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Let’s put an end to the chief constables’ closed shop
Top cops have blown away Bratton – but the issue of elected police commissioners won’t be so easy
The row between David Cameron and Britain's senior policemen over whether the so-called US super cop, Bill Bratton, should become the next Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has, we are told, been settled. Downing Street has now conceded that Bratton will not become the new chief of the Met; instead he will have to make do with being an advisor to the PM.
It is a pity because appointing Bratton would, at the very least, have brought a badly needed breath of fresh air to the top ranks of British policing. His record as the man who turned round police forces in, successively, Boston, New York and Los Angeles, speaks for itself.
Bratton also knows this country, and its policing, well. With two commissioners having had to leave the Met in controversial circumstances in just a few years, the latest in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, he is just the sort of inspirational, experienced leader we need to get the force back on track.
It was hardly a surprise, therefore, when, even before the furious criticism of the Met's handling of last week's riots, Cameron let it be known that he thought Bratton might be the man for the job. But appointing an American to such a coveted post was, it seems, a snub too far for the country's beleaguered chief constables. Backed by home secretary Theresa May, they appear to have won the day.
While all this jockeying is very interesting for political anoraks, it does not do anything to solve the pressing problems of the police. First and foremost, with the Olympics rapidly approaching, the coalition has to get a grip on the Met. This will only be possible once a new commissioner is installed, and also once the coalition has decided whether or not to press ahead with cuts to its budget.
Ministers still insist cuts are essential, and there is certainly waste to be trimmed. But with London mayor Boris Johnson having declared against reducing the Met's budget after the riots, and the mayoral election less than a year away, the politics are now firmly against it – at least for the time being.
Only when it has decided how to handle London should the government return to the wider question of improving police leadership. In their defence the police can point out that crime is down and there has been no serious terrorist incident since 7/7, which was over six years ago.
But the list of negatives on the other side of the ledger is long and growing: stifling bureaucracy, excessive political correctness, inefficient use of resources, too much cronyism, too few bobbies on the beat, a dismissive attitude to everyday crime such as burglary.
The litany is depressingly familiar. For the government, however, what is perhaps most worrying of all is the reluctance of the police leadership to take the misgivings of the public and politicians more seriously, as exemplified by the chief constables fury at the suggestion that an outsider should be brought in to sort out the Met.
Ironically for the police high command, seeing off Bratton could prove a pyrrhic victory in this respect. If there is one thing senior policemen dislike more than the prospect of an American taking the top job, it is the coalition's plan to make them serve under elected police commissioners. Yet their successful opposition to Bratton has probably now brought this closer.
After their hesitant initial response to the riots, there is a widespread feeling that the police need more effective political oversight - and fast. With Number 10 unable to get its way on Bratton, don't be surprised if elected police commissioners now move sharply up the political agenda.
The other area where action is needed is who should be considered for senior police jobs. At the moment, pretty much anyone, British or foreign, who has not spent a lifetime working their way up the force is excluded from its top ranks. Even potential candidates from the armed forces and other public services are barred.
The result is an excessively inward-looking system, which badly needs opening up. If the new elected police commissioners are not allowed a wider range of candidates to run their forces, their hands will be tied from the start.
Time will tell whether Cameron and his ministers really have the stomach to tackle what has become, in effect, a chief constables' closed shop. But, as the furore over Bratton shows, unless they do, it is hard to see how their other police reforms will have the impact they are hoping for. ·
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The Prime minister is concerned with treating the symtoms of the problems in his country rather than doing the job of leading his nation forward. Can somebody tell me what he has done constructively except listen to people on subjects unconnected with and national plan? He preaches morality when his own is appalling.
Will elected Police Commissioners ie Politicians, make any difference to how we are policed. It seems to me, that we have had this since 80's and it has had no affect on improving our quality of life or safety on our streets. In my opinion, Parliament does not want a strong impartial Police Force, providing the sort of service we require and expect.
I believe, that as long as politicians keep their mitts in the pot, law & order will just be a gesture to beat the opposition with.
So by all means bring in your elected commissioners, but, please don't try to pull the wool over our eyes. The Police Force we have is the one the politicians wanted, have done since the late 60's.
A demoralised and poorly lead force is much easier to control, how else would our senior police officers, appear to be so indiscernable from our politicians.
Finally , the author should look at Lord Trenchard, it was he who ended the system of Non- Police Commissioners. History may tell us a lot more than we wish to hear.
I totally agree that somewhere we do have locally grown talent to do the job. BUT what use is it if that talent is precluded from the selection process because of the power of the closed shop?
I agree, but as one who has always been an unquestioning supporter of our Police Force I have been made slightly uncomfortable during the last few days by the animosity to the idea that they have anything to learn from Bill Bratton. Methinks perhaps they protest too much. No-one doubts the commitment and the courage of the ordinary policemen and women confronting the rioters, but the fact remains that mistakes were made and time and again members of the public were saying "Where we the police when we needed them?" I would have thought advice from any quarter should have been welcomed.
Policing deals with the symptoms of a much greater malise. You have to dig deeper to find the real reasons for the unrest and troubles, which are destruction of the family as a power base, the rampant commercialisation of life in general and youth in particular, leading to possession-centric rather than community-centric attitudes and the fixation on "rights" without the corresponding emphasis on responsibilities. The Welfare state is just the tip of this "Rights/Responsibilities" iceberg...as long as taking welfare is seen as acceptable ("Its my right!") then we shall have scroungers and wasters. We must make welfare much harder to get. Yes, it will make it a bit harder for genuinely needy folk....but it will be fair to the majority. It's no longer acceptable for the Government to create a situation where the "rights" of a vociferous few with all day to waste because they are unemployed come before the "rights" of the many, who are working too hard to pay their bills to have time to lobby and argue the case.
I'm sure Mr Bratton is a good American policeman, and there's never any harm with learning from experts in their field, wherever they come from. BUT, this country, and our politicians in particular, is obsessed with the idea that we must slavishly follow the American way of doing things - whether it's policing or otherwise. I can't and don't believe that we don't have locally grown talent that understands UK society and culture and is able to lead the police better than someone from overseas.