Direct entry scheme will not solve crisis in detective policing

12 June 2018

A new Home Office direct entry scheme allowing graduates to train to become detectives in just 12 weeks will create a two-tier system that will undervalue the important role detectives perform, according to Leicestershire Police Federation secretary Matt Robinson.

And Matt, a former detective himself, says the initiative will not solve the detective recruitment and retention issues many forces are currently facing.

Instead, he believes more needs to be done to encourage officers with policing experience to become detectives and then support them in the role.

“There needs to be an investment in officers with the knowledge and enthusiasm for investigative work,” says Matt, “They should be offered more opportunities to work in investigation. Schemes already available have failed to find suitable candidates.

“We already have support staff colleagues who assist in the investigation of crimes and do a great job. These are valuable to the detectives working around them and they have never had the desire to become police officers.

“Sadly, the investment announced for this scheme is nowhere near enough to make a difference in forces that are facing a crisis in detective policing.”

The Home Office says forces will be able to boost the number of detectives by up to 1,000 in the next five years after Government funding was announced for the new national training programme.

The Home Office will work with Police Now, the police graduate recruitment programme, to develop the scheme. It will provide £2.8 million for Police Now in 2018/19 and an extra £350,000 for the detective entry programme.

But Karen Stephens, secretary of the Police Federation’s National Detectives’ Forum, says the scheme is not the answer to the crisis in detectives policing caused by heavy workloads and increased demand and says it’s an insult to experienced and hard-working detectives.

“The service and the public deserve better than detective officers who will be trained ‘in a matter of months’.  Let’s not forget that detective officers deal with the most depraved and complex of crimes – this requires experience. Also, new, inexperienced detectives will require a lot of supervision, putting extra pressure on those already in service,” Karen explains.

“What about encouraging officers we already have in service to move into investigative policing?  What about making detective policing a desired career choice?  What about listening to the practitioners and voice of the service?

“The answer is not to disregard the skills and experience we already have or show complete disrespect for officers who have worked hard to become investigators.”