Police authorities have today affirmed that the widely reported concerns of ‘top cop’ Sir Hugh Orde are reflective of much wider worries amongst the majority of the public and professionals about the government’s rushed reforms to policing.

APA Chairman, Cllr Rob Garnham  said:

“The Government is proposing a fast track revolution in policing and there’s little evidence that either the public want it or that the professionals think it’ll all work.

Recent polls show 65% of the public don’t want US imports of elected Police Commissioners*. The public and police professionals are agreed that if this risky reform goes wrong, the impact of a politicised police force, overseen only by a single individual could potentially have painful consequences for the future of relations between the public and the police. 

Whilst the Government’s recent amendments in the House of Lords to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill go some way to addressing our concerns, we remain deeply worried that putting policing into the hands of solo Commissioners could cost more, deliver less, and damage, not deepen recent gains in the levels of public confidence in policing.”

ENDS.

Notes

• *Public Opinion:statistics are taken from nationwide polls: YouGov polled 2,391 adults for Liberty, published 30.03.11: http://bit.ly/fYgR9w

• Sir Hugh Orde,Chair of the Association of Chief Police Officers today addressed the ACPO summer conference and stated: "We understand the government's determination to deliver a substantial programme of reforms across the public sector, but we cannot afford to get policing wrong and, unless greater clarity emerges in the very near future, I fear we run the risk of compromising the safety of citizens for reasons of expediency”

• Sir Hugh’s Full speech:  http://www.acpo.police.uk/ContentPages/Speeches/SirHughOrdespeechatLeadingChangeinPolicingConferen.aspx