The Future of the Police Dog Section — Two Years from Now
| Author | Brain F. Kingshott |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9707000210 |
| Published date | 01 April 1997 |
| Date | 01 April 1997 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
INSPECTOR BRAIN F. KINGSHOTT, BA, MA
Devon &Cornwall Constabulary
THE FUTURE OF THE POLICE DOG
SECTION - TWO YEARS FROM NOW
Introduction and Comment
In considering the title statement it would be wrong to assume that existing
formal and informal management structures are inadequate, ineffective and
inefficient.' To seek change for change's sake or in
order
to demonstrate
an autonomous but archaic hierarchical management perspective would,
in my opinion, be totally non-productive and alienate the most important
resource of the department (the personnel) from a management team.
The evolution of the police dog section has historically adapted to the
changing police role, in a diverse and multi-cultural society, that has seen
"best practice" survive and innovative but ineffective practice cease. This
has been achieved partly by management practice but most
of
all because
of
the dedication and expertise
of
the personnel that make up the dog
section. There has to be constant monitoring so that efficiency
may
be
maintained, or improved, by eliminating internal inefficiencies, disjointed
effort and unnecessary bureaucracy. The dog section will not return to the
territorial divisions but will remain in the separate operational support
division as a force resource, able to respond to operational needs.
The
policing
of
asociety is effective only when that policing role is
carried out with compassion, understanding, sensitivity and the consent of
the community being policed/
It
has been claimed that "the police reflect
in some sense the community in which they police, and in
tum
the
community is said to receive the sort
of
policing it deserves".' The ideal
community policing has often been criticized and recreated under the
auspices of other nomenclature such as sector or area policing. Ibelieve
that the way forward with the dog section is with a community policing
perspective. I am aware
of
opinions expressed, such as: "Community
policing is a romantic delusion ... it harks back to a harmonious ideal where
the police were everyone's friend. It was never thus, and it is unlikely that
it will
ever
be".4 Weatheritt (1987) observed, "A cynical appraisal is that
there are two ends of a scale, one being that community policing is an ethos
which simply emphasizes anotion
of
service, and at the other
end
of
the
scale aconveniently elastic term used to accommodate virtually any
policing activity
of
which itsproponents approve". 5Whereas Oxford (1984)
remarked that community policing "means all things to all men" it is from
the perspective of community policing - as outlined in the Devon &
Cornwall Constabulary Force Strategic Plan7and the Devon &Cornwall
Policing Charter - that the dog section will progress. To achieve this, the
Force Strategic Plan and the Annual Policing Plans will be the stated
benchmark. To this end, the definitions
of
goals, objectives, targets,
performance indicators, development and performance measurement, as
stated in the Devon &Cornwall Five-year Plan 1996-2001,8 will be strictly
April 1997 The Police Journal 145
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