25 Years of increased politicisation of UK policing reform
| Published date | 01 December 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557241298874 |
| Author | John G.D. Grieve |
| Date | 01 December 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue: 25th Anniversary |
25 Years of increased politicisation of UK
policing reform
John G.D. Grieve
Retired Professor
Abstract
The past 25 years has seen the greatest attempted political shifts in the reform, governance and character of UK policing in
nearly 200 years. Thisarticle takes a broad, but incomplete, look at thatincreased trajectory of party politics involvement in
changes in British policing, the possible effect on governance, operational independence and leadership, and the probable
impact of those activities on tactical effectiveness (for example, in performance, community engagement, discipline, morale,
retention and recruitment). It is the increased trajectory and significance of party politics that has created a paradigm shift in
the British policing model and impacted on contemporary interpretations of the wrongly called Peelian Policing Principles.
This article seeks to show that Savage’s model of police reform, as a conjunction of driving forces, is useful in exploring the
primary use made, over the past 25 years, of the politicisation of police reform by the other five elements of the model. It
also seeks to identify what we can learn from this exploration for the future of police reform. Nothing of what follows here
signifies anything but disgust at the ghastly behaviour of some criminals in police uniforms. It comprises some evidence for
use at a possible Labour ‘root and branch reform of the MPS’. This proposal might take up the misguided suggestion to
disband the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), as a result of possible extinction-level events for the 200-year-old MPS
experiment in policing and will inevitably and irrevocably lead to the destruction of the British policing model –one of
the global pillars of democracy. Brown also offered some more effective possible reforms using Savage’s model.
Keywords
Policing, politics, leadership, race, reviews
Submitted 17 Oct 2024, accepted 23 Oct 2024
Introduction and aims
The past 25 years have seen the greatest attempted political
shifts in the reform, governance and character of UK
policing in nearly 200 years. This article takes a broad,
but incomplete, look at that increased trajectory of party
politics’involvement in changes in British policing, the
possible effect on governance, operational independence
and leadership, and the probable impact of those activities
on tactical effectiveness (e.g. in performance, community
engagement, discipline, morale, retention and recruitment;
see, for example Brown, 2014; Reiner and O’Connor,
2015). It is the increased trajectory and significance of
party politics that has created a paradigm shift in the
British policing model and impacted on contemporary inter-
pretations of the wrongly called Peelian Policing Principles.
This article seeks to show that Savage’s (2007) model of
police reform, as a conjunction of driving forces, is useful in
exploring the primary use made, over the past 25 years, of
the politicisation of police reform by the other five elements
of the model. It also seeks to identify what we can learn
from this exploration for the future of police reform.
Nothing of what follows here signifies anything but
disgust at the ghastly behaviour of some criminals in
police uniforms (Casey, 2023; Rowley, 2023). It comprises
some evidence for use at a possible Labour ‘root and branch
reform of the MPS’(Starmer, 2023). This proposal might
Corresponding author:
John G.D. Grieve, Retired Professor.
Email: becky.milne@port.ac.uk
Special Issue: 25th Anniversary
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2024, Vol. 26(4) 460–469
© The Author(s) 2024
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/14613557241298874
journals.sagepub.com/home/psm
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