on individual’s civil liberties are as old as policing itself (Feilzer 2009; Gains and Cains 1981; van Maanen 1973). A ‘tripartite’ structure of police accountability which distributed responsibilities between the Home Office, the local police authorities and the chief constable of the force was in vogue till recently. In November 2012, 41 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) were publicly elected across England and Wales, something billed as the most significant constitutional reform in the last five decades. The PCCs became responsible for a combined police force area budget of £ 8 billion to hold Chief Constables and the force to account; effectively making the police answerable to the communities they serve (Association of Chief Police Officers ACPO 2014). The real impact of the elected PCCs on accountability relationships is still being debated (Keasey and Raine 2012; Sampson 2012; Joyce 2011) with Lister (2013) arguing that the new ‘quadripartite’ governance framework for police institutional accountability may generate pressures on PCCs to interfere in what Chief Constables do .

Important lessons are to be learned by the police services from the Frances report (NHS England 2013) into the patient deaths at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust which re-emphasised the need for organisations to create and maintain the right culture (Foster 2003) to deliver high-quality care that is responsive to users’ needs and preferences. Loftus (2010) argued that the underlying world view of officers displays remarkable continuity with older patterns, and police culture endures because the basic pressures associated with the police role have not been removed questioning the increasingly accepted view that orthodox conceptions of police culture no longer make any sense. Many of these changes will require a different style of policing, one which “fosters the trust and confidence of local communities and meets their concerns and expectations” (Karn 2013, p. 5). Understanding police culture(s) nevertheless offers important insights into the nature of the organisation and how it deals with issues of legitimacy , accountability and future direction of travel (Waddington 1999; Barton 2003; O’Neil et al. 2007; Cockcroft 2013).

Against the changing landscape of policing, the role and function of the police is also changing. The police mission has become broader and more complex, embracing functions more commonly associated with other agencies (Karn 2013). Yet the public (and political) expectation from police services still centres on crime protection. This volume provides a timely discussion of some of the key management issues being confronted by the police services.

Aims and Plan of this Book

This volume provides a mature understanding of an important public service. Thus, one of the aims of this volume is to invite a new generation of management scholars to explore the study of the police services. This volume will also appeal to a range of students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) studying organisational theory as well as social sciences, sociology, economics and politics, community engagement , emergency planning and disaster management . The book offers critical insights into the theory and practise of strategic and operational management of police services and the related professional and policy aspects. For a large number of staff working in the emergency care settings, the growing calls for professionalisation of the service (through closer links with Higher Education Institutes HEIs) and the recognition to reflect on their own personal development, this volume seeks to provide an authoritative source on the management of the police services addressing the knowledge gaps. This volume will equally appeal to a growing audience of independent practitioners and consultants, both in the UK and working around the world.

One of the other aims of this volume is to bring together, top-quality scholarship using experts- academics, practitioners and professionals in the field, to each of the chosen topics. Admittedly this was an ambitious task and we have been really fortunate to have an assembly of authors who are well regarded for the expertise in their fields. They range from senior academics, chief constables, serving and ex-police officers & police staff, and independent practitioners. To bring them all together is a key highlight of this volume and to this end this is a book by the people who lead and manage the police services and their opinions is important in informing the policy and guiding the practice. The contributors have written from different perspectives of critical academics to chief executives and policy experts and there is much to be gained from reading chapters in ‘conjunction with each other, contrasting different perspectives and approaches’ (Newburn 2003, p. 7). We are immensely grateful to them for their untiring work that has gone to produce this volume and feel confident that it will do justice to the complexities of the chosen themes. All the chapters have been completed in 2014 and hence draw upon the latest evidence and research base available on the chosen topic. The chapters are based in the practical experiences of the authors and are written in a way that is accessible and suitable for a range of audiences.

In dealing with these issues, the volume is divided into four parts. Part I provides the context and background to this volume. Chap. 1 examines the context of policing and states the aims of this volume. In Chap. 2, John G.D. Grieve explores the historical perspectives in policing. His chapter looks back to the founding fathers of policing in the 18th and 19th Centuries and considers whether their thinking has any application in the governance reforms of the early twenty-first Century. He provides a practitioner’s reflective view of where policing came from and what is the significance for governance, leadership and management now of those earliest days? He argues in his piece that Robert Peel deserves much of the credit for the practical development of the emerging framework, even if not the precise labelling of them as Peel’s Nine Principles of Policing that he has sometimes been given. But he should be given the credit as an artificer building on what had been begun earlier rather than as a completely original thinker as Douglas Hurd’s work advises us (Hurd 2007). Reith’s articulation remains helpful as an ideal. These Principles, he concludes, have relevance and find resonance even today.

Part II of this volume deals with the ‘doing’ of the police services in preventing crime and providing order in the society. Six key themes are examined. In Chap. 3, police leadership is examined by Andrew Fisher and John Phillips. They argue that the police services are facing a crisis of public confidence amidst a range of current challenges. The service is being faced, not only, with political and fiscal challenges, but also cultural & structural problems, and societal issues have threatened the principles of policing by consent and legitimacy . They contend that the crisis can be seen to be the result of failed leadership and policing strategies over decades, and the danger is that there will be more of the same. Case for a new model of policing that recognises the value of engaging communities to re-build confidence and assist in the single mission of reducing crime, based on ‘trust, norms and networks’ is made in their piece. This chapter examines the challenges and explores what needs to be done to make this happen.

In Chap. 4, Julian Constable and Jonathan Smith examine the contentious theme of police occupational culture . The study of police occupational culture has revealed a wealth of hitherto unknown and unseen aspects of the working life of police officers. In the social science literature this culture is often linked to many of the problems that have been evident in the police organisations of England and Wales. In this way, the authors argue, initial training environment is often considered a place where otherwise ‘good’ new recruits are inducted into a sub-culture that is pernicious to themselves, the service and those they police. The case study of initial training described in their piece, indicates a complex picture where examples of practice and behaviour that is both progressive and problematic are found. Some specific recommendations are made with regard to changes that might be considered for future iterations of initial police training by the force in question and the service as a whole.

In Chap. 5, the issue of community engagement is investigated by Susan Ritchie. She argues that adopting a deficit model of public service delivery where services ‘fix’ communities rather than build on the strengths they have, is just not working. She provides a personal practitioner perspective of the future of democracy in the UK with a particular focus in the way public services understand the communities they serve. Going beyond public confidence and satisfaction ratings more democratic initiatives such as Citizens’ Charters, pledges and local area agreements offer greater opportunity to reconnect the state with the individual and to re-think the feminist phrase of ‘the personal is political’ so that it can be applied to all public services. She concludes that by developing new skills to listen differently to the communities they serve, police services can act as the ‘enablers’ of active citizenship to reduce demand and improve social capital.

In Chap. 6, Rowland Moore explores the issue of equality and diversity in police forces in a short piece. He argues that being immersed in a culture dominated by people who might be different by gender, sexuality, race or disability, presents significant additional personal challenges. Some are obvious from the outset and are by definition easier to deal with whereas others are more insidious involving practices seemingly ingrained in organisational culture . He contends that in the final analysis, policing appears to be heavily populated by values underpinned in conservatism —a political philosophy or attitude emphasizing respect for traditional institutions, distrust of government activism and opposition to sudden change in the established order. In Chap. 7, Andrea Bishop examines the ‘frontline’ view of the management of risk in policing. For her, strong leadership and operational credibility are crucial components for senior managers to readily possess and to successfully deliver against in policing. She argues that confidence and trust of the public is an absolute priority and is at the heart of British policing. Members of the public will always turn to the police in times of need and it is in these difficult times that we must ensure that we get it right. She concludes that a proactive approach to listening coupled with strong leadership can help to make sensible decision about addressing risks and managing them.

In Chap. 8, Jon Murphy explores the essence of policing from his perspective of a Chief Constable in the North West of England. He argues that the police service has always been excellent at training its people; investing huge amounts of money and resources on how to do ‘stuff’, about the law, codes of practice, about process and the tactical delivery. But whilst they train well, they are not so good at teaching people to think about policing, about its mission and its legitimacy . From him, there is nothing revolutionary or clever about the basic philosophy of policing, but quite the opposite-“I don’t believe in fixing what is isn’t broken and I don’t believe in change for change sake.” Notwithstanding various challenges, not least of shrinking budgets, he concludes that police forces maintain and build on their reputation by keeping the public safe, and by being openly accountable for their actions.

Part III of the volume explores current debates in policing through three key themes. The issue of police accountability is examined by John W Raine in Chap. 9. The election across England and Wales in November 2012 of 41 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) —one for each police force area outside London marked the launch of an intriguingly novel approach to police governance at the local level. The new arrangements have replaced the tradition of committee-style model, originally of council-led ‘police committees’, and subsequently (from 1964) of separate ‘police authorities’ (comprising a mix of nominated councillors and other local appointees). The new PCCs are directly-elected individual office-holders whose role it is to provide the strategic leadership and democratic governance for police and crime-related activity, including the key role of holding the chief constable and the local police force to account on behalf of the public. Drawing from empirical analysis of interviews with a sample of PCCs, the various accountability relationships are evaluated. It is concluded that each of the PCCs was also driven by desire to acquire good personal understanding of public expectations about policing and crime reduction and to ensure that such understandings could be reflected in their own prioritisations of policing resources and in their approach to the role more generally.

Our next author Barry Loveday deals with the subject of police modernisation in Chap. 10. His key argument is that the future police management in an age of austerity should be ready to experiment with innovative developments that provide a level of service expected of it by the public. The modernisation debate cannot be about police establishment any longer but should concentrate on both police deployment and more effective resource allocation. He argues that if the evidence suggests that further reductions in police establishment, when balanced by increases in non-sworn civilian staff undertaking more operational roles could increase police effectiveness, then this should be addressed. It is further contended that in an environment that now increasingly recognises the significance and impact of anti-social behaviour on both individuals and communities, there is a clear case for further evaluation of alternatives to a police response to it. The chapter suggests some possible avenues which could provide the basis for both an effective collaboration between police and local authorities while also providing a more effective response to community demands and victim’s needs.

The subject matter of ‘personal resilience and policing is next examined in Chap. 11 by our experts Jonathan Smith and Ginger Charles. Police services around the world face many kinds of challenges which often impact directly, and not always positively, on the people who work within these organisation. These are often manifested through increasing levels of stress, burnout and PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder). In this chapter the authors have explored how resilience may be useful in assisting people to not only cope with these challenges but thrive and prosper in this environment of uncertainty and rapid and constant challenge and change . The chapter develops further, the idea of holistic resilience, and explores the component parts to this, using a holistic framework called the Global Fitness Framework. It investigates some of the benefits to developing greater resilience at individual, organisational and societal level and concludes with an exploration of how the different elements to resilience might be developed by police organisations.

Part IV of this volume presents perspectives on the future of the police services , both in the UK and internationally. Rather than long chapters, these contributions are intended to be shorter pieces to capture greater variety and expertise surrounding the future of policing. The first contribution by David Weir and Paresh Wankhade provides a counter-view on the arguments put forth by some of our contributors on the future of policing and is discussed in Chap. 12. They also comment about the nature of police work and the changing societal context for policing. The piece contends that some of these debates do not all point necessarily in the same direction and many contentious themes still resonate and are not resolved notwithstanding an emerging consensus among police officers and experts. They raise the issues of legitimacy , resourcing and technology and argue that the ultimate objective for everyone should be a society in which citizens feel safe and criminals feel anxious. They conclude that the responsibility for that ultimately lies with both police and the public they serve.

In Chap. 13, Timothy Meaklim argues that in complex times policing still holds a central role in the maintenance of law and order. There is an uncertain future for policing especially as the organisational concept; practice and function of the police are undergoing transition. His piece explores the current complex socio-political, technical and operational environment of policing, before considering possible key topics that will impact upon the future of policing including terrorism, cyber-crime, organised crime and threats created by climate change or infectious diseases. Finally it considers how leaders and the police organisation can forecast, plan, and manage the future policing response to meet the changing environment, whilst remaining flexible and able to work through uncertainty.

Our next expert opinion in Chap. 14 is provided by Peter Neyroud who draws attention to a deep crisis in public policing which has been precipitated by the combination of fiscal austerity , falling crimes and changing crime patterns. He argues that the crisis is affecting the legitimacy of the institution and requires a new approach from police leaders. To him, the new approach centres around the police taking ownership of the science of policing and building new professional practice based around evidence and supported by a reformed police education . For this to happen, he contends, that the police officers and police leaders will need to value science as a key determinant of their choice of tactics and strategy and a vital part of the qualification framework for any applicant to or practitioner in policing. For police leaders confronting the challenges of the “perfect storm”, it is essential task for police to own, deploy and develop the science of policing.

In Chaps. 15–16, we present two contributions addressing international perspectives for police services. In Chap. 15, Colin Rogers argues that policing is not a stand-alone activity, but is affected by many different global changes and other social factors. Consequently police leaders now and in the future will need to be aware of potential global activities in order to provide an adequate response to changing circumstances. Further, police organisations will need to be flexible and adapt to these changes in order to remain effective. This chapter considers the potential changes and their impact that will provide future challenges for police leaders. In Chap. 16, Jacques de Maillard, exploring the French National Police , argues that at all levels of police management, the use of dashboards and performance indicators is usual, both internally to manage personal and vis-à-vis external partners. His text aims to question the effects of the uses of these indicators by taking the example of the French National Police. After having briefly described the modes of operation of police organizations affected by the deployment of these indicators, he analyses the impact on police work and interactions within the police organisation as well externally. The piece especially focuses on the rationalisation process at work, the perverse effects associated to these new policy instruments and the internal controversies associated to them.

Limitations of the Current Project

As editors there were a few difficult decisions we had to take; the biggest one was to decide what to include in the volume and what was to be excluded. We are also conscious about the possible disagreements about the final contents of the volume and what else could or should have been covered. Furthermore, even the scope of some of the chapters could have been more detailed and capable of being examined in a greater detail. The chosen themes do not aim to cover the whole gamut of issues which could be applied to the management of police services. Nonetheless they provide a fair representation of topics that concern us in our scholarly research and teaching. We firmly believe that they represent opportunities for both teaching and practice to reflect on these issues. We also seriously deliberated upon the choice of the authors and their backgrounds. In the end we were convinced that a choice reflecting a balance between academic experts and senior practitioners would bring greater criticality and reflection to the understanding of the chosen themes. Rather than having rigid guidelines over chapter style and structures, we saw greater relevance in a ‘light touch’, free flowing style of each of the chapters in presenting the contrasting perspectives from academics and practitioners. We are of the opinion that this approach worked better in a work like this though it will be for our readers to judge whether we were correct in our methodology. Similarly we could have paid more attention to the developments in policing outside England though there remains a strong comparative element from Europe.

Future Research Agenda

Police services play a crucial role in maintaining order in the society and in preventing crime. But the context in which they currently operate within the criminal justice system is increasingly becoming fragmented, complex and politically contested. The challenges of funding, training, online-crimes and cultural transformation are now felt globally. The need to learn and adapt from suitable models of police service delivery across the globe have never been greater. We sincerely hope that this volume will trigger greater interest in the understanding of one of the most important of public services. We aim to further work on a comparative element outside the UK and invite interested colleagues and partners to join the quest of the management understanding of a service which is so important to the society.