HMICFRS report which highlights more demand being put on policing comes as no surprise

A NEW report highlighting how vulnerable people are putting more demand on the police comes as ‘no surprise’ – but the reports authors need to bear some responsibility for the stretch being placed on policing.

Steve Kent, Chairman South Yorkshire Police Federation, was reacting after the latest HMICFRS State of Policing 2020 assessment revealed the pandemic had left the public more at risk from online crime and domestic abuse as offences shifted away from the streets.

Report author Sir Tom Winsor criticised what he called the Government’s underfunding of social services, which has meant police officers have often had to pick up the pieces on mental health cases where other agencies cannot.

He also said the backlog in the criminal justice system is causing a downturn in the public’s confidence in policing as cases are not being dealt with promptly.

However Steve said that when it came to police demand, the HMICFRS “are, to an extent, part of the problem”.

Steve said: “Throughout the whole Covid-19 crisis there’s still been HMICFRS expectations out there and HMICFRS measuring tools which have then created within our force which has created a performance culture where it should be about policing quality over quantity.

“We’ve not almost been allowed to deal with what we need to deal with because we still had one eye on HMICFRS expectations, which I’m not only talking to South Yorkshire, every force across the country will be the same, but it’s frustrating because… They are part of the pressure cooker problem.”

Steve added: “They need to start recognising that performance is… It’s a very dangerous thing to measure police officers like for like on performance because it can create unethical practice. This ties in with what Boris Johnson has just said about how they answer 101 calls.

“Well, all you’ve got to have there is a situation here people want to answer the phone quickly but actually don’t give two hoots about what a person says once they answer it because it meets a target.

“We have got to move for an emphasis of quality over quantity and just release the pressure. Police officers are very, very tired as a result of everything that’s going on and also having to fight so many different fires at once.”