A National Police House
| Author | H. G. St. John |
| Published date | 01 September 1961 |
| Date | 01 September 1961 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X6103400507 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
INSPECTOR
H.
G.
ST.
JOHN
Essex
Constabulary
A
National
Police
Douse
NOW
THAT
Anational effort has been made to raise the status of the
police and ensure a reasonable intake of suitable men, should not
a similar effort be made to keep them in the Service by giving them
improved living conditions?
It
is axiomatic that if they and their
wivesare not happy in the police houses, they will for ever be looking
forward to the day when they can move into their own; this means
that
they will serve for the minimum time, whereas it would be to
the benefit of all if they completed the maximum.
In short, suitable and adequate houses should be supplied.
Are they?
The Regulations
Police Regulations state
that
a police authority shall provide
each member of a police force with a house or quarters free of rent
and rates or shall pay him rent allowance.
"House"
is
not
defined.
The regulation does not stipulate
that
the dwelling shall be owned
by the police authority, or hired, or
that
it shall be of any particular
type or design;
hence-and
this point has been made many times
before-police
housing covers a wide range of habitation, from old
poor-class dwellings without bathrooms, without drainage to a main
sewer, without modern comforts, to modern, Ideal Home Exhibition
pieces, complete with garage, office and large garden.
Is it to much too hope that one day the Regulation will contain
specifications, e.g.
that
the Policeman's house shall be of a minimum
floor space of, say, 1,200 sq.
ft.
(as recommended by the County
Chief Constables many years ago); that it shall be provided with a
garage and an office;
that
it shall have garden fencing sufficient to
keep dogs
out
and children in;
that
garden paths shall be provided
by the police authority; and
that
the construction and lay-out shall
be such that when the tenant ventures through the back door he will
not
be caught and torn in the gale which rages through the artificial
wind tunnel created by some post-war designs?
The Design
There is no national standard pattern. As a general rule police
authorities, in conjunction with the local authority architect, design
their own
and
obtain approval for it from the Home Office. Feeble
September-October 349
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