From my point of view everything was less complex in the 70's and 80's. Want to put some people out in plain clothes on a ND burglary patrol? No problem. Likewise want to set up some OP's? Again, no problem, During the 80's and 90's it began to change driven by a desire for accountability, which is no bad thing, but it did lead to a lot of paperwork being generated to show that 'something was being done
There is the usual mention of a privatised police force, I am extremely wary of such a prospect, all the attempts at privatisation I have seen in the police have only added extra levels of bureaucracy and actively made things worse. Can you imagine any private organisation taking on the level of risks that would come with child protection or similar type investigations? The fact is the private sector would cherry pick what they would deal with and walk away from anything that was complex or risky.
Billy Dilly mentioned education and health, full disclosure: one son is a doctor and the other teaches in the private sector. The doctor says private medicine is great for elective type surgery (top tip- choose a private wing/floor on an NHS hospital with an A&E attached otherwise if anything goes wrong out of hours the response is very likely to be sub-optimal and you will likely end up in the A&E or ICU of an NHS hospital). The one who teaches in the private sector says they are ruthless is 'moving on' children who will not do well or are problematic. Of course there are independent schools that cater very well for children with SEN but they are expensive and rare.
There we go then, I'm a proponent of a mixed economy. Some things the state should do, other things the private sector should do. I'm pragmatic but the default option these days seems to be howling partisanship with no room for reasoned discussion.
I'll address two points within the piece, the first is an issue that's affecting everywhere in society but I've only really heard Peter Thiel address it well, in that we've lost our polymaths as we race to hyper-specialise every role.
Thinking of a 3 month spin in CID to see how like it? Better get studying for the NIE and collecting the PIP courses to be able to do anything of substance.
If there's a role that can be made full time away from Response/NPT, then I'll guarantee there's someone in there designing courses and qualifications, so at pull up the ladder behind them and build an empire.
The less exposure to different policing, the more the imagination and the art of the possible is sucked out of the basic patrol resource, whch makes it a more mundane process and easier to fill with sub-optimsl individuals.
The second point is that a Free Force isn't far enough, we should be bringing in Private Police forces so that anyone can experience an organisation that is held to account on a daily basis for the service it provides its customers.
Your first point I couldn't agree with more, I remember the hilariously over-detailed 'role profiles' an ever-burgeoning HR monster demanded in the 2000s. Every single possible job you could do required a special profile listing attributes, 'values', skills and an entire panoply of time-wasting bullshit.
Your second point re. privatisation? This is where a pleasant fantasy crashes into reality. Every instance I've experienced of corporate security provision has been found wanting. Prisons, carparking, traffic enforcement, local bylaws, asylum-seeker security, private guarding... most of it is either dangerously wank or deeply mediocre. Are there pockets of excellence in the private sector? Absolutely. Are they expensive outliers? Absolutely.
I'm a failed libertarian. I do not instinctively trust the state. However, it's the least-worst option. My freedom and liberty should never, ever be entrusted to someone who has profit as their bottom line.
Yes, it would be a revolution. How do those usually turn out, though?
Find me a failed option in the private sector and I'll point out the list of arbitrary rules and regulations along with political reasons interference by the State.
I do get the point about it being a fantasy, as the Blob would never let a private Force the latitude to actually...concentrate on what the public wants.
The nearest would be the much-maligned BTP, Mod Plod or the UK CNC, all are going relatively well within the industries that pay for them, but I'll guarantee you that conforming with Custody, Courts, Crime Recording and HMIC drives that price up and puts off companies from making plans up.
If it works in Education and Health, where the private options far surpass the public sector, there's no reason it wouldn't work in law enforcement?
The ability for say, Carlisle, to attract the best officers with better terms and conditions would put a light under the whole sector.
However, the State will always maintain the monopoly on Violence.
Excellent. As usual. However, these days there is absolutely zero chance of a Cop with a work based attitude getting anywhere near a rank high enough to even begin to make a difference. I doubt less than 1% of senior officers would be able to find their way to Court on foot or by public transport. Assuming that is, they had actually done some Police work at some time or were there to take the credit for the work of others.
Over fifty years ago my first Insp was risk averse, or as we said, a coward. So we brought in as many prisoners as we could to foil him. But this sort of bloodymindedness can't work today with too few bobbies available even for timely response, over filled prisons and backed up courts.
Without massive investment in the whole criminal justice system, it can't be fixed. Meanwhile the bosses who keep the lid on costs by discouraging any affirmative action are the ones getting promoted. Makes me sad. What you say is right as usual but there are few with the cojones to put it into action.
I don’t know if this will be hopeful or not, but as bad as things are in the UK at this moment, please know that Oregon will try its darnedest to beat you on the world stage of whatever. (Though world stage to Oregon mostly means Canada but I digress.) Yet even this odd little U.S. state recently said goodbye to its own Blobby: https://open.substack.com/pub/oregonroundup/p/blobby-we-hardly-knew-ye?r=3rav05&utm_medium=ios.
Of course, they did just appoint an individual who identifies as turtle to advise the state on mental health issues so one step forward two steps back, etc.
From my point of view everything was less complex in the 70's and 80's. Want to put some people out in plain clothes on a ND burglary patrol? No problem. Likewise want to set up some OP's? Again, no problem, During the 80's and 90's it began to change driven by a desire for accountability, which is no bad thing, but it did lead to a lot of paperwork being generated to show that 'something was being done
There is the usual mention of a privatised police force, I am extremely wary of such a prospect, all the attempts at privatisation I have seen in the police have only added extra levels of bureaucracy and actively made things worse. Can you imagine any private organisation taking on the level of risks that would come with child protection or similar type investigations? The fact is the private sector would cherry pick what they would deal with and walk away from anything that was complex or risky.
Billy Dilly mentioned education and health, full disclosure: one son is a doctor and the other teaches in the private sector. The doctor says private medicine is great for elective type surgery (top tip- choose a private wing/floor on an NHS hospital with an A&E attached otherwise if anything goes wrong out of hours the response is very likely to be sub-optimal and you will likely end up in the A&E or ICU of an NHS hospital). The one who teaches in the private sector says they are ruthless is 'moving on' children who will not do well or are problematic. Of course there are independent schools that cater very well for children with SEN but they are expensive and rare.
There we go then, I'm a proponent of a mixed economy. Some things the state should do, other things the private sector should do. I'm pragmatic but the default option these days seems to be howling partisanship with no room for reasoned discussion.
I'll address two points within the piece, the first is an issue that's affecting everywhere in society but I've only really heard Peter Thiel address it well, in that we've lost our polymaths as we race to hyper-specialise every role.
Thinking of a 3 month spin in CID to see how like it? Better get studying for the NIE and collecting the PIP courses to be able to do anything of substance.
If there's a role that can be made full time away from Response/NPT, then I'll guarantee there's someone in there designing courses and qualifications, so at pull up the ladder behind them and build an empire.
The less exposure to different policing, the more the imagination and the art of the possible is sucked out of the basic patrol resource, whch makes it a more mundane process and easier to fill with sub-optimsl individuals.
The second point is that a Free Force isn't far enough, we should be bringing in Private Police forces so that anyone can experience an organisation that is held to account on a daily basis for the service it provides its customers.
It would be a revolution.
Your first point I couldn't agree with more, I remember the hilariously over-detailed 'role profiles' an ever-burgeoning HR monster demanded in the 2000s. Every single possible job you could do required a special profile listing attributes, 'values', skills and an entire panoply of time-wasting bullshit.
Your second point re. privatisation? This is where a pleasant fantasy crashes into reality. Every instance I've experienced of corporate security provision has been found wanting. Prisons, carparking, traffic enforcement, local bylaws, asylum-seeker security, private guarding... most of it is either dangerously wank or deeply mediocre. Are there pockets of excellence in the private sector? Absolutely. Are they expensive outliers? Absolutely.
I'm a failed libertarian. I do not instinctively trust the state. However, it's the least-worst option. My freedom and liberty should never, ever be entrusted to someone who has profit as their bottom line.
Yes, it would be a revolution. How do those usually turn out, though?
Find me a failed option in the private sector and I'll point out the list of arbitrary rules and regulations along with political reasons interference by the State.
I do get the point about it being a fantasy, as the Blob would never let a private Force the latitude to actually...concentrate on what the public wants.
The nearest would be the much-maligned BTP, Mod Plod or the UK CNC, all are going relatively well within the industries that pay for them, but I'll guarantee you that conforming with Custody, Courts, Crime Recording and HMIC drives that price up and puts off companies from making plans up.
If it works in Education and Health, where the private options far surpass the public sector, there's no reason it wouldn't work in law enforcement?
The ability for say, Carlisle, to attract the best officers with better terms and conditions would put a light under the whole sector.
However, the State will always maintain the monopoly on Violence.
Excellent. As usual. However, these days there is absolutely zero chance of a Cop with a work based attitude getting anywhere near a rank high enough to even begin to make a difference. I doubt less than 1% of senior officers would be able to find their way to Court on foot or by public transport. Assuming that is, they had actually done some Police work at some time or were there to take the credit for the work of others.
Over fifty years ago my first Insp was risk averse, or as we said, a coward. So we brought in as many prisoners as we could to foil him. But this sort of bloodymindedness can't work today with too few bobbies available even for timely response, over filled prisons and backed up courts.
Without massive investment in the whole criminal justice system, it can't be fixed. Meanwhile the bosses who keep the lid on costs by discouraging any affirmative action are the ones getting promoted. Makes me sad. What you say is right as usual but there are few with the cojones to put it into action.
I can't get local plod to record a crime nevermind actually investigate it ! Utterly useless. Just no interest or appetite.
I don’t know if this will be hopeful or not, but as bad as things are in the UK at this moment, please know that Oregon will try its darnedest to beat you on the world stage of whatever. (Though world stage to Oregon mostly means Canada but I digress.) Yet even this odd little U.S. state recently said goodbye to its own Blobby: https://open.substack.com/pub/oregonroundup/p/blobby-we-hardly-knew-ye?r=3rav05&utm_medium=ios.
Of course, they did just appoint an individual who identifies as turtle to advise the state on mental health issues so one step forward two steps back, etc.
However, you can probably be confident that progress in that instance will be quite slow.
Stand for PCC. I’ll sell up and move there just to vote you in.
"If this is ‘Performance’, I want my council tax refunded".
No chance. I've asked - several times - for very similar reasons.