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.
Specialisms, ranks & division of responsibilities
Police officers already specialise in a particular area of policing at some point in their careers and the biggest division is between frontline uniform officers (who may go on to command-level positions or specialist operations) and detectives/investigative officers (CID).
Likewise, the police in Wales are supported by thousands of civilian support staff, who carry out important administrative, technical and backroom roles that serving police officers either wouldn’t have the time to do or can’t do.
Much like today, the departments that would be open to police constables would include community policing, public order policing/response handling, rural crime (where applicable), mental health protection, crime prevention, criminal investigations (CID), traffic policing, specialist tactics and operations (dog handlers, armed response, police divers, search & rescue) and intelligence.
You would expect every basic command unit/division to have most of these departments, each commanded by the equivalent of a Chief Inspector. Though if Wales develops a model of national policing (Part VI) – whether via a single police force or a separate national police force – then some departments may be delivered nationally or regionally, while others would be located exclusively at a municipal level (a national police force wouldn’t need a community policing department, for example).
For civilians, careers would include (as now) administration and human resources, call handlers, technical support (i.e. mechanics, IT staff), crime scene investigations, forensic science, forensic computing, intelligence analysis and medical staff (occupational therapists, physiotherapists, police doctors etc.).
Training and courses at the Police College could be delivered by a mix of experienced police officers, civilian trainers and academics.
The Police Air Support Service – currently shared across England and Wales – could be integrated with the air-wing of a Welsh Defence Forces, which may put it on a more secure footing in terms of resources.
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How would an independent Wales manage data protection?
One of the big questions here would be, “What police services should be/can be outsourced?”
There are increasing numbers of private providers of services like forensic science and forensic computing. The Forensic Science Service – which used to be state-owned with a large facility near Chepstow – was closed by the UK Government in 2012. In 2017, it was reported that up to 10,000 criminal cases were thrown into doubt after forensic samples were recalled after being processed by private contractors.
There’s a clear conflict of interest between private motivations of profit and the public need for justice. Although the privatisation of the probation services garnered more headlines, issues arising from the privatisation of forensic science have gone under the radar – although most forensic science services in the four Welsh police forces are either delivered in-house or jointly.
In terms of police ranks, the default option would be to keep the current system as it implies civilian leadership.
Another option would be to move towards military-style ranks for supervisory and command officers (as in the United States). This may make it clearer who is in charge of what, making it easier for the public to know how senior a commanding officer is (perhaps improving accountability). That might look like this:
As for promotion (particularly for supervisory ranks), there’s no reason to make significant changes from the current system which requires experience, assessment and matching to vacancies (if successful).
At the moment, more senior ranks require an interview board. We could move to requiring an examination to move from a supervisory rank (i.e. Inspector) to a higher command/stategic policing rank (Chief Inspector/Captain). Promotions from that point onwards would be based on interview boards and overall performance.
Should PCSOs be abolished?
If PCSOs are maintained then this section is moot.
If it’s decided they should be phased out, then all serving PCSOs could be fast-tracked to constables. Community policing and community outreach should be something all police officers have experience of doing at some point in their careers and you don’t need a special type of officer to do that (in my opinion).
The idea behind the creation of PCSOs is that they would free up time for police officers and be a visible presence on the streets without the same cost as recruiting more constables. But with the limited powers at their disposal as soon as they have to deal with something remotely serious, constables have to get involved anyway. So it’s responsibility without power and it does them a disservice so they get unfairly called “plastic police” and alike.
Some police forces in England – notably Norfolk – have either already abolished PCSOs or have considered it. In Wales, by contrast, the Welsh Government has provided funding to maintain numbers (PCSOs are a Labour baby after all).
874 PCSOs were serving in the four Welsh police forces as of March 20212. While it would cost a fair sum of money to fast-track them to full-time or part-time constable status (namely via an increase in pay and training costs), as they already have some prior policing experience and will have likely already met existing recruitment requirements the process may be much quicker and a special conversion course could be developed with a shorter probationary period.
Although the number and location of police stations is mainly an operational matter, there may be a case for revisiting “police houses”/micro-stations (perhaps co-located with other community facilities) – particularly in areas with high levels of antisocial behaviour or fear of crime. Community policing teams could be based there and all officers can access welfare facilities when on patrol. Instead of having one big police station serving a town, we could have lots of smaller stations in communities supported by a larger strategic station/small headquarters.
Special Constables
Special constables are voluntary/auxiliary police officers who (in England and Wales) usually have to work a minimum of 200 hours per year. They have the same powers and responsibilities as full constables – though usually work under their command – and are unpaid (though they may receive certain perks).
As of March 2021, there were just under 500 special constables in Wales2 – the vast majority of whom work in the South Wales and North Wales force areas.
As mentioned earlier, it’s a good idea for prospective full-time police officers to spend time as a special constable – particularly while studying for the necessary qualifying degree.
To make the role more attractive, it may be worth considering reducing the annual time commitment (to 96 hours a year – as is usually the case in Scotland) and introducing a bounty (similar to military reservists). It may also be a good way to recruit additional women and people of colour if they can volunteer on duty in a specific area or community.
2.- UK Home Office, (31st March 2021). Police workforce England and Wales statistics. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2021
