Appointment to the Higher Ranks of the Police Service
| Published date | 01 April 1944 |
| Date | 01 April 1944 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X4401700213 |
| Author | John Peake |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Appointment to the
the Police Higher Ranks
Service
of
By
JOHN
PEAKE'*'
Ex-Chief
Superintendent,
Sheffield
City
Police
MANY ideas exist in the minds of those interested in the changes
necessary to ensure improved efficiency in Police administration.
Planning is an interesting mental experience.
To
be worth while,
however, I suggest
that
it
should
not
be of the type which recommends
the repair of an old garment with apatch of new material.
In
certain
domestic spheres the patching of old garments is a necessary economic
proceeding.
In
that most important domestic sphere which is con-
cerned with the lives and property of the citizens of Britain, the safety
and security of which are so largely dependent upon the labours of
those who
keep'
the King's Peace,' the standard of efficiency required
in the personnel of the body to whom this duty is delegated cannot be
guaranteed by any system of patchwork, however delicate or attractive
the design may appear.
In
my submissions, therefore, upon the subject
title of this article I wish to emphasise
that
my purpose is not to patch
up an old system,
but
rather to suggest a new approach to a subject
which, in practice, has not provided the results hoped for by many.
The
fairest minds, both within the Police Service and among the
general body of citizens, support the ideal
that
those best fitted to
discharge the responsibilities associated with good government at its
highest level should reach the positions associated with responsibility.
This
ideal is not Utopian; it is a striving to express the summit of
excellence which should distinguish public administration in all its
forms in a
Democracy-and
Britain is such aDemocracy in the best
sense of that term.
For
this reason I believe
that
those in whom is
vested the responsibility of National government are capable of ensuring
the emergence of the best minds in the service of the State.
For
the purpose of clarity, therefore, Imust define
efficiency
as
this relates to Police administration.
To
me, this efficiency implies
that
combination of mental excellence and immutable moral character,
demonstrated in service, in default of which no person can hope
justifiably to excel over his competitors.
It
may be said that without the possession in a marked degree of
the qualities mentioned, individuals have been known to secure pre-
ferment.
If
this is correct
then
it might also be stated that disasters
*
Winner
of the first Police Gold
Medal
Essay Competition (1930).
156
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