‘College must be more relevant to frontline cops’
15 February 2022
West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke says the College of Policing must become more relevant to frontline officers and look to reduce administrative burdens instead of increasing them, following the publication of a fundamental review into the way it operates.
The review aimed to set out a new vision to improve leadership, standards and professionalism in the service to help cut crime, boost confidence and keep the public safe.
It was carried out last year and has now been published.
The Federation contributed to the review, setting out its views on behalf of members on:
- What the college does particularly well, and where it could improve
- What issues and areas should be prioritised for activity and what should be deprioritised?
- Whether the college is occupying the right part of the policing landscape, or do relationships across policing need amending and, if so, how?
- How the work of the college, across the areas set out, could be better understood and valued by all in policing?
Rich said: “The report highlights that the college is too remote and that many frontline officers aren’t fully aware of it or what it does. In my view, the college is in danger of becoming nothing more than a very expensive ‘woke white elephant’ – a relic of former Home Secretary and Prime Minister Theresa May and a decade in which British policing was systematically dismantled, and from which it has not recovered.
“Recent cases such as that of Harry Miller and the unnecessary recording of ‘non-crime’ matters stemming from their 2014 diktat to forces, have been exposed as a disproportionate interference with free speech.
“The college’s attempts to offer ‘guidance’ on the lawful use of stop and search powers have undoubtedly hampered pro-active policing. Above all, the Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF), in the eyes of many officers, is an unnecessary and huge burden on policing which is simultaneously blocking the recruitment of a more diverse workforce and lumping costly, counterproductive academic and bureaucratic burdens on forces like West Midlands.
“Radical change is clearly needed, if it is to have any credibility for rank and file officers and the college must now use this opportunity to actually benefit the police service as a whole.”
The review highlighted a number of challenges facing the college, including a lack of professional development, insufficient investment in the development of leadership at all ranks, an absence of coordinated strategic thinking across policing, a blurring of responsibilities at a national level and being insufficiently equipped to respond to the increasing digital aspects of crime.
It has set out three key priorities:
- Boosting professionalism – ensuring officers and staff have access to the best in CPD and that it is properly prioritised
- Improving leadership – officers and staff at all levels to have their leadership skills developed
- Driving consistency – overcoming the weaknesses of the 43-force model to bring consistency where it matters most for the public and those working in policing.
Lord Herbert, College of Policing chair, said: “Police officers and staff do an incredible job in difficult circumstances and deserve to have a strong professional body alongside them, support them with better training, professional development and the evidence of what works to cut crime.
“The police service faces myriad challenges, from its relationship with black communities and how it protects women, to the need to respond to ever-changing crime threats. The culture within policing is under the microscope, with questions being asked about leadership and professionalism.
“The college must take a lead role in helping policing meet these challenges, but it cannot achieve the necessary cultural change on its own. The review shows there is appetite from the rest of the service to work with the College to help policing meet the high standards the public rightly expect.”
