DIRECT entry is a \u201cworrying\u201d development in policing that threatens the office of constable, the director of human rights group Liberty has warned.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Police Federation of England and Wales\u2019 annual conference in Bournemouth this week, Shami Chakrabarti criticised the Coalition Government\u2019s reform agenda. She said: \u201cPolitics should not be intertwined with the office of constable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Chakrabarti said she was concerned that an \u201cofficer class\u201d would develop under the scheme where people are being parachuted in at superintendent level.<\/p>\n
It is being introduced in Avon and Somerset, British Transport Police, City of London, Metropolitan Police Service, North Yorkshire, Sussex, West Yorkshire in a bid by the Government to \u201cprofessionalise\u201d the police service.<\/p>\n
However, not everyone is an advocate and Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy said he would never introduce the scheme at Greater Manchester Police.<\/p>\n
Highlighting that former military personnel had apparently been attracted to direct entry at the senior rank, Ms Chakrabarti\u00a0told conference delegates: \u201cI would not more want a trained soldier directing a junior constable than a retired brain surgeon becoming a lawyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that (direct entry) is about to be introduced but we should watch it carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Chakrabarti also criticised the introduction of police and crime commissioners, saying it had been a \u201cfailure\u201d after the majority of the electorate declined to vote.<\/p>\n
Fewer than 15% of voters turned out in the 41 English and Welsh police areas electing a PCC, a peacetime low.<\/p>\n
Ms Chakrabati said: \u201cI have profound concerns \u2013 we should be looking at getting the commitment of all the major political parties to reverse (this policy)\u2026after the next General Election.\u201d<\/p>\n
She suggested that a committee of people to oversee law enforcement governance matters was a safer option than the present system \u2013 which she said saw politicians getting too close to operational law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Neil Bowles, chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said:\u00a0“It’s a strange sign of the times, when the Police Federation have more in common with Shami Chakrabarti, the Director of Liberty, than the current Home Secretary.”<\/p>\n