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Police Federation CCC – Daily Press Alert (03.07.2008)
1. BBC News - Police fear bully accusations
2. Daily Express - Letters: Police on the beat
3. The Times - Deskwork and indiscipline are turning us into paper tigers say Police
4. Daily Telegraph - Beat Police spend half their day on paper say report
5. Daily Mirror - PCs walk all over sergeants
6. South Lincs Target - Police fears for service after cuts
7. Cornish Guardian - On the beat: news
8. Derby Eve Telegraph - Police hoping to bowl over locals
9. Daily Star - I want Police on streets
10. Evening Standard - Inconsistency in role of Police Sergeants
Public Affairs
• The Prime Minister faces questions from the Liaison Committee in the House of Commons today
• A new report from HM Inspectorate of Police has found that frontline police sergeants spend almost half their time on paperwork and just 10 per cent at crime scenes. Tony McNulty, the police minister, said: "Much work to reinforce the support already given to sergeants is under way."
Police fear bully accusations
3 July 2008
BBC News
Police sergeants are afraid to challenge scruffy constables because they fear being accused of bullying, an official report suggests.
The Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) report also discloses that nearly half a frontline sergeant's time is spent on paperwork.
The HMIC suggests sergeants in England and Wales are issued with a set of standards to improve effectiveness.
Police Minister Tony McNulty said the report "raised important issues."
No fibre
In the report, which consists of a survey and interviews with 4,800 police officers, one chief superintendent is quoted as saying that there is "no enforcement" of the police dress code.
He said: "The sergeants do not have the necessary fibre to challenge the constables.
"This is due to the culture of counter-bullying, where constables who are challenged take a grievance out against the sergeant who challenged them, stating they have been bullied in the workplace."
One sergeant complained: "I am fed up with the amount of times I have to justify myself to PCs when I've given them a lawful order."
Dangerous dog
HMIC inspectors say they witnessed a number of incidents which led them to express concern about the "conduct and professionalism" of police officers.
These included a newly-qualified constable who initially refused to go to the scene of a dangerous dog loose in a garden because he was "not going to put himself in danger".
Another sergeant admitted after a shift briefing that officers had not used an electronic intelligence because they "didn't like using the computer" and preferred to keep a book instead.
The report, commissioned last year by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Ronnie Flanagan, also found that 45% of a sergeant's time was spent on paperwork - 31% on general administration and 14% on management and human resources.
This is despite government promises to cut the amount of time frontline police officers spend filling in forms.
'Urgent need'
The report says there is an "urgent need" to re-examine processes for preparing frontline sergeants for their roles, and for the significant responsibility they carry.
It calls for a review of leadership skills and recommends that the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) and the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) should develop a set of national standards for the role of frontline sergeant.
Mr McNulty said of the report: "We will look hard at the recommendations and I welcome their broad thrust.
"The hard work and commitment shown every day by the police service's sergeants is key to the delivery of frontline police services to the public."
He said the government would soon publish proposals in a Green Paper on policing which would show "how we will ensure that leadership on all levels can effectively support standard setting for the frontline".
Letters: Police on the beat
3 July 2008
Daily Express
Julie Nesbit - Chairman of the Constables' Central Committee of the Police Federation of England and Wales - letter to the Express
Deskwork and indiscipline are turning us into paper tigers, say police sergeants
3 July 2008
The Times
Frontline police sergeants spend almost half their time on paperwork and just 10 per cent attending the scenes of crime and incidents, according to a report published today.
In it sergeants complained that they were swamped by paperwork related to targets and work performance.
One officer said: "Click, click, tap, tap best describes my job; mainly recording performance figures."
The finding that frontline sergeants were spending 45 per cent of their time on paperwork is highly embarrassing for the Police Service and the Home Office, which have often pledged to cut red tape to get officers out on the beat.
Sergeants also reported that they were afraid to challenge scruffy constables in case they were accused of bullying and that they were not adequately trained or supported to supervise constables.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Police carried out the review because of a growing recognition that the role of frontline sergeant had been "underplayed and undervalued". There are 21,700 sergeants in England and Wales, out of 139,000 police officers.
Jane Stichbury, one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary and the review leader, said she was surprised at the figures but added: "We all know the amount of time taken up by e-mails. There has to be some bureaucracy.
The challenge is to say 'What are people actually doing sitting plugged into a computer when they need to be outside?' " The report said that the inspectorate was surprised to find many sergeants concerned about an erosion of basic professional standards. One chief superintendent said in the report: "There is no enforcement of the dress code. The sergeants do not have the necessary fibre to challenge the constables. This is due to the culture of counter-bullying, where constables who are challenged take a grievance out against the sergeant who challenged them, stating they have been bullied in the workplace."
Inspectors expressed concern about the "conduct and professionalism" of the police after witnessing a number of incidents during their reviews.
They saw one trainee constable spend 15 minutes assessing whether he needed to wear a fluorescent jacket at a car crash; a newly qualified constable initially refusing to go to the scene of a dangerous dog loose in a garden because he was "not going to put himself in danger"; and a sergeant admitting after a shift briefing that an electronic intelligence system had not been used because they "didn't like using the computer".
The team also heard a sergeant failing to brief his staff on fireworks legislation on Bonfire Night, saying: "I am not going to read all that [expletive].
Ms Stichbury also found many sergeants had little or no experience in areas such as preparing a case file or appearing in court. She was critical of the failure of the police service to test or identify leadership skills. She recommended that the police adopt the approach of the Army and identify an individual's ability to lead in crises, maintain discipline and deliver objectives.
The report concluded: "There is an urgent need to re-examine processes for preparing frontline sergeants for the role, and for the significant responsibility it carries."
Tony McNulty, the Police Minister, said: "Much work to reinforce the support already given to sergeants is under way."
A SERGEANT'S TIME
Other nonoperational duties 14%
Managing performance of team 14%
Out at incidents 10%
Managing incidents from control room 10%
Custody duties 10%
Liaising with other team units/ individuals 7%
Training 3%
Other 3%
General admin 31%
Source: The Review of Policing
Beat police spend half their day on paperwork, says report
3 July 2008
The Daily Telegraph
FRONT-LINE police officers spend nearly half their working day filling out forms instead of walking the beat, a report has claimed.
According to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), police sergeants reported spending an average of 45 per cent of their time on paperwork.
This is despite pledges from the Home Office to reduce red tape and a major campaign from the Police Federation to cut down on form-filling.
In addition, the report said 31 per cent of a sergeant's time was spent on general administration and 14 per cent on management and human resources red tape.
One officer said he spent the first hour of his shift clearing emails and felt "swamped'' by bureaucracy.
The 190-page report, based on a survey and interview of 4,800 officers, also found that many police sergeants are afraid to challenge scruffy constables because they fear being accused of bullying. Some officers identified declining standards in the force, including untidy and lackadaisical constables who "get away with blue murder''.
The HMIC team uncovered a series of incidents which failed to match the picture of British policing painted by chief constables and the Home Office.
A spokesman for the Police Federation said: "We have been calling for a reduction in red tape for a long time. Too much paperwork means front-line sergeants are stopped from doing their job on the streets.''
The survey, Leading From the Front Line, focused on the role of the sergeant in policing and concluded that although it remained invaluable, there is a "widespread fundamental skills gap''.
"There is an urgent need to re-examine processes for preparing front-line sergeants for the role, and for the significant responsibility it carries,'' it said. "Leadership skills are not specifically tested or identified in current promotion processes, and this should be reviewed.''
The report added that "the status afforded to the role of sergeant in previous generations has been, to varying degrees, eroded''.
It recommended that the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) should develop a set of national standards for the role of front-line sergeant.
One officer reported to the HMIC that they received "no formal training for my position'' and another said that after promotion, there was a two-year wait for courses.
Tony McNulty, the police minister, said of the report: "It raises important issues. We will look hard at the recommendations and I welcome their broad thrust.
"The hard work and commitment shown every day by the police service's sergeants is key to the delivery of frontline police services to the public.
"Much work to reinforce the support already given to sergeants is under way.
"The NPIA is supporting development of a national leadership strategy for the service which will promote excellent operational management at all levels of the service.''
PCs walk all over sergeants
3 July 2008
Mirror
POLICE standards are slipping because sergeants lack the "fibre" to keep PCs in line, a report warns.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary said constables no longer respect the rank and are becoming more untidy, lazy and rude. They let them get away with "blue murder" for fear of complaints
One chief superintendent said: "The sergeants do not have the necessary fibre to challenge the constables.
"This is due to the culture of counter-bullying, where constables take a grievance out against the sergeant."
One sergeant revealed: "I saw a sergeant say to a PC on his team, 'You need a haircut'.
"He said, 'You can talk. You look a bag of s**t'. But the sergeant didn't do anything."
The report also said the average sergeant spends 45 per cent of their time on paperwork. Police Minister Tony McNulty admitted it "raises important issues".
Police fears for services after cut
2 July 2008
South Lincs Target
Policing across the Skegness and Spilsby area will be left at stalemate, with no more officers than 10 years ago, after the Government's decision to cap the rise in Lincolnshire Police's council tax precept.
Last year the police authority announced drastic plans to hike its council tax precept by an inflation-busting 78.9 per cent - about £100 per household - to help plug a £7million funding shortfall and also allow investment in the force.
Now, the figure is set to be "capped" at 26 per cent.
Following the decision, Chief Constable Richard Crompton said the people of Lincolnshire would "not be as safe as they should be".
Although no police officers are to lose their jobs, plans to employ an additional 100 police officers and PCSOs will have to be abandoned.
In particular, Chief Constable Richard Crompton had wanted to increase the number of officers monitoring serious offenders, including sex offenders, where he says there are currently not enough officers to provide people with the required level of "reassurance and security".
He added: "The Government decision means we cannot make the investment into policing in Lincolnshire which we know is necessary to provide acceptable levels of service.
"I am bitterly disappointed that we have been left in this position.
"Nobody wants to pay extra cash but I think if you did a straw poll in Lincolnshire and explained to people how the extra money would be spent, then they would say 'if you are going to do all that then we are happy to pay for it'."
Police Authority chairman Angela Crowe added: "The increase we set to the council tax came after nine months of engagement with the Government, local residents, MPs and key stakeholders.
"It was the most difficult decision the authority has made but we believed it was the right thing to do for the county."
Both Mr Crompton and Mrs Crowe have vowed to continue to lobby the Government for a fairer funding settlement.
However, the Government's decision to reduce the rise was defended by Lincolnshire MP Gillian Merron.
She said: "The Government acted responsibly to protect council tax payers in order to strike a proper balance and have confirmed that the Police Authority did not advance enough of an argument to justify such an increase."
The decision to cap will mean the cost of re-billing every household in Lincolnshire - rumoured to cost as much as £1million - will be passed on to the force.
Lincolnshire Police is the lowest funded force per head of population in the country, receiving £11 million less per year than the next force.
Mr Crompton and Ms Crowe have vowed to continue to lobby the Government for a fairer funding settlement.
On the beat: News from the police in your community
2 July 2008
Cornish Guardian
Firstly thanks to the people of Launceston for searching their properties in the hunt for Charles Barkwell. I would like to remind everyone that Mr Barkwell is still missing, so please do not stop looking. If you have not yet searched your sheds and grounds, please do so. We will never stop looking for him: he is somewhere.
With PCSO Lawrence Hambrook
Members of the community have expressed dissatisfaction with methods of contacting us - primarily the 08452 777444 number. My colleagues and I are constantly being told stories of people using our 08452 number to report an incident - which they felt was not life-threatening but that we should be informed about - only to be kept on hold for so long that they gave up. Some people have waited for between 15 and 20 minutes without getting through.
I would like to address this problem. I propose to write a report about the service and I need data to back up these complaints. So, if you have any such complaints, please e-mail me at lawrence.hambrook@ devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk giving a brief outline of the incident you tried to report and how long you waited on the phone. Alternatively, write to me at Launceston Police Station, Moorland Road, Launceston, Cornwall PL15 7HY. I would also like to know of any good experiences you have had using the number.
? Under-age drinking
Well, summer is under way and we have seen the usual increase in teenagers drinking in the parks, Town Square, The Walk and the Castle Grounds.
Parents, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure that your child complies with the law.
We are only here to enforce it. The Government is soon to empower the police through legislation which puts the onus on parents to take responsibility for their children. One of the new measures to be introduced is a parenting contract to get parents involved in helping their children.
Alcohol is a drug and it is responsible for more deaths in England and Wales than all the other drugs put together. Our children's growing bodies are not developed enough to handle the large volumes of poisons they are taking in.
You have probably seen some of the more colourful characters around our town and on the benches in our town square - it's not too hard to imagine some of our youths joining them in the not too distant future.
It's not just the responsibility of the parents: shops and supermarkets also have a duty to make sure they do not sell to those who are under-age.
If you are not sure of the age of someone seeking to buy alcohol, please ask for identification. No id should mean no sale. You can be fined and your alcohol licence revoked.
And parents, I am not talking about the odd bottle of beer we catch your children with. It's more often crates of beer or bottles of vodka. This is no exaggeration. Last summer we had to call the ambulance service on numerous occasions because some of these children were so drunk they could not stand up. Under-age drinking also leads to damage being caused around the town, with rubbish bins set on fire, shop windows smashed and general disorder. Rubbish bins have also been set alight in the park and bottles smashed in the children's play area and in the flower beds. This causes a major safety hazard to youngsters, gardeners and dog walkers. Parents, with your help we can reduce these incidents.
? Boyracers
We are getting increasing reports of bad driving and anti-social behaviour in the Focus car park at Hurdon Way. These incidents seem to happen late in the evening or in the early hours of the morning. Please ring 08452 777444 with any information or, note the registration number of the vehicles concerned and notify us at a more suitable hour of the day. Let us take a statement from you about the incident and we can deal with it that way.
? Parking
We are still being called to enforce yellow lines and other parking violations. From April 1 these offences were taken over by Cornwall County Council. If you have a problem with parking other than an obstruction - ie of your driveway - please contact the Civil Parking Enforcement Team, New County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3AY, telephone 01872 222000 or e-mail:parking@cornwall.gov.uk
As I have said before, we live in a very low crime area and, with the help of Launceston's residents, we will keep it that way.
If you need to contact the police with a general inquiry, please call 08452 777444. This number is to report a crime or for information or advice. For emergencies, dial 999. This number is to be used if life is threatened, if people are injured, if offenders are nearby or if immediate action is required.
To contact me, or anyone on the neighbourhood team, the office number is 01566 771419. You may get the answer machine, but please leave us your name and number and a short message and one of us will get back to you as soon as possible.
Contact Lawrence on lawrence. hambrook@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk or launceston@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk
Police hoping to bowl over locals
2 July 2008
Derby Evening Telegraph
Police officers are hoping to bowl over residents in Sandiacre during a charity cricket match.
Members of the Sandiacre Safer Neighbourhood Team have organised the event on Sunday, at Risley Cricket Ground, in Derby Road, Risley, from 1pm, and will be challenging a team of local people.
The event is to raise funds for Treetops Hospice's Ripple Appeal, which is aiming to raise £2.5m to build a new care centre, in Risley, for people with life-limiting illnesses.
There will also be a raffle, barbecue and a bar for visitors to enjoy on Sunday.
PCSO Katie Borsley said: "PC Chris Gray and I have visited Treetops Hospice and been amazed at the valuable work they carry out.
"We hope this event will raise a lot of money for the cause."
Chief: I want cops on beat
2 July 2008
Daily Star
TOO many police have been taken off Britain's streets, one of the country's top cops insisted yesterday.
Roger Baker, head of Essex Police, has warned there will be virtually no officers pounding the beat within a decade.
And he has decided to single-handedly take the crime fight back to the streets by rolling out 600 more bobbies into his area.
Chief Constable Baker said: "My fear is that if we are not careful in the next 10 or 15 years there will be virtually no sworn police officers on the streets of this country.
"And I don't think that's a healthy situation for us to find ourselves in."
He says he will put the extra men on the streets by raising the extra cash needed without having to increase council tax bills or make backroom staff redundant.
"People want to see more cops active in their area dealing with nuisance, disorder issues and criminality. That is what they are telling us."
Inconsistency in role of Police sergeants
3 July 2008
Evening Standard
Here is a considerable inconsistency in the definition of the role of police sergeants across the service, a new report has claimed.
The report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) published today calls for a set of national standards to be introduced, adding there is also an irregularity in the preparatory training and support afforded to the sergeants.
The publication reviews general frontline policing and suggests there should be better clarification of the role and expectations for the police officers.
It also finds there are "significant" variations in the levels of confidence and the capability of sergeants needed to effectively perform their role.
Jane Stichbury, of the HMIC, said: "Many of the aspirations of the police service in terms of local engagement, responding to communities' needs and the citizen focus agenda will place the role and readiness of sergeants even more in the spotlight.
"They are referred to in the report as 'guardians of excellence in service delivery' and viewed as critical to the success of that agenda as well as being key to performance management, managing risk, quality of service delivery and inspirational leadership."
Policing minister Tony McNulty said he welcomed the recommendations today's report made.
"Much work to reinforce the support already given to sergeants is underway. The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is supporting development of a national leadership strategy for the service which will promote excellent operational management at all levels of the service," he added.
"We are committed to introducing the cuts in bureaucracy Sir Ronnie Flanagan recommended in full. We have established video identity parades, electronic fingerprinting and civilian staff in custody suites which will save thousands of police hours and we are bringing in hand held computers for the police to increase officer time on the frontline.
"The forthcoming Green Paper on Policing will set out our vision for policing in the future and presents an opportunity to show how we will ensure that leadership on all levels can effectively support standard setting for the frontline."
The Police Federation also said it welcomed the report, claiming that for too long frontline sergeant had been undervalued and suffered from a lack of support