The Responsibilities of Rank in the Police Service
| Published date | 01 October 1970 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7004301006 |
| Author | C. R. Smith |
| Date | 01 October 1970 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
INSPECTOR
C. R.
SMITH
Sussex Constabulary
We congratulate Inspector Smith on winning The Queen's Gold
Medal Essay Competition for 1969 with the following essay. Mr
Smith was a student on the Special Course at the Police College in
1967 and is at present in his third year as a Bramshill Scholarat the
University
of
Birmingham.
THE
RESPONSIBILIT·IES OF
BANK
IN
THE
POLI~E
SERVI~E
"It
is probable that failure to appraise men properly for pro-
motion by putting too much weight on their qualities as policemen,
and too little on their potential as leaders, has in the past had adverse
effects on the Service. Aptitude for leadership should be regarded as
one of the major considerations in deciding whether a police officer
should be promoted."
(1)
This opinion was expressed by the 1966
Home Office Working Party on Efficiency, which went on to say
that
those who hold
"rank"
within the Police Service (in other words
their leaders) should be taught "man-management". In this essay,
the term "leadership" will be used in preference to "man-manage-
ment", for, as The Police Journal has said, "Does 'man-management'
express anything that is not better expressed by 'leadership'?
.....
(man-management) strikes us as. one of those inept and faintly
offensive ways of saying in two words what can be said concisely and
clearly in one, in a word whose significance is generally accepted and
long established."
(2)
Rank should mean that its holder has been selected to act in the
capacity of a leader, so before considering the responsibilities of
leaders, it is worth looking at the reasons for promotion in the police
and the qualities which a leader should possess. Unfortunately the
Police Service today is reflecting the attitude of society that work is
only a means of satisfying material needs and if a person does not
continually improve his status he is a failure. In 1968, the Police
Federation, talking about promotion, referred to the state of the
un-promoted as, "This aspect of stagnation
...
" and "
...
the prob-
lem of frustration and bitterness
...
(of officers who) fail to achieve
promotion."(3) While in 1969, the Police Review discussing the pool
of academically qualified constables, said,
"If
the ratio widens still
more, the resulting frustration will give rise to much unhappiness
within the Service."(4) Whether constables are frustrated and find
their work insufficiently rewarding must be separated from arguments
relating to promotion. The former is affected by conditions
of
service
and leadership, and conscientious hard work should be able to be
acknowledged in other ways than promotion. Promotion should be
October 1970 283
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