Workforce Modernisation and Future Resilience within the Police Service in England and Wales
| DOI | 10.1350/pojo.2008.81.1.428 |
| Author | Barry Loveday |
| Published date | 01 March 2008 |
| Date | 01 March 2008 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
BARRY LOVEDAY
Reader in Criminal Justice Administration, University of
Portsmouth
WORKFORCE MODERNISATION
AND FUTURE RESILIENCE WITHIN
THE POLICE SERVICE IN
ENGLAND AND WALES*
This article is based on a presentation given to the National
Workforce Modernisation Programme Conference at Leeds in
2008. It argues that the issue of future police resilience should
not stand in the way of modernisation and that while it may be
used as a defence of the status quo there is growing evidence
that reform can be expected to enhance police service delivery.
It argues that the nature of police establishment growth has
meant that there has been no attempt to match police numbers
to police functions and that incremental growth, which has
characterised police officer expansion, now means that it is
difficult to defend current police numbers. This problem is
made worse by the challenge presented by police abstraction
rates, which appear to have increased in line with police
establishment. It is also suggested that the increasing opera-
tional role of police staff is rarely taken into account by HMIC
when assessing police performance even though many former
police functions are now the responsibility of civilian person-
nel. As a result the threat to police resilience, used as a defence
of current police establishment, may significantly exaggerate
the challenge that workforce modernisation represents.
Keywords: abstraction rates; police establishment; police
resilience; police staff; workforce modernisation
Introduction
As the move towards workforce modernisation goes forward,
issues arising from the future profile of the police service have
been identified and are seen by opponents as reasons for reject-
ing such reform (Loveday, 2007). One highly political constraint
pertains to the future resilience of the police service and the
extent to which modernisation could undermine its capacity to
respond to major events and incidents. A lack of ‘resilience’
resulting from a reduction in police establishment would, it is
argued, threaten the ability of the police forces to respond to
62 The Police Journal, Volume 81 (2008)
DOI: 10.1358/pojo.2008.81.1.428
critical incidents (Police Federation, 2007). A reduction in sworn
personnel could not be balanced by an equivalent increase in
police staff numbers (Police Federation, 2008b).
Police ‘resilience’ has been identified most emphatically by
the Police Federation in its defence of the current role (and
numbers) of police officers (Police Federation, 2008a, 2008b). It
is evident that within the police service more generally the need
for ‘resilience’ might also be interpreted as a defence of the
status quo. But resilience has also been used to justify proposed
police force amalgamations pursued in 2005 by HMIC. Justifica-
tion for amalgamation, made forcefully by both the President of
ACPO and HMIC, proved to be the perceived need for greater
operational resilience to meet the challenges of Level 2 and
Level 3 crime (HMIC, 2005). More recently the creation of ever
larger Basic Command Units (BCUs) which may (or may not)
coalesce with local community boundaries has been defended
by reference to the need for ‘resilience’ (O’Byrne, 2001;
Loveday, 2007).
Use of the term ‘resilience’ has often shown a high degree of
subjectivity surrounding the application of this yardstick to
policing where professional judgement has ultimately proved
to be the determining factor. The frequent absence of independ-
ent and objective evaluation which usually characterises the
use of the term resilience needs to be both recognised and
acknowledged.
Recently the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA)
has provided more objective guidance on sustaining levels of
resilience (NPIA, 2007). The NPIA argues that resilience repre-
sents the capacity of an organisation: enough staff with enough
skills, to perform in the face of unforeseen or strenuous circum-
stances. In independent research conducted for the NPIA it was
to be noted that the most transferable definition of resilience was
one which identified the ‘capacity of a system potentially
exposed to hazards to adapt by resisting or changing in order to
reach and maintain an acceptable level of functioning and
structure’ (Loveday and McClory, 2008: 23).
Workforce modernisation will impact on police service
delivery while an element of risk will arise from such a reform
programme. However, this can be exaggerated and should be
balanced against the benefits arising from modernisation. Risk
assessment should also take into account current realities within
the police organisation which if identified have not, to date, been
adequately addressed.
The Police Journal, Volume 81 (2008) 63
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