'Public must be at the heart of the police professional body'
Responding to the announcement by the Home Secretary on 15.12.11 that a new professional body will be established for the police, APA Chair Cllr Mark Burns-Williamson commented:
“Police Authorities are very proud of the professional police forces and police leaders that they oversee. For all the recent travails of the service, policing is still a vocation fulfilled overwhelmingly by men and women for whom the public can, and indeed do have the utmost respect. The professionalism of officers is evident on a daily basis and reflected in rising levels of public confidence, therefore we welcome this long-overdue development as a fitting tribute to officers of all ranks.
However, police authorities’ experience teaches us that this professional body must include oversight by representatives of the public if it is to foster wider public confidence.
Policing is at its best when it is reflective of the diverse strengths of the communities – the customers - that it serves. Thanks to forces and police authorities working together policing is now much more diverse at entry level.
However, there is still have a long way to go to ensure that police leadership is as reflective of communities as possible.
It is therefore crucial that the public and those representing them have a central role in shaping the future of force leadership in the public interest, and this would be best achieved by their direct involvement at the heart of the police's new professional body.
Organisations of professionals, not least those so dependent on community cooperation as the police, benefit from such diversity. Conversely, there is a danger that any self-regulating elite which is only accountable to itself can become too inward looking. We will continue to work closely with our colleagues in ACPO and the Home Office to ensure that the new Police Professional body not only recognises excellence but embraces diversity, and continues to put the public interest first. ENDS.