Opinion: Rich Cooke responds to Home Secretary’s review

6 September 2023

Opinion: Rich Cooke responds to Home Secretary’s review

‘Members want to serve communities equally and fairly’ says the chair of West Midlands Police Federation as he responds to the Home Secretary's announced review into police impartiality and activism.

Rich Cooke’s comments come after Suella Braverman commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to carry out a review of police impartiality and activism.

He said that while he understands the concerns the Home Secretary has - having seen several years of debatable policy, instituted by senior police officers, apparently aimed at addressing their views on various matters of public policing – his confidence in the Home Office is very low.

West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke.

Rich says he feels the Home Secretary’s announcement, ironically, comes hot on the heels of what he believes are both misguided and politically driven proposals to reform police misconduct.

He said: “We’ve seen how Theresa May, as Home Secretary, used the ‘Best Use of Stop and Search’ scheme to tie officer’s hands on the use of S60. We saw how despite the law stating clearly that an inspector was the appropriate rank to institute the power, policy (effectively a lawful order), inhibited them from doing so, instead requiring the assent of a chief officer rank. This led to the virtual death of the practical use of a legitimate legal power for several years. From where I was standing, this was a politically motivated attempt to change police tactics and disempower rank-and-file officers to fit an agenda. And sadly that attitude persists in some forces today.

“We’ve also seen the removal of discretion from frontline cops on offences like drug possession or street sex work, from time to time - due to the views taken by certain senior officers that drug addicts and sex workers are in fact ‘victims’. This may well be the right approach, however, it clearly not for the police to decide. It is a fact that the law laid down by Parliament says certain things are criminal, and that has not been changed. Who are we to usurp the will of Parliament in these matters?

“When we think about powers of arrest, for years, colleagues were told to use any alternative. Arrest was overtly and tacitly discouraged, particularly for juveniles and even where very serious offences had been committed such as possession of bladed weapons in areas where kids were being murdered by kids. The mantra being not to ‘create adverse childhood experience’ or ‘we don’t want to criminalise kids’ – both statements which, I believe, are open to political debate and said to influence the decisions of frontline cops.

“In some forces, I’m aware that officers feel their discretion on arrests is now being taken away, with pressure to arrest in most circumstances to fulfil what they feel is a hard-line political narrative. Again, none of this is ‘the law’, yet these policy decisions have had a massive impact on the way the UK is policed over the years and has led to colleagues feeling disempowered, unable to apply a common sense decision based on the individual merits of a case. And let’s be clear, the decision to arrest sits with each individual officer - it is for them to justify, not a senior rank who knows nothing about the case. Sadly, that independence, while still existing in law, has been badly undermined in practice through constant interference.

“Fortunately, in West Midlands, especially during more recent months, I feel we are gradually returning to that traditional model of decisions made at the lowest possible level – where they are most efficient, based on the individual circumstances of the case by officers with abundant local knowledge.

“The ancient ‘Independent Office of Constable’ must be given due respect. Frontline officers should be appropriately trained in an unbiased way on what the law actually is, and what the options are in a given case. They must then have their decisions, yes, scrutinised, but respected. Senior officers up and down the country have, in my view, been going beyond their rightful constitutional role too often and I hope that the latest review will lead to an end to the constant political interference we’ve seen for years.

“Ultimately, we want everybody to be able to come to us. We want everybody to feel they’ve got a voice with the police.

“It’s about common sense policing. But that means giving officers the time, training and leeway to apply it.”

Deputy chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) Tiff Lynch said: “Policing should never be put on any political agenda and is too important to be kicked around like a political football.

“Our members want to go out there and serve communities in the best way possible but need help when the Government constantly changes the goalposts.

“One minute they want police officers to be more involved, the next, they want them to act like robots.”

In a letter to chief constables, Ms Braverman said public confidence had been damaged as a result of police ‘engaging in contentious issues’ such as dancing with political marchers, taking the knee in a gesture against racism and ‘waving the Progress flag’.

Ms Braverman said: “The British people expect their police to focus on cutting crime and protecting communities – political activism does not keep people safe, solve crimes or support victims, but can damage public confidence.”

The HMICFRS review has been asked to cover:

Policies and processes that go further than, or contravene, obligations set out in the Equality Act 2010, and how those impact operational decision-making
The quality and neutrality of associated training provided to implement such policies and processes, and by which organisation(s) this is delivered
The selection process for groups that are consulted on revisions to policy or process, how decisions are made on which policies and processes are selected for amendment, how the views expressed by those groups are balanced against others, and what consideration is given to other groups that may be impacted as a result
The involvement of staff networks in the development of policies and processes, and the use of police resources and time dedicated to such networks and whether they are involved in contested political matters
Communication with the public on these issues, including social media.