Selection for Senior Police Appointments
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5502800308 |
| Author | A. Charters |
| Published date | 01 July 1955 |
| Date | 01 July 1955 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
SELECTION
FOR
SENIOR
POLICE
APPOINTMENTS
213
ment are designed to ensure that the people govern their rulers, that
power is not abused,
and
that the State remains an instrument for
furthering genuine common interests. In a dictatorship, while there
are rules for the division
of
business between departments, these
rules are in no way a restraint upon the ruler. Ultimate power is
concentrated at the apex and is utter
and
complete. In a dictatorship,
the dictator makes the decisions; in a democracy the ultimate decision
rests with the electorate and the rules of the constitution
and
the
division of authority between legislature, judiciary
and
executive are
its device for restraining the government from an abuse of power
and for ensuring that those who exercise the powers
of
government
shall act with a sense of responsibility.
The principles which govern the relations between the public and
the British police form an important extension of the rules of
our
own constitution. Like many other principles
of
the constitution
they are based on custom only and have never been formally set
down in black and white. Like them, too, they serve to restrain
the government from an abuse of power
and
ensure
that
police
officers act with a sense of responsibility.
If, therefore, we value
our
democratic way of life, we must be
vigilant in maintaining the principles from which
our
system
of
policing derives its strength. We must train
our
constables to uphold
our
tradition of unstinted public service and we must select chief
officers who can take adetached view of their force's position in the
life
of
the community
and
who will
put
good public relations before
a mere superficial efficiency. In short, we must take
our
cue from the
title
of
this essay
and
put the public first.
Selection
for
Senior
Police
Appointments
By
DETECTIVE
INSPECTOR
A.
CHARTERS,
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary.
INExodus it is written:
"Moses
chose able men
out
of
all Israel
and they judged the people at all times." It is not known, un-
fortunately, what methods of selection were employed by Moses,
but, if we may judge by the quality of the Mosaic Law, which has
passed all the tests of time and usage, his methods, in their day, would
form a criterion for all others. No doubt,
of
course, his problems
were largely solved in advance for him by the opportunity he had
for intimate knowledge, assessment
and
evaluation
of
his "candidates."
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