Review of Policing comment

Jan Berry, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales: 
 
“Over the last decade we have witnessed the breakdown of a coherent police service with no long-term plan for where we are going. That’s why back in 2000 the Police Federation called for a Royal Commission to take a holistic review of our structures and processes, but unfortunately our calls have fallen on deaf ears. Meanwhile the Government-driven review of policing recently announced is just focused on work force modernisation and the Home Office agenda; there still remains the need for an independent, honest hard look at the realities of policing in England and Wales today. 
 
“Police officers have expressed concern at the mess policing is fast becoming, the erosion of discretion and an uncertainty about the future of the Office of Constable. In the absence of any direction from our political leaders and chief officers, our members are looking to Police Federation to do something to address these issues. Our Joint Branch Boards have made it clear that the ‘status quo’ was not an option and I made it clear at our annual conference that before we move forward we need to conduct extensive consultation with our Federation branch boards and police officers throughout England and Wales. As part of this scoping exercise we will look at all the implications of a review, what would it involve, how to proceed, how long would it take to conduct and how much would it cost? All the implications will then be thoroughly assessed before a decision to move forward is taken
 
“The possibility of undertaking a review of policing has yet to fully assessed and no decision to proceed has been made. Part of the scoping exercise is to review possible costs and this will be taken into account before any final decision to go ahead with this. This will not affect all the day to day work of the Police Federation supporting police officers whether that be dealing with complaints made against them, or assisting with injury and other compensation claims.”