Clarity call on choice for top police job

Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said Tom Winsor was the wrong man for chief constables to turn to for advice on difficult operational decisions, such as terrorism.

The new model of policing puts the chief inspector of constabulary in a more regulatory role, Sir Hugh said.

His comments come after Home Secretary Theresa May’s decision to make Mr Winsor the Government’s preferred candidate for the £200,000-a-year role upset many rank-and-file officers.

“It is a historic moment in that it is the first time that a non-sworn officer has been appointed to that role in the history of policing in this country,” Sir Hugh told the Policing 2012 conference in Westminster.

He said that whenever he faced a challenging operational issue as chief constable in Northern Ireland, such as around terrorism, the inspectorate would be one of his first ports of call for advice. “In the new model, those are not the sort of issues I’d expect to ring Tom and his people about, because simply he’s the wrong person,” Sir Hugh said.

“We are going to seek clarity on how the new landscape looks as a consequence of that decision.”

Mr Winsor defended his proposals for the most wide-ranging reforms to police pay and conditions in more than 30 years, saying merit should be the only criterion for entry and advancement in the police service.

“For too long policing has been unfairly regarded by many as an occupation of an intellectually largely undemanding nature, with more in common with blue collar workers who clock in and clock out,” he said. “Policing today is entirely different.

“The attitudes of some police officers remain fastened in that mindset and I believe that is holding them back.”