It’s an understatement to say that sections of society have trust issues with the police at the moment. It’s impossible to “police by consent” if members of the public are afraid of and/or can’t rely on the police to keep them safe.
Given that we know what some of the issues are with policing (Part Vb), how could Wales reform the police to address these challenges?
This part looks at recruitment, training, powers and personnel. The final part of this mini-series (Part VIII) – probably more important than this one – will look at how to hold the police to account.
When it comes to the police you need to balance the need for quantity (people wanting to see “more bobbies on the beat” to reduce the fear of crime) with the need for quality (quick learners, more intelligent police officers with better social skills, fewer meatheads).
The EU average number of police officers per 100,000 people is around 3001 – which is higher than the UN “ideal ratio” of around 200-per-100k.
At a Welsh level, the UN ratio would equate to around 6,400 police officers – which is fewer than the number of police officers we have now (Part Va – 7,061). So in terms of police numbers in Wales, there’s arguably no problem.
If we were developing a new policy for police recruitment – whether after the devolution of criminal justice or independence – then you would expect Wales to increasingly look to quality over quantity.
If it isn’t seen as such already, policing needs to be a professional vocation rather than a basic uniform service; once you join, there should be an expectation that you won’t leave until retirement and will actively seek out higher-level training and specialisation (much like the law, medicine, dentistry, nursing etc). That has to be matched with improved professional development opportunities and attractive terms and conditions of employment.
However, with higher standards ought to come higher expectations.
Setting the criteria
- Age – At the moment you can apply to join the police at age 17 but all new police officers are usually aged at least 18. Though should increase to 21 for a full-time constable and 18 for a special constable/auxiliary. There’s no formal upper age limit to join though the police are generally expected to retire at age 60. Varying retirement ages could be applied depending on the role; the more physically demanding a role is, the lower the retirement age.
- Fitness requirements – There’s a general expectation that police officers and applicants are “in good physical and mental health”. While keeping in mind things like disability discrimination, the standard fitness requirements needn’t change that much and should be monitored closely throughout an officer’s career – though there will be a debate over whether fitness requirements should be similar for men and women.
- Academic qualifications – Policing is now considered to be a graduate role and most forces require a degree apprenticeship at the very least. We could move towards requiring a qualifying degree before applying to become a full-time constable for new entrants (it wouldn’t apply to existing officers). More on this later. Entry requirements could be more relaxed for special constables and auxiliaries.
- Practical qualifications & experience – It’s a general expectation that prospective police officers have a clean driving licence (or a very low number of points). Being a special constable/auxiliary/PCSO for a certain length of time may – as it does now – count instead of academic qualifications when applying to become a full-time constable.
- Criminal record/vetting – You can currently apply to the police if you have certain low-level convictions and properly declare them, but we should move towards an assumption against anyone with a criminal record (including spent convictions) from joining the police full-time. Special constables/auxiliaries and police staff can be treated on a case-by-case basis. Security vetting requirements would continue as normal.
- Special requirements – There are specific requirements relating to not being a member/supporter of extremist/proscribed organisations (like Combat 18 and far-right political parties), financial status (i.e. never having been bankrupt) and physical appearance (namely tattoos). It would probably make sense to keep these requirements. I’d extend it to examining an applicant’s social media history too. English language requirements are obvious and I’d extend this to at least committing to learning Welsh (or making fluency a requirement for certain posts).
Selection
Regardless of which police force model we opt for (Part VI), recruiting new police officers could probably be done centrally (though applicants would be able to state a preference for which force/division they want to serve in).
Similar to what was said for the military, recruitment could be done via an open competition held at least once a year when a minimum number of positions open up. Initial shortlisting would be based on whether a candidate meets the set criteria for applying.
As mentioned, policing is now considered a graduate role and we could opt for all prospective police officers having a qualifying degree.
These qualifying degrees would need to be validated by a Welsh equivalent of the College of Policing (more on this later). At the very least, students would have to study undergraduate modules on Welsh law, criminal procedure, equality in the criminal justice system, criminology, psychology/mental health, leadership and analytical skills.
Some Welsh universities already offer professional policing degrees (known as pre-join degrees) up to masters level. The necessary modules could be added to courses in criminology, psychology, law, social sciences, forensic science and computer science to broaden the possible recruitment pool and attract new officers with specialist skills to deal with things like cybercrime (i.e. studying for a joint honours Computer Science & Policing degree).
Once shortlisted, there would be an initial assessment system similar to the ones we have now, with points awarded based on individual performances in different tasks and aptitude tests. Though candidates from under-represented groups could be given a head-start, a failure to meet minimum standards ought to mean automatic rejection.
Once the numbers have been whittled down further, a final assessment centre would include interviews, a physical fitness exam and completion of vetting before being formally offered a place as a cadet.
There should still be an avenue open to those with practical policing experience rather than academic qualifications – such as existing PCSOs and special constables. They could be allowed to skip the initial assessments (as they would presumably have had to have gone through something similar anyway). It would therefore put students on qualifying degree courses at an advantage to become a special constable while studying, or by universities developing sandwich degrees with a year’s experience in different police roles.
Training
At the moment, all prospective constables have a two-year probationary period, divided between classroom training, hands-on/practical training at their respective division/force, distance learning and operational training alongside experienced officers and tutors.
If police officers are doing a lot more of their training “up front” (through qualifying degrees and volunteering as a special constable), then the probationary period could be cut to a year or 18 months depending on individual performances.
Although I may be biased, the new training centre in Bridgend (pictured above) is the obvious choice for an all-Wales Police College simply because it’s purpose-built. Existing training facilities around Wales would still be needed however and form part of the Police College umbrella.
It’s hard to pin down an exact figure for how much police forces in Wales spend on training and professional development, but you would assume funding would come from a mix of contributions from each police force (or one as the case may be), tuition/course fees (where applicable) and a direct government grant.
You would assume most of the theory of policing would be covered in qualifying degrees, so the Police College would focus more on practical and professional policing skills with assessments at key points over the probationary period.
Once a cadet has successfully passed the requirements of the probationary period, they’ll be promoted to constable. After a few years as a constable, in a scenario where there are multiple tiers of policing (Force Structure Option 3 in Part VI) this is the point where they can consider joining a more senior/national police force.
Professional and advanced training – such as the National Investigators Exam to become a detective – could continue to be provided by/through the central Police College.
1. – Eurostat, (September 2021). Police, court and prison personnel statistics. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Police,_court_and_prison_personnel_statistics
