Commentary
| DOI | 10.1350/pojo.77.4.285.58964 |
| Published date | 01 November 2004 |
| Date | 01 November 2004 |
The
Police
Journal
COMMENTARY
Of late there has been an increasing emphasis on the use of
central intervention, whether by central government or by other
government bodies to re-shape and reform the police service in
England and Wales. Government inquiries into policing are
nothing new. Indeed policing is one of those areas that is always
likely to attract attention when things go wrong. And in this
regard the ability of the police service to resist the recommenda-
tions of previous inquiries and subsequent reforms, for example
the Inquiry into Police Responsibilities and Rewards, the White
Paper on Police Reform and the Home Office Review of Police
Core and Ancillary tasks, is well documented (Leishman, Love-
day & Savage 2000). It has also been the case that the notion of
constabulary independence has often been used as a means of
diluting central policy, both government-inspired and set by the
Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) (Reiner, 2002).
What is interesting of late, however, is the attention that is now
being paid to ascertaining whether or not the police service is
acting on the recommendations made in these types of inquiry.
Two recent examples are worthy of particular attention.
First, following the Soham Murders and the conviction of Ian
Huntley, the Home Secretary announced the launch of an inde-
pendent inquiry into the manner in which the police had handled
intelligence about Huntley’s background and the vetting pro-
cesses which ultimately led to his employment in a local school.
Sir Michael Bichard was commissioned to undertake the
inquiry and his recommendations, all of which were accepted by
the Home Secretary, include:
●The introduction of a national IT system to support police
intelligence;
●A statutory Code of Practice on police information-
handling implemented under the Police Reform Act 2002;
●Those recruiting staff in schools must be properly trained
in safeguarding children;
The Police Journal, Volume 77 (2004)285
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting