THE Home Secretary has signalled the return of national police targets, saying that after the investment in policing the Government would measure \u201coutcomes\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners summit, Priti Patel said there would be \u201cno excuses\u201d for not cutting crime and that \u201coutcomes\u201d in key areas would be measured.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent said outcomes were targets in all but name.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cAll it does is encourage bean counting, a target culture. You can\u2019t put a target on what you do. In policing, every job you go to is different and it should be treated differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t expect to go to one sort of criminal damage where kids have kicked a fence down and treat it in the same way as a racially motivated attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m trying to illustrate by that is that everything has to individually catered for. Police officers are professional people who need to be able to exercise their judgment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need to be aware that their judgement will be scrutinised and they need to make appropriate, reasonable, risk-assessed decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if we start pushing targets out, you\u2019re going to get the whole situation again where people are under pressure to stop and search people and it may not be for legitimate reasons. It\u2019s a return to the dark days and we need to move away from them.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, police officers policing rural areas will be expected to get similar targets to police officers who are working in an inner-city area with high crime. It just can\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe drip-down effect of that is that managers feel under pressure from their manager to get targets, who then feel pressure from their manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get managers who are probably not robust as they should be, who say: \u2018Right then you lot, you\u2019ve got to go and lock five people up for a domestic this week\u2019. That\u2019s dangerous, it\u2019s unlawful, and it\u2019s something that I rally, I venomously fight, against.\u201d<\/p>\n