Practical policing

Where there should be agreement, however, is the need for Chief Constables – and their police authorities – to have the scope to take decisions which are in the best interests of their force, rather than Whitehall directives taking precedence over a local community’s best interests.

This is pertinent here where Yorkshire’s four police forces are working collaboratively, on procurement and operational issues, to reduce their overheads. Yet, as Ms Cooper’s government found out when it was forced to back down over its plans to merge constabularies, residents – and the police – still favour a service that is driven by local interests rather than a remote control centre where staff may not know the geographical nuances of an area.

This is re-enforced by West Yorkshire Police which, in spite of its financial predicament, has chosen to scale back its three main control centres and put a greater onus on eight local divisions to respond to calls from the public.

In some respects, the easy option would have been for the force to try and make the existing arrangements work. But, in deciding to strengthen local accountability, it believes that its work can become even more effective by devolving more responsibility to individual divisions.

This also reflects the fact that there are contrasting priorities within different parts of West Yorkshire. That said, the police – nationwide – still face an uphill struggle in meeting the public’s increased expectations at a time when Ministers are demanding such swingeing savings. This has to be acknowledged.