Where are the Outstanding Men?
| Date | 01 March 1964 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6403700303 |
| Author | Michael Byrne |
| Published date | 01 March 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
INSPECTOR
MICHAEL
BYRNE
Metropolitan Police
We shall be glad to hear from our readers on the very controversial
subject
of
Inspector Byrne's article
WHERE
ARE
THE
OUTSTANDING
MEN?
" It is essential
•.•
that the police service as a wholeshould accept the need not
only for improvement in the general quality of recruits but also for an increased
intake of outstanding
men."-Royal
Commissionon the Police, 1962.
The problems of recruiting policemen have been with us for so
long that it is becoming difficult to recall a time when they did not
exist, if in fact the service was ever in that happy state.
If
it were possible to reduce the problem to one of merely finding
enough people to fill the ranks then the solutions would not be
difficult to find. Increased pay, and the lowering of physical and
intellectual standards might suffice, if this question
of
numbers was
all.
There are two main factors which must be considered when
deciding on any scheme
of
recruiting. Firstly, to what sections of
society are we going to address
our
appeal? Secondly, are the
conditions of service offered sufficiently attractive to induce young
men, in whatever level of the community we may be seeking them,
to make the Police Service a career?
A great deal of time and money has been spent on various advertis-
ing media and a number
of
forces, including the Metropolitan, have
appointed officers to talk to grammar school leavers and careers
masters in an endeavour to stimulate interest.
I do not believe that the results have been sufficiently encouraging
in any
of
these fields. The careers master at a well known public
school in South London informs me that he has only had one inquiry
from a school leaver in five years and this was from an 18-year-old
boy with advanced level passes who did not in fact join the service.
One could produce statistics to show that a fair proportion of
recruits entering the service today come from both grammar and
public schools but a more thorough examination of their scholastic
attainments would show that in the majority of cases they come to the
Police Service because they haven't done sufficiently well at school to
embark on a professional career.
The Royal Commission when considering the question of recruiting
future senior officers for the service expressed their concern with the
lack
of
educated recruits entering the police.
March 1964 105
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