National group plan for specialist police roles

ARMED policing, surveillance, major investigations and other specialist capabilities are to be joined up through a national network to save money, chief constables have revealed.

The move was announced as one of five priorities for reform in a document published by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

Policing Vision 2025 said: “To better protect the public, we will enhance our response to new and complex threats, we will develop our network and the way we deliver specialist capabilities by reinforcing and connecting policing locally, nationally and beyond.

“We will do this by enhancing and focusing on capability [and] developing the way policing is structured so more specialist services are shared and delivered in the most effective way through national, cross-force or hub structures.”

The move will free up cash to be reinvested into policing, the document added.

It listed four other “priorities for reform” to be initiated by 2025.

Local policing will remain the bedrock of British policing, the report said, but with far more integration with health, education, social services and community projects to intervene early to resolve the problems that cause crime and anti-social behaviour, reducing demand on policing and other public services.

Police officers will be trained and equipped to respond to the dramatic rise in cybercrime and the processes for sharing evidence will become completely digital. It will also be made easier for the public to report crimes online.

There will be more focus on making policing more representative of its communities and finding a better balance between personal accountability and a bureaucratic fear of making mistakes, chiefs said.

And business support functions such as IT and human resources will be consolidated in cross-force units or integrated with local authorities and emergency services – with more shared procurement to reduce costs.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair Sara Thornton said: “Over the last 12 months, police chiefs and PCCs have worked together to think carefully about the next stage of police reform and the changes that are needed to improve policing for the public.

“We have focused on five areas of change, which collectively will make us better at fighting crime and protecting people in a cost-effective way. We are now getting to work to make these important changes happen.”