Detective recruitment plan dismissed as 'short-termism'

2 August 2023

Proposals to parachute recruits from the business world straight into detective roles have been dismissed as a “short-termism” by West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke.

He spoke out after Labour said it would force police chiefs to recruit detectives directly from business without having to work as beat officers first if it wins power at the next general election.

Under the plans, individuals with experience in business fraud investigation, child protection and other relevant fields would be allowed to join the police as entry-level detectives.

But Rich said the idea highlighted a lack of understanding of the challenges faced by policing and insisted gaining experience on the streets was essential for anyone hoping to become a detective.

He acknowledged the traditional entry route was not the only one through which people could become successful detectives but he insisted it was the best way and the most likely to consistently deliver the calibre of officer required for the job.

He said: “The best route to being a great detective is by learning to be a great police officer first.

“The truth is there’s no substitute for time served cutting your teeth and demonstrating aptitude on the streets. These are skills that can’t be taught in a classroom or passed on in an office.”

Rich said the Labour plans were a short-term solution which lacked any deeper understanding of what had gone wrong with policing in recent years.

He said: “One of the reasons for poor outcomes has been the ‘dumbing down’ of policing during austerity whereby the centralisation of services and rationalisation of priorities saw the average bobby pigeonholed as either response or investigation.

“The traditional model, built up over many decades, has always placed emphasis on bobbies who were ‘omnicompetent’ – competent in dynamic policing as well as having an investigative mindset and able to take a case right through the system.

“That officer would then be well-versed in producing the best evidence and having that ingrained in their minds from the all important first minutes and hours of a live incident. 

“We have lost this in large part and experienced, time-served bobbies are leaving the service, largely due to pay and pension denigration but also due to that dumbing down.”

Rich warned the latest proposals were simply a shortcut that had already failed and would continue to fail to address the inherent inefficiency and inflexibility of having a service containing different cohorts of officers who only do “one thing”. 

He said: “This is not the way we will address poor detection rates. 

“That can only be achieved through serious investment in skills, enhanced on the job, face-to-face, required, tested, training and returning to the traditional model of the omnicompetent bobby who has intimate knowledge of an area.”

The Police Foundation thinktank estimates there are around 7,000 unfilled detective vacancies.