Arresting developments

By J.D.

THIS week Lord Stevens, a former commissioner of the Metropolitan police, released a lengthy report on how best to reform the police. Everyone, it seems, is anxious to transform the service. The government has slashed its budget and introduced Police and Crime Commissioners. It wants to introduce direct entry. Most recently "plebgate" and the phone-hacking scandal have reignited the debate about how best to police the police. With Lord Stevens' report, which was carried out for the Independent Police Commission which was established by Yvette Cooper, the shadow Home Secretary, Labour is now getting in on the act.

He comes down hard on Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), describing them as fatally flawed. Earlier this month in a report by Policy Exchange, a centre-right think tank favoured by the prime minister, Theresa May, the home secretary, said they had been a roaring success. As Tim Newburn of LSE argues, both judgments are probably somewhat hasty. PCCs have only been around for a year. Lord Stevens' criticism—that there is little public knowledge or support for them—is not without merit. In a YouGov poll this month only 5% of those asked thought PCCs had made the police more accountable. After just one year, both judgments seem to come a bit soon.

The report recognises the changed social context of policing. It points out that the changing nature of crime demands change from the police. The structure of 43 forces in England and Wales is dysfunctional. It is neither cost effective nor able to meet the challenges of organised and cross-border crime. Plenty of police officers would agree with him. Some look with envy towards Scotland which this year merged its eight forces into one. The report identifies three possible alternatives to the current set-up: locally negotiated mergers and collaboration agreements; regionalised forces; or one or two national police forces (either one for England and Wales or one each). But Lord Stevens stops short of saying which of these options would be best. He merely recommends that detailed proposals be drawn up for all three. That feels like a cop out.