The government announced an independent inquiry into the way in which information on the background of child murderer Ian Huntley was kept and used by the police. (Ian Huntley was convicted of murdering two schoolgirls in Soham, Cambridgeshire. Police investigations of the murders failed to reveal previous allegations of child abuse incidents against Huntley in a different police area.)
Source: Press release 17 December 2003, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 18 December 2003, columns 150-151WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 18 December 2003, columns 1721-1732, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Home Office press release | Guardian report | Hansard (WMS) | Hansard
Date: 2003-Dec
In 2002-03 police forces in Scotland cleared up nearly 47 per cent of crimes, continuing an improving trend. Police forces also met new Scotland-wide targets for reducing crime in areas such as housebreaking and drug seizures. However, the number of serious violent crimes had increased.
Source: Police & Fire Performance Indicators 2002/03, Audit Scotland (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
Around 1,313,100 people were arrested for notifiable offences in 2002-03, a 3 per cent increase over 2001-02. (Recorded crime was estimated to have decreased by 3 per cent over the same period after taking into account changes in police recording practices.) The police stopped and searched 895,300 people and/or vehicles, 21 per cent more than in 2001-02.
Source: Margaret Ayres, Liza Murray and Ransford Fiti, Arrests for Notifiable Offences and the Operation of Certain Police Powers under PACE, Statistical Bulletin 17/03, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Bulletin (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
The government announced plans for a Bill introducing a system of identity cards (despite reports of serious disagreements between cabinet ministers). The system, to be phased in over a number of years, would involve basic personal information, a digital photograph and a 'biometric' which could include facial recognition, iris scans or fingerprints. The government said it expected that 80 per cent of the adult population would have an ID card by 2013 if passports and driving licences were issued on the proposed biometric basis. The card would become compulsory thereafter for all residents after a further decision by the Cabinet and a vote in Parliament. The government also published the results of a consultation exercise which it said showed public support for ID cards: it was accused of distorting the results by ignoring those from an 'organised campaign'. Doubts were reportedly raised over whether the scheme could be extended to Scotland, and to Irish citizens living in the United Kingdom.
Source: Identity Cards: The Next Steps, Cm 6020, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Identity Cards: Summary of Findings from the Consultation Exercise on Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud, Cm 6019, Home Office, TSO | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 11 November 2003, columns 171-187, TSO | The Guardian, 6 November 2003 | The Guardian, 14 November 2003
Links: Report (pdf) | Consultation responses (pdf) | Home Office press release | Consultation paper (pdf) | Guardian report 6/11 | Guardian report 14/11 | Guardian report 21/11 | Hansard
Date: 2003-Nov
A new book provided an overview of the government's targeted policing initiative, described findings about the adoption of a problem-solving approach, and indicated what was learned from efforts to address the specific problems targeted in the evaluated initiatives. ('Targeted policing' is described by the government as 'analysing and understanding the real crime or anti-social behaviour problem, and its underlying causes, and then tackling it by the effective, efficient and focused deployment of the resources needed'.)
Source: Karen Bullock and Nick Tilley (eds.), Crime Reduction and Problem-oriented Policing, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Nov
A report examined the use of restorative justice within the police complaints system. The research contrasted the complaints procedure in a police force operating the existing statutory system in a traditional way with a force piloting the use of restorative justice conferences. The research findings suggested that restorative processes and outcomes provided a fairer and more effective way of dealing with complaints than the traditional statutory system.
Source: Roderick Hill, Karen Cooper, Richard Young and Carolyn Hoyle, Meeting Expectations: The application of restorative justice to the police complaints process, Occasional Paper 21, Centre for Criminological Research and Probation Studies Unit/University of Oxford (01865 274448)
Links: Summary | Nuffield Foundation press release
Date: 2003-Nov
The government began consultation on the future of police reform. It said the time was right to consider a new structure of larger regional 'strategic forces', coupled with the development of local neighbourhood policing involving the introduction of 'community advocates'. A think tank said the advocates would introduce an unnecessary layer of officialdom.
Source: Policing: Building Safer Communities Together, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 4 November 2003, Local Government Information Unit (020 7554 2800)
Links: Consultation paper (pdf) | Home Office press release | LGIU press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
The government published a national policing plan for 2004 2007. It set out national minimum standards for the service, and key priorities - providing a 'citizen-focused service' to the public, especially victims and witnesses; tackling anti-social behaviour and disorder; continuing to reduce burglary, vehicle crime, robbery and drug-related crime; combating serious and organised crime; and narrowing the justice gap by increasing the number of offences brought to justice.
Source: The National Policing Plan 2004 2007, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Plan (pdf) | Home Office press release
Date: 2003-Nov
A survey found that police authorities had begun to develop more innovative and strategic approaches to engaging the community, but progress was patchy.
Source: Andy Myhill, Stella Yarrow, David Dalgleish and Maria Docking, The Role of Police Authorities in Public Engagement, Online Report 37/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | Development and Practice report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Nov
Focus group research suggested that the public was, in general, poorly informed about policing and tended to see it only in terms of preventing and dealing with crime. However, most people seemed aware of the limits of their knowledge and wanted more communication, information and involvement. There was a general consensus in the focus groups that the public did not participate in decisions about policing, and that they should have an opportunity to state their opinions. However, there was some cynicism about whether it would make a difference. Awareness of police-public consultation was low.
Source: Maria Docking, Public Perceptions of Police Accountability and Decision Making, Online Report 38/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Nov
New police performance figures were published for England and Wales. The data were designed to enable forces to gauge how well they were performing in the key areas of reducing and investigating crime, promoting public safety, public satisfaction, and best use of resources.
Source: Police Performance Monitors 2002-03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
A campaign group (opposed to large-scale immigration) proposed a free, non-compulsory system of identity cards. It said the system, which could be fully in place by the end of the decade, would bring all the benefits of a compulsory scheme while avoiding the pitfalls.
Source: Assuring Identity - A new approach, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-Oct
A BBC programme ('The Secret Policeman') revealed racist attitudes and behaviour among police officers at a training centre. A number of officers identified in the programme subsequently resigned. The Commission for Racial Equality described the revelations as 'truly shocking' and said it would start an inquiry into police racism. Campaigners said racist police officers should be sacked and prosecuted, rather than being allowed to resign.
Source: The Guardian, 22 October 2003 | Statement 21 October 2003, Commission for Racial Equality (020 7939 0000) | Press release 10 November 2003, National Assembly Against Racism (020 7247 9907)
Links: Guardian report | BBC report | CRE statement | NAAR press release
Date: 2003-Oct
An experiment to give a village a dedicated 'bobby on the beat' was abandoned a year early. Crime dropped by 5 per cent in the first year, but then almost doubled in the second. (The Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust paid for an extra 24 hours a week policing at New Earswick, near York, under an arrangement with North Yorkshire police. The aim of the three-year project was to increase people's sense of security through a visible police presence in the village.)
Source: Adam Crawford, Stuart Lister and David Wall, Great Expectations: Contracted community policing in New Earswick, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report (pdf) | JRF Findings 023 | JRF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
The opposition Conservative party published a consultation paper outlining plans to make local police forces more accountable, including introducing directly elected police authorities. But three senior police chiefs reportedly called for the number of police forces in England and Wales to be cut from 43 to 20, and a powerful new national agency to be established to fight serious crime.
Source: Localisation of the Police Service, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000) | The Guardian, 11 October 2003
Links: Paper (pdf) | Letwin speech | Guardian report 4/10 | Guardian report 11/10
Date: 2003-Oct
Representatives of black police officers warned ethnic minority people not to join the Metropolitan Police force (in London), following the complete acquittal of an ethnic minority police superintendent after a four-year investigation by the force into a wide range of allegations against him. The first black chief constable was appointed (in Kent).
Source: The Guardian, 16 September 2003 | Press release 15 September 2003, National Black Police Association (020 7273 3249)
Links: Guardian report | NBPA press release (1) | NBPA press release (2)
Date: 2003-Sep
A report analysed reported incidents of racial harassment by police in Northern Ireland between 1996 and 2001. It said it was difficult to be certain how much of the large increase in incidents over the period was real, and how much was due to other factors such as changes in willingness to report.
Source: Neil Jarman and Rachel Monaghan, Analysis of Incidents of Racial Harassment Recorded by the Police in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
A report said that tackling crime was key to more widespread use of public transport. The costs of vandalism and trespass 'severely compromised' investment in improved services and rolling stock. In addition, the disruption caused by incidents further aggravated existing high rates of passenger dissatisfaction.
Source: Helen Easton and Frances Smith, Getting There: Reducing crime on public transport, National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (020 7582 6500)
Links: Report (pdf) | NACRO press release | Daily Telegraph report
Date: 2003-Sep
A report said that how citizens experienced contact with the police had a strong impact on their confidence in the police, and that the co-operation of the public was essential to an effective criminal justice system. Survey findings showed that the way people were treated by the police, and how well they were provided with information, were at least as important as how quickly the police responded to requests for assistance.
Source: Citizen-focused Policing, Office of Public Services Reform/Cabinet Office (020 7276 3600) | MORI, Contacting the Police: Customer satisfaction survey - Final report, Office of Public Services Reform/Cabinet Office
Links: Report (pdf) | MORI research (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
At the end of December 2002, there were 132,268 police officers in England and Wales, the highest number since records began in 1921. The figure was 5,110 more than in March 1997. (The government set targets of 130,000 police officers by March 2003, and 132,500 by 2004.)
Source: Press release 14.7.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release
Date: 2003-Jul
A report outlined the findings of a survey designed to collect systematic evidence about police authorities' involvement in local strategic partnerships (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Of the 26 police authorities that had partnerships in their area, 11 were not represented on any of them.
Source: Crime and Partnership: Police authorities' involvement in local strategic partnerships, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
From 1 July 2003, the fee charged by the Criminal Records Bureau for carrying out checks was more than doubled.
Source: Press release 5.6.03, Criminal Records Bureau (0870 909 0811)
Links: CRB press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
The police inspectorate published a report on police race relations in Scotland, with 24 recommendations to chief constables - including ensuring proper attention to community cohesion and stability across Scotland.
Source: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Pride and Prejudice: Review of police race relations in Scotland, Scottish Executive, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Report | SE press release
Date: 2003-Jun
The government announced the creation of a 'single flexible crime fighting fund' to support local agencies. The new 'Building Safer Communities Fund' brought together three separate funds: the 'Safer Communities Initiative', the 'Partnership Development Fund' and 'Communities Against Drugs'.
Source: Press release 10.6.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release
Date: 2003-Jun
The government announced that the use of fixed-penalty notices by the police would be introduced nationwide following a 'successful' pilot. Nearly half the penalties went unpaid in pilot schemes.
Source: Press release 14.5.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: HO press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-May
A think-tank pamphlet argued that the forces of law and order had 'lost control of the streets'. It said that, in the face of staggering volumes of crime, the police and the Home Office were reduced to legalising or decriminalising many offences, so that they could appear to be 'bringing crime under control'.
Source: Norman Dennis, George Erdos and David Robinson, The Failure of Britain's Police: London and New York compared, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Civitas press release
Date: 2003-Apr
The government tabled an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, allowing police officers to take fingerprints and DNA samples from arrested persons detained at police stations (rather than having to wait until after a suspect has been charged). Human rights campaigners accused the government of seeking to create a national DNA and fingerprint database by stealth.
Source: Press release 27.3.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 27.3.03, Liberty (020 7403 3888)
Links: HO press release | Liberty press release
Date: 2003-Mar
The Police (Northern Ireland) Bill was given a third reading. The purpose of the Bill is to implement the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland ('Patten Commission'). The Commission was set up as part of the Good Friday Agreement and was asked to bring forward proposals which would produce a police service capable of attracting and sustaining support from across Northern Ireland as a whole.
Source: Police (Northern Ireland) Bill, Northern Ireland Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 27.3.03, columns 465-552, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Hansard
Date: 2003-Mar
The government responded to a critical report by the police inspectorate (published in February 2003) on the training of the police in race issues. It set out a programme of work for implementing the recommendations in the report.
Source: Press release 3.3.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Press release | HMIC report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Mar
The police received 16,654 cases of complaint in the 12 months to March 2002, a fall of 12 per cent over the previous twelve months. This was the smallest number since at least 1987 and represented fewer than 25,000 individual items of complaint.
Source: David Povey and Judith Cotton, Police Complaints and Discipline England and Wales: 12 months to March 2002, Statistical Bulletin 04/03, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Bulletin (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
The Police (Northern Ireland) Bill was given a second reading. The purpose of the Bill is to implement the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland ('Patten Commission'). The Commission was set up as part of the Good Friday Agreement and asked to bring forward proposals which would produce a police service capable of attracting and sustaining support from across Northern Ireland as a whole.
Source: Police (Northern Ireland) Bill, Northern Ireland Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 10.2.03, columns 650-738, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Hansard | Patten report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
Final 2003-04 funding allocations were announced for police forces in England and Wales. A total of 9.68 billion will be spent, an increase of 566 million (more than six per cent) over 2002-03. Forces will receive further increases of at least four per cent in 2004-05 and 2005-06.
Source: Press release 5.2.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 5.2.03, columns 302-352, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Press release | Hansard
Date: 2003-Feb
The official data protection watchdog said government proposals on entitlement cards were so widely drawn that it is impossible to conclude that the necessary privacy and data protection safeguards will be in place. It also released a background paper commissioned by it on the wider social implications of the proposals.
Source: Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud: The Information Commissioner s Response to the Government s Consultation Paper, Information Commissioner (01625 545 700) | Perri 6, Entitlement Cards: Benefits, privacy and data protection risks, costs and wider social implications, Information Commissioner
Links: Response (Word file) | Annex to Response (Word file) | Perri 6 paper (Word file) | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
An inspectorate report described the critical success factors for an effective training programme for police officers in diversity issues, and the consequent impact on police performance. The recommendations set out what is required to make the current system more efficient and effective.
Source: Diversity Matters, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary/Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
Following an independent review, a package of measures was announced (for consultation) to 'further improve the performance' of the Criminal Records Bureau (established in March 2002 to carry out criminal record checks on, for example, people applying for certain jobs involving contact with children). Plans to introduce checks for people who change jobs every year were dropped. Voluntary organisations said that the measures failed to deal with the problems facing them in accessing checks.
Source: Criminal Records Bureau: Reform of the Disclosure Process - A Consultation Paper, Home Office (020 7411 5569) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 27.2.03, columns 32-36WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 27.2.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 27.2.03, National Council for Voluntary Organisations (0800 279 8798)
Links: Consultation Document (pdf) | Hansard | HO press release | NCVO press release | Community Care article
Date: 2003-Feb
A study evaluated the impact of changes to the police disciplinary process introduced in April 1999. Overall, there was no evidence to suggest that the reforms had prompted any significant changes: the number of investigations did not increase significantly, and the average number of charges per officer actually declined slightly.
Source: Paul Quinton, An Evaluation of the New Police Misconduct Procedures, Online Report 10/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
A study assessed current evidence on police corruption in England and Wales, and considered approaches for forces to tackle the problem. It concluded that forces need to promote an ethical culture in the organisation against corruption, and that staff should be educated about the risks they face both inside and outside work.
Source: Joel Miller, Police Corruption in England and Wales: An assessment of current evidence, Online Report 11/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
Performance monitors were published which, for the first time, enabled comparisons to be made between different police forces. The monitors allowed comparisons in five major areas of policing: reducing crime, investigating crime, promoting public safety, 'citizen focus' and effective use of resources. The government described the monitors as: 'the first step in developing a sophisticated performance measurement system for the police service'. The Police Federation said that such indicators could never give a complete picture of performance, and should not be used to compile league tables.
Source: Police Performance Monitoring 2001/02, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 19 February 2003, Police Federation of England and Wales (020 8335 1000)
Links: Report (pdf) | HO press release
Date: 2003-Feb
A think-tank report argued that police forces should be made directly accountable to mayors and council leaders (on the model of the United States), and that they should be funded from local taxation. The report contained highly critical comments by police chiefs on 'bureaucratic' performance targets imposed by central government.
Source: Barry Loveday and Anna Reid, Going Local: Who should run Britain s police?, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jan
A think tank argued that the 'chaos' in the asylum and immigration system, and the potential for widespread misuse of public services, make the introduction of entitlement cards an urgent priority. It said that the cost of an entitlement card would be rapidly recouped by a reduction in the 'misuse' of public services.
Source: Response to the Government's Consultation Exercise on Entitlement Cards, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: No link
Date: 2003-Jan