With the look at the current strength and administration of the police (Part Va) and some of the issues facing the police at present (Part Vb) out of the way, it’s time to focus on what general policing options an independent Wales might have.
It’s right to point out that independence isn’t strictly necessary here as policing could simply be devolved – though the chances of that appear to be slim. Independence would provide a completely blank canvas, or not if we decide to keep things as close to how they are now as is possible (it’s up to us).
To determine what the role of the police is or should be now, you need to go back to when professional law enforcement was founded in the early 19th Century. Before this point, law enforcement was either left to locally organised watchmen or the military.
The first was simply hopeless and only a step up from vigilantes; the latter was largely under the control of the central government and often used to suppress the population by force.
So when Sir Robert Peel established professional police forces, one core principle from that period that remains relevant to this day is “policing by consent”.
In practice, this means the police are not considered a military or paramilitary force but a civilian-led one. The police can only retain their legitimacy by working with the public not against them, acting with integrity and only using force as a last resort. It also means the police should be transparent about, and publicly accountable for, their actions.
Many people may – rightly or wrongly – argue that this principle is no longer upheld by either the police or UK Government.
Policing and police powers are now largely guided by the law, not necessarily public consent. Accountability and transparancy seem thin on the ground. Successive UK governments have gone to great lengths to prove they’re “tough on crime” to Middle England by looking the other way when the police overstep their bounds, granting the police additional powers that they didn’t necessarily need and creating Police & Crime Commissioners to muddle the accountability issue. There are also internal cultural issues which work against the principle of policing by consent such as the “blue wall of silence“.
On top of the guiding principle of policing by consent, it’s broadly agreed the police have at least four key roles:
- Maintain public order.
- Protect life and property.
- Prevent crime.
- Bring offenders to justice.
“The purpose of the police service is to uphold the law fairly and firmly; to prevent crime; to pursue and bring to justice those who break the law; and to keep the Queen’s Peace; to protect, help and reassure the community; and to be seen to do all this with integrity, common sense and sound judgement.”
– Police Statement of Common Purpose & Values
The specific duties of the police and how their powers should be used (Part VII) are largely contained within legislation – a selection of which was highlighted in Part V(a).
Different people will have different ideas on what the police should do and, resultingly, the police’s role has become increasingly complicated and questionable as of the 2020s.
Should they be a strictly reactive force and only respond to crimes after they’re committed? Should they play a greater role in preventing crime? Should they only focus on the most serious crimes and leave “lesser offences” to civilian enforcement and social services? Are people expecting the police to do the job of social services and the NHS? How do you police the internet? Some even ask the question, “Should the police be abolished?”
It’s impossible to answer all of those questions in any detail here.
These are mainly operational issues best left to those who have to make the decisions. Independence (or devolution of criminal justice) may allow Wales to consider these questions through a fresh pair of eyes considering we have a better idea of what works in our own communities than the UK Home Office.
For the sake of argument, if you were to draft a new mission statement for the police, what would you include? Policing by consent and the four key roles would probably stay the same:
- Maintain public order.
- Protect life and property.
- Prevent crime.
- Bring offenders to justice.
You could add (at the very least):
- Build and maintain public trust in the criminal justice system.
- Reduce the fear of crime.
- Uphold and respect individual and collective rights (in the Constitution/Bill of Rights).
