06.12.11
Policing review launched
A review of policing policy is set to be launched today by former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens.
Commissioned by the Labour Party, the independent panel of advisors will review modern challenges the police force faces and how budget cuts can be dealt with.
Lord Stevens told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the review would be completely independent of party politics, and explained: “We’re going to look at the role of the police and what is expected of the police, we’re going to look at how it is going to be delivered, what they deliver in terms of the workforce. We’re going to look at criminal justice system – see how that relationship is – we’re going to look at how the police are held to account.
“We’re going to look at national, local, international priorities and structures and above all we’ve got to accept the fact that there’s not going to be any more money and there’s going to be a reduction in money.”
The panel is expected to report back within 14 to 15 months.
However Blair Gibbs, of the think tank Policy Exchange, which has links with the Conservative Party, told Today that he thought this was not the right time for a review, as there was no ‘crisis’ in policing, and Government reorganisation and budget cuts mean police forces are set to undergo change anyway.
Gibbs said: “Now is not the time to outsource a lot of policy work to a sort of grand commission, when in two years time the landscape of British policing will have changed dramatically.”
The Coalition plans to introduce directly elected police and crime commissioners next year.
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