About Police Authorities
What is a Police Authority?
A police authority is an independent body made up of local people.
MAP - showing relevant Councils appointing to Police Authorities
MAP - showing all local authorities by Police Authority area
The police authority’s job is to make sure that you have an efficient and effective local police force.
There is a police authority for each local police force - 43 in all in England and Wales – plus an additional one for British Transport Police. In Northern Ireland the police authority is called the Policing Board but it has a similar role to police authorities in England and Wales
All police authorities are members of the Association of Police Authorities.
Ten things you need to know about your Police Authority
Please click here to find out what they are.
Who is on the Police Authority?
Most police authorities have 17 members:
- 9 local councillors appointed by the local council
- 8 independent members selected following local advertisements, at least one of whom must be a magistrate
The Metropolitan Police Authority has 23 members because of London’s size.
8.5% of all police authority members are from minority ethnic backgrounds and 30.7% are women (Nov 2007).
What does the Police Authority do?
The police authority sets the strategic direction for the force and holds the chief constable to account on behalf of the local community. Delivering policing services is the job of the chief constable.
The police authority:
- Holds the police budget and decides how much council tax should be raised for policing
- Appoints (and dismisses) the chief constable and senior police officers
- Consults widely with local people to find out what they want from their local police
- Sets local policing priorities based on what local people say matters to them and targets for achievement
- Monitors everything the police do and how well they perform against the targets set by the authority
- Publishes a 3 year plan and an annual plan which tells local people what they can expect from their police service and reports back at the end of the year
- Makes sure local people get best value from their local police
- Oversees complaints against the police and disciplines senior officers
What’s the Police Authority for?
To make sure that the local police are accountable for what they do to you – the people who live or work in the area and that you have a say in how you are policed.
|