Policing is in a crisis, not least because of plummeting public support, following a series of egregious cases involving serving police officers. Indeed, public trust in the British Police is crumbling. Sir Michael Barber, who led the Police Foundation review of policing, said,
‘The problem is significant. And that’s partly a result of the various scandals and really serious incidents that have been reported in the last six months, but it’s also a sense among the public that the basics aren’t being done as they need to be done.’
As has been seen in Barry Loveday’s article (see previous Blog) about restructuring the Met, there is now a sense that public support for the police has deteriorated to such an extent that urgent remedial action is required. This paper will briefly examine the issues and challenges around police recruitment and retention. First, though, is the need to understand the role of the police, since without an acceptable definition, it is impossible to define and agree recruitment criteria. There is common agreement about the fundamentals of the police role, which the Police Foundation notes as:
‘The purpose of the police service is to uphold the law fairly and firmly; to prevent crime; to pursue and bring to justice those who break the law; to keep the Queen’s peace; to protect, help and reassure the community; and to be seen to do this with integrity, common sense and sound judgement.’
There is considerable debate, however, among academics and police practitioners about what the police actually do. In the view of respected criminologists like Reiner, policing has never been primarily concerned about catching criminals. Indeed, he notes:
‘It raises false expectations about what the police can do about crime, condemns them to a quixotic quest beyond their capacity, and neglects what people in practice demand from the police. Its apparent obviousness derives largely from media representations, the main source of “information” about crime and policing for most people. Media stories (both news and fictional) focus overwhelmingly on successful police investigations of very serious violent crimes, especially murder, which form only a small part of the police workload. And the police are spectacularly less successful in clearing up crimes than media stories suggest: far fewer than 2% of crimes result in a conviction.’
It seems clear that the police role covers a variety and wide-ranging list of tasks and responsibilities, with crime-fighting being an important, though not exclusive, element. Police recruitment criteria should encompass the skills, qualities and experiences necessary for the wider definition of the police role. This is an important consideration and explains why there needs to be a new working definition of policing, one from which recruitment criteria can be set with confidence.
Recruitment challenges
Austerity cuts to policing from 2010 to 2019 meant there was a reduction in police numbers of 14.3%, approximately 20,000 officers. Research conducted by the University of Warwick illustrates the impact across all forces in England and Wales. Although the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, recently confirmed his determination to continue with the Police Uplift Programme, which is designed to recruit the 20,000 officers lost through austerity, it will fail to take policing back to pre 2010 position, mainly through attrition. The Police Federation Chair, Steve Hartshorn, said on 4th January, 2023 that record numbers of officers were resigning over inadequate pay and conditions.
Alarming attrition rate of police officers
The attrition rate of new recruits has attracted comments from policing academics. Williams and Sondhi (2022)reviewed the literature on the recruitment of younger officers in the context of the ‘Uplift’ programme to recruit 20,000 new officers, and the implications for policing nationally. Three themes were identified as potential barriers and these were around cultural considerations, well-being and work–life balance considerations and harnessing the skill base through effective recruitment and retention practices.
Neither is it just new recruits being impacted by a sharp decline in well-being and morale. The Police Foundation found that while Austerity and cuts to the core police budget have played a significant role, evidence suggests that poor management of change within policing was also an important factor. Indeed, a Police Federation survey found that the second most cited reason for poor morale was ‘the management of change within the police’. Officers mentioned this more often than concerns about pay or workloads. However, the government comes in for severe censure from police officers, and these survey results are striking. Police Federation National Chair, Steve Hartshorn, said:
‘Police officers are reaching breaking point and are leaving the service in their droves as every element of their pay and conditions has been gradually eroded in the space of a decade.’
Mental health issues and the failure by police forces to address them effectively, have been cited regularly by the Police Federation as both urgent and worrying. The evidence points to a need for further research into the growing incidence of police suicide.
Austerity Round 2
Given the current, and worsening, economic climate, it seems doubtful that there will be any substantial investment in policing and the wider criminal justice system. Some informed commentators, notably Union leaders, have described this as ‘Austerity Round 2’. In an article in Policing Insight, Ian Wiggett believes that with the introduction of further austerity measures, it is unlikely that forces will ever recover their previous strengths. This means police forces will have to make do with fewer officers and resources than would ideally be the case.
Face to face recruitment interviews
Notwithstanding these serious challenges, the service must do all it can in the short term to ensure recruitment procedures are as robust and rigorous as possible. Face to face interviews, although not being used by the Met, are being reintroduced by other forces. Not only must these be reintroduced across the country, attitudinal testing must be significantly improved. Additionally, considerably more focus and support need to be given to police training so that new recruits are given the support and confidence they need to flourish. Finally, renewed focus should be given to the selection, training and performance of supervisors, without which there will be a problematic disjunct.
Conclusion
Policing is in an unprecedented crisis, with plummeting public support and legitimacy and a worsening decline in police morale and well-being. In the longer term, there is now an irresistible demand for a Royal Commission so that policing can brought up to date and be more responsive to the needs of the public, upon which it depends. In the short term, ambulatory measures can be introduced, which will begin to arrest the decline of policing standards and behaviour. Improving recruitment and retention measures must be part of that first aid but without proper investment, they too will be compromised.
Dr Roy Bailey
References
Emma Williams, Arun Sondhi, A Narrative Review of the Literature on the Recruitment of Younger Police Officers in Age and in Service: What Are the Implications for the Police in England and Wales?, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 2022;, paac001, https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paac00
The politics of the police: 5th edition, by Benjamin Bowling, Robert Reiner and James Sheptycki, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2019