The return of police targets could see return of unhealthy results chasing culture, says Federation

11 March 2020

Policing is not a business and must not return to the dark days of target setting, Essex Police Federation has warned.

The Home Office has indicated that ‘outcomes’ in key crime areas are likely to be measured in return for the 20,000 extra officers being promised for the frontline.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said at the recent National Police Chiefs’ Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners summit that she wanted the public to ‘see the difference’ the fresh recruits would make and that success would be measured against a set of national policing outcomes.

Priorities are likely to include reducing murder, serious violence and neighbourhood crime.

“It is an age-old issue of treating the police service as a business,” Steve said.

“In business, in commerce, you have targets, you have figures, you have objectives. It’s more clearly defined. The greatest measure of success in policing would be an absence of crime. The fact is that there’s nothing there to measure. So straight away we’re on a sticky wicket.”

The service has started to move away from that culture, Steve added, with new misconduct regulations now focusing on a more learning and improvement environment.

There’s also so much officers do a daily basis that is impossible to measure or set targets for.

“Culturally, we’ve moved away from a chasing figures culture, and I think that’s healthy.  I would hate to see us slip back into it,” Steve said.

“But at the same time, we have to be; we must be, accountable to our political leadership. We must be targeted. We must be seen to deliver.

“All those things are valid and important. My personal view is that it might be, dare I say it, a lazy option to measure and judge that accountability just by targets.”