We need to take the politics out of operational policing

I WAS disappointed but not surprised to see the Chief Constable of Humberside attacking the new role of police and crime commissioners (Yorkshire Post, March 26), as it is the failure of the present system of police authorities that has allowed Chief Constables to become all powerful and increasingly unaccountable.

The recent cynical decision of the police authority to raise the precept by 3.99 per cent is a clear demonstration that the police authority are acting in the interests of the police and not the public they are supposed to serve.

Cynical because, had the increase been just .01 per cent more, a local referendum would have been triggered to allow the people of East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire to decide if they wished to pay more.

For some time, it has appeared to me that the police authority acts as the representatives of the police to the community which is the opposite of what they are there for.

The creation of PCCs is a major step to increasing accountability. There will be some risk, especially if the wrong person is elected having stood for the wrong reasons, but it will instantly reset the balance and residents will have a single person representing their concerns and whom they can and will hold to account.

In this country we have seen how bureaucracy has grown and seemingly taken over. With the democratic controls increasingly ineffective, direct democracy through the ballot box is one of the best ways to bring our public services back under local control, delivering what people need, want and ultimately are paying for.

Humberside Police cost taxpayers £160m per year; they simply have to achieve more with less as local tax payers do not have bottomless pockets. Difficult decisions have to be made, decisions that are inherently political.

We need to strip politics from operational policing and halt the march of political correctness that has infected the police service. We have to re-establish public confidence after institutional corruption was exposed by the phone hacking scandal but, most importantly, we must free up our police officers from the bureaucratic burdens and get them back to where they belong, on the streets fighting and deterring crime rather than behind desks.

From: Peter Hyde, Kendale View, Driffield.

WHY do successive governments feel the need to tinker and interfere with the police service?

When I joined the police in 1953, detectives had the experience to detect crime gained over a number of years and an intimate knowledge of the local criminals. Patrol officers knew their patch and its residents – both law-abiding and criminally minded. Men and women got promoted after passing the requisite examinations and having proved their worth in their chosen fields. Then came tenure of office and good detectives were put back into uniform and uniform officers were made detectives. Crime rose. Yes, the Metropolitan Police had entry at sub-inspector level but they worked under an experienced Station Sergeant to gain experience. Police and Watch Committees controlled Chief Officers.

Then we got Bramshill and officers were promoted early after two years’ experience and a good pass mark. Now the Government wants to put people with no experience in at high ranks. How can such people hope to enjoy the respect of officers who have gone through the system?

Bramshill has produced some very good officers but it also managed to produce a few dummies to be carried by the rank and file. There is nothing to touch experience in matters of police work and all the tinkering and creation of police tsars won’t improve matters.