The Public Safety Foundation
Writing in today’s Telegraph, amid growing public concern about lawlessness and the state of policing in Britain, our Founder declares:
When the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) model was introduced in 2012, it was sold as a revolution in police governance. The idea was simple: replace faceless police authorities with directly elected individuals, answerable to the public, empowered to hire and fire chief constables, and responsible for pushing the public’s priorities.
A decade on, that promise has not been realised. Too few PCCs are willing – or able – to hold chief constables to account. Too many are content to act as almost invisible cheerleaders for their force rather than a critical friend. And too often, the public’s frustration with crime, antisocial behaviour and poor service is met with platitudes rather than action.
We can restore pride, purpose and effectiveness to law and order in Britain. But we will not do it without changing the incentives and structures that oversee it – from the Home Office and PCCs, through to the College of Policing and the equally disappointing Independent Office for Police Conduct. Change must be non-negotiable.
Commissioner Bratton assembled a top team to turn NYPD around. Making Britain safe again will require a brigade of brave, talented and principled people prepared to relentlessly confront all that is wrong with the status quo across policing, and much besides.
A future government – likely to commit substantial funds to policing and criminal justice – must be radical and decisive: repeal bad laws, abolish what is beyond redemption, and not, as too many have done over the decades, hide away from fulfilling their duty.
