Drawing the Thin Blue Line: The Reality of Who Controls the Police
| Published date | 01 April 2004 |
| Author | Damian Warburton |
| DOI | 10.1350/pojo.77.2.135.39124 |
| Date | 01 April 2004 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DAMIAN WARBURTON
Graduate of the Law Schools of the University of Hull and
the University of Edinburgh, Former Constable, West
Midlands Police
DRAWING THE THIN BLUE LINE:
THE REALITY OF WHO
CONTROLS THE POLICE
For the last ten years the police service has been undergoing a
period of evolution, and scrutiny of its methods and answer-
ability has been getting steadily stronger. The Police Reform
Act 2002 capped off a number of significant changes, not least
of which was to discard the Police Complaints Authority in
favour of a new Independent Police Complaints Commission.
In the last few years several aspects of police organisation
have been drawn in under the central control of the Home
Office; Local Police Authorities exist for the benefit of the
community but there are numerous examples of Chief Con-
stables disregarding their wishes. The ease with which a
constable can be called to account has gradually been tightened
up, and yet to the observer it may be surprising to learn who
really has the final say over how police work is conducted.
An abrupt wake-up call was delivered to the entire service
in October 2003 when the BBC proved that the ghosts of
police racism had by no means been exorcised, and a startling
insight was given to the whole country as to who it is that
dictates the nature of everyday policing.
Police accountability in England and Wales1has developed
drastically since the inception of the ‘new police’ almost two
hundred years ago. While the Watch Committees of the early
nineteenth century wielded great power over their chief officers,2
today the ‘supreme responsibility for local policing is enshrined
upon the Chief Constable’,3and the extent of his or her auton-
omy has at times seemed virtually untouchable.4Why does this
matter? The significance is because, as Reiner notes, the police
‘are the specialist carriers of state power’,5with the ability to
infringe civil liberties in a way that almost no other organisation
can.6
Ormerod contends that:
It is almost impossible to provide a comprehensive definition
and explanation of [police] function in modern society . . .
The Police Journal, Volume 77 (2004) 135
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