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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/8223225.stm
By Vincent Kearney
BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent
An internal police report has delivered a withering critique of the state of policing in Northern Ireland.
It said police were not delivering an effective service and had lost sight of what was important to communities.
The report said officers in districts spend an average of 61% of their time in stations on administrative tasks.
It said the PSNI does not provide "an effective 24-hour policing service" because officers are not deployed when and where needed.
The report, labelled restricted, was intended exclusively for an internal police readership, which probably explains why the language used was so frank.
Senior officers were tasked with drawing up a strategic vision for the PSNI for the next three to five years. They did not pull any punches.
While it may be stating the obvious to say the main objectives of the police are to prevent crime and catch criminals, the report said "there is little evidence of the PSNI having an over-arching crime prevention strategy" and that the organisation appeared to have "insufficient information" on the factors that cause crime.
The review team called for a fresh approach to end the 9-5 culture it said "has developed in the organisation".
It also said reducing budgets may mean the number of police officers may have to be reduced by 500 from the current level of 7,500.
The report is due to be discussed at a public meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board next week.
Board member Basil McCrea, of the UUP, said that people will have noticed fewer officers on the beat.
"This is not really a critique of the police but the environment we put the police into," he said.
"If we put them into a compliance orientated culture where there is more emphasis being placed on filling in forms about crime than actually solving crime - this is a challenge to society and the oversight bodies, not just to the police."
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2009/08/26 16:45:11 GMT
© BBC MMIX
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8223870.stm
The report said officers spent too much time on administration
Changes are needed to get more officers involved in frontline policing, Assistant Chief Constable Judith Gillespie has said.
Ms Gillespie was speaking in response to a leaked internal police report which said the PSNI was not delivering an effective service.
It said officers in districts spend an average of 61% of their time in stations on administrative tasks.
Ms Gillespie said they had an action plan to address the problem.
"We would acknowledge that we have far too many police officers engaged in routine admin duties," she said.
"We have identified this as the issue and we have identified how we want to move forward in that.
"I would think that, in the weeks and months ahead, people will see changes were we will see officers moved out of admin functions and into frontline services."
The report, entitled Strategic Review 2009: Making Choices for the Future, was compiled between March and May 2009 for the PSNI's senior command team and interviewed officers of all ranks.
It was written by senior officers who were tasked with drawing up a strategic vision for the PSNI for the next three to five years.
The report said the force had lost sight of what was important to communities.
Crime strategy
It said the PSNI did not provide "an effective 24-hour policing service" because officers were not deployed when and where needed.
It also said the organisation appeared to have "insufficient information" on the factors that cause crime and that there was little evidence of it having an over-arching crime prevention strategy.
The report also highlighted concerns within the force about how policing would be governed once policing and justice powers were devolved to the NI Assembly.
"There is much uncertainty on how the tripartite relationship between the PSNI, the NIPB (Northern Ireland Policing Board) and Department of Justice will operate in practice," it said.
The review team called for a fresh approach "to end the 9-5 culture which has developed in the organisation".
It also said reducing budgets may mean the number of police officers may have to be reduced by 500 from the current level of 7,500.
Other issues highlighted included:
- A focus on crime recording and not crime investigation.
- Little discretion, or professional freedom, for officers dealing with offenders.
- Officers complained of huge volumes of paperwork, with one recording a blog of his day and complaining of effectively having to work unpaid overtime to clear files.
- Only 48% of crime is reported to police, with the public often thinking the police could not have achieved anything.
The report is due to be discussed at a public meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board next week.
"The internal review raises a number of issues which will require more detailed discussion with the Acting Chief Constable and the senior officer team," a board spokesperson said.
Board member Basil McCrea, of the UUP, said that people will have noticed fewer officers on the beat.
"This is not really a critique of the police but the environment we put the police into," he said.
"If we put them into a compliance orientated culture where there is more emphasis being placed on filling in forms about crime than actually solving crime - this is a challenge to society and the oversight bodies, not just to the police."
Sinn Fein Policing Board member Alex Maskey said the report told nothing new and only highlighted what people had known for some time.
He said: "Firstly, I welcome the fact that this report is an internal PSNI report and therefore an acknowledgement that these issues, raised by ourselves and others over a period of years, must be addressed."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8224693.stm
The new chief constable of the PSNI, Matt Baggott, will arrive in Northern Ireland to take up the post next month.
His current employers, the Leicestershire Police Authority agreed on Thursday to release him to begin his new job on Monday, September 21.
Sir Hugh Orde's last day in office is next Monday, and the Deputy Chief Constable Judith Gillespie will fill the post until her new boss arrives.
Sir Hugh is to be president of the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Mr Baggott's accession to the top policing job in Northern Ireland is the culmination of a long career in a variety of roles.
As a member of the National Policing Board - which is chaired by the home secretary and provides a similar role in England and Wales - he advises the government on issues ranging from partnership to social cohesion.
The married father-of-three spent his first 20 years as a policeman in the Metropolitan Police.
During this time, he had first-hand experience tackling inner city crime on the tough beats of Brixton, Peckham and Tooting, while also taking on senior roles such as working as staff officer for then-commissioner Sir Paul Condon.
Promotion
He also has experience of working on high-profile, sensitive cases such as the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry.
After leaving the Met, he moved to West Midlands Police in June 1998 as assistant chief constable, with specific responsibility for policing diversity, crime and disorder, professional standards and criminal justice.
He won promotion to deputy chief constable in November 2001, and moved to Leicestershire Constabulary as chief constable in December 2002.
Mr Baggott was awarded a CBE in the 2008 New Year's Honours and the Queen's Police Medal in June 2004.
He was elected a Fellow of University College London in 2006 and received an honorary doctorate from De Montfort University, Leicester, in July 2007.
A devout Christian, he is president of the Christian Police Association, and vice-president of the National Association of Police Chaplains.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2009/08/27 12:59:30 GMT
© BBC MMIX
http://u.tv/News/PSNI-responds-to-critical-report/b0752416-31e5-4bc7-8226-32ee9cebfd02
PSNI responds to critical report
The PSNI’s Assistant Chief Constable Judith Gillespie has said police officers’ time needs to be used more effectively.
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Her comment came after a leaked internal report revealed that the PSNI is being choked by paperwork and needs to be freed up to fight crime.
Ms Gillespie said: "It is a question of making sure that priority emergency calls receive our attention and that's exactly why we want to get police officers that are performing unnecessary administrative tasks back out into responding to that type of call from the public.
"We obviously need to look very carefully at exactly what the jobs that police officers are performing. And first of all ask the question, do we need to be doing that? She asked.
"Because this review focuses on four key things, preventing crime, protecting people and reassuring communities and catching criminals. Now if we are not doing one of those four things, then why are we doing it?"
The leaked document charts the major achievements of the new police service in replacing the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), but now it fears a bureaucratic "compliance-based culture" has blunted its ability to serve the public.
Compiled by senior officers and marked "restricted", it revealed that the police have lost 704 frontline officers in the past three years and that 61% of officers' time is spent inside stations rather than on the beat.
It called for the freedom to reduce its current tally of 7,500 officers and use the savings to employ more civilian staff to do administrative work, which would effectively increase the number of police on the street.
© UTV News
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/PSNI-has-lost-touch-.5593318.jp
Published Date: 27 August 2009
THE PSNI has lost touch of what was important to communities, a damning report has found.
The leaked document, commissioned by outgoing Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde, said officers in districts spend an average of 61 per cent of their time in stations on administrative tasks.
The dossier also slammed policing for not providing "an effective 24-hour policing service" because officers were not deployed when and where needed.
Police have lost 704 frontline officers in the past three years, it revealed.
The shock findings emerged as concern mounted about the PSNI's response to the sighting of an armed dissident republican gang in South Armagh on Friday night. The police patrol withdrew and no one was arrested.
Last night Sir Hugh Orde insisted the document was "not a negative verdict in the state of policing".
"There is one page in that review which clearly identifies what has been achieved in the last seven years and I challenge any other police force to deliver anything close to that in terms of achievement."
The report, entitled Strategic Review 2009: Making Choices for the Future, was compiled between March and May this year for the PSNI senior command team and interviewed officers of all ranks.
It said: "Policing in Northern Ireland has achieved a lot in the 10 years since the Patten Commission reported in 1999.
"It has achieved broad community support, driven crime down and is increasingly reflective of the community it serves, both in religious and gender composition."
But it said that while it is important to build on these successes, it must consider where the service will be in the next five years.
The report recounted how multiple audits of police work have overlapped and proved costly.
It added: "Ten years of oversight and adherence to policing plan targets has resulted in a degree of mission drift - we have to some extent lost sight of what is important to communities, resulting in an unwillingness to exercise discretion by officers delivering the service at frontline."
It called for the freedom to reduce its current tally of 7,500 officers and use the savings to employ more civilian staff to do administrative work, which would effectively increase the number of police on the street.
The report said: "There is much uncertainty on how the tripartite relationship between the PSNI, the NIPB (Northern Ireland Policing Board) and Department of Justice will operate in practice."
It added: "Terrorism is also highly likely to persist beyond 2012 and the PSNI will be requested to respond to this threat whether it emanates from domestic or international sources."
Among the shortcomings highlighted were:
40 per cent of public demand related to anti-social behaviour, but "we spend only 4 per cent of our time dealing with it";
there was a focus on "crime recording and not crime investigation";
little discretion or professional freedom for officers dealing with offenders;
officers complained of huge volumes of paperwork, with one recording a blog of his day and complaining of effectively having to work unpaid overtime to clear files and only 48 per cent of crime is reported to police, with the public often thinking the police could not have achieved anything.
Policing Board member Ian Paisley Jnr said: "This was a review that was written for the police by the police and is nothing that they are not aware of and they at the worst cases.
"It is now up to them to look at fixing the problems and up to the Policing Board to hold them to account."
Fellow Policing Board member Basil McCrea, of the UUP, said that people will have noticed fewer officers on the beat.
"This is not really a critique of the police but the environment we put the police into," he said. "If we put them into a compliance-orientated culture where there is more emphasis being placed on filling in forms about crime than actually solving crime - this is a challenge to society and the oversight bodies, not just to the police."
SDLP Policing Board member, Alex Attwood said: "This is certainly plain speaking from the PSNI and they need that because policing needs a new phase of reform not least to deal once and for all with those elements still within the police who resist the changes in particular moving police officers from behind desks to the ground doing what the public want in the north."
A statement released last night from the Policing Board said: "The internal review raises a number of issues which will require more detailed discussion with the Acting Chief Constable and the senior officer team.
"A further discussion on the Review is scheduled for next week's Board meeting."
Updated: 11/5/2009
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