Police should learn from other public services, says new chief inspector

29 Apr 13
The police could become more efficient and effective by looking at how other public services have reorganised themselves, new chief inspector Tom Winsor said today.

By Vivienne Russell | 29 April 2013

The police could become more efficient and effective by looking at how other public services have reorganised themselves, new chief inspector Tom Winsor said today.

Changes should include forces sharing intelligence and aligning their operational practices as far as possible.

‘However big a force may be, it has neighbours, and offenders of course do not respect force boundaries. Interoperability and the absolute minimum of interfaces are essential to efficiency and effectiveness, and it is my view that a police force which takes an isolationist stance is not operating efficiently,’ he said.

Winsor, who is a former rail regulator, said the police could learn from the energy and transport sectors, which had to establish a network of common standards before they were privatised.

‘It is worthy of serious consideration whether the police service should, in matters such as information and communications technology, intelligence sharing and perhaps procurement, have regard to how some of these things were done in these other public service cases.’

Making his first speech as chief inspector, Winsor said the focus of the watchdog should be to focus on the public interest and examine policing from the perspective of the public. The inspectorate will also place a renewed emphasis on crime prevention, assessing forces on their work in this area.

‘The prevention of crime is the primary purpose of policing, and this purpose should never be forgotten or diluted,’ said Winsor.

A new inspection programme is currently out to consultation and will close on May 7. As well as preventative policing, this covers police attendance, leadership and culture and the efficiency of the police’s working practices.

Meanwhile, the centre-Right Policy Exchange think-tank has suggested that police forces could save money by shutting out-of-date stations and opening more local offices in shopping centres and other well-visited public locations.

Its Rebooting the PC report, published today, suggests that the police need to develop more imaginative ways of interacting with the general public and increase visibility and availability.

Spacer

CIPFA logo

PF Jobsite logo

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top