Community Justice Files 16
| Author | Jane Dominey |
| Pages | 73-78 |
Community Justice Files 16
73
COMMUNITY JUSTICE FILES 16
Edited by Jane Dominey, De Montfort University
Police Reform – An Independent Review of
Policing by Sir Ronnie Flanagan
On 7th February, Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s Final Report of his Review of Policing was
delivered to the Home Secretary. Sir Ronnie Flanagan is the Chief Inspector of
Constabulary.
The report makes a number of recommendations intended to improve the systems that
support policing, the management of resources, reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and
increase neighbourhood policing and the involvement of local people.
The report makes 33 recommendations. A number of these deal with the way that the
government and police services manage performance, productivity, resources and costing.
Voluntary mergers between police authorities should be facilitated. Chief Constables
should take an entrepreneurial approach, seeking appropriate sources of external funding
and sponsorship. The report asks the government to consider the possibility of regional
collaboration on issues such as IT systems and the purchase of equipment.
The report argues that to ensure public trust and confidence it is important that all crime
is recorded and properly responded to. Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Surrey and West
Midlands forces are to pilot a new system for crime recording.
The report also recommends that the police adopt a simpler method of recording ‘stop and
search’ incidents, replacing the current paperwork with a ‘receipt’ that would be handed to
the individual. The ethnicity of the individual should still be recorded so that it is
possible to monitor whether some groups are stopped on a disproportionate basis. The
final recommendations deal with measures to strengthen neighbourhood policing and
partnership working.
In a response to the report, the Home Secretary said:
We are determined to cut unnecessary red tape and free up police officers to
focus on protecting their communities and dealing with the issues that
matter most to communities.
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