The government published a Policing and Crime Bill. The Bill provided for tighter controls around lapdancing clubs, with venues having to apply for the same type of licences as sex shops. There would be a crackdown on binge drinking, with pubs and clubs possibly having to sign up to a compulsory code of conduct, banning some promotions which were seen to encourage drunkenness. The Bill would strengthen sex offender prevention orders and foreign travel orders. But the government withdrew plans to introduce direct elections for police authorities in England and Wales.
Source: Policing and Crime Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Home Office press release | ACPO press release | Police Federation press release | Fawcett Society press release | Addaction press release | NLGN press release (1) | NLGN press release (2) | LGA press release | LGA briefing | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | Guardian report (4) | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2) | BBC report
Date: 2008-Dec
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the police should not have retained the fingerprints and DNA records of two men who had not been convicted of any offence. It said that keeping the information 'could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society'.
Source: S and Marper v The United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights (+33 0 3884 12018)
Links: Text of judgement | Liberty press release | HGC press release | ACPO press release | NO2ID press release | Nuffield Council on Bioethics press release | Conservative Party press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Dec
The government published its response to an official review of the way in which criminality information was shared between agencies.
Source: Government Response to the Magee Review of Criminality Information, Cm 7511, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Magee report | Hansard | ACPO press release
Date: 2008-Dec
The government published a summary of the responses to its Green Paper on police reform. It said that the police and public 'strongly backed' proposals to cut red tape, introduce a new national 'policing pledge', and give local people a greater voice in how crime was tackled in their neighbourhoods.
Source: From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing Our Communities Together – Summary of Green Paper Consultation Responses and Next Steps, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Consultation responses | Home Office press release | ACPO press release | LGA press release | Police Federation press release
Date: 2008-Nov
The police service inspectorate said that neighbourhood policing had become a core part of policing across England and Wales, with 3,600 teams in operation. But progress varied considerably between forces, and more work needed to be done to fully embed the programme.
Source: A Thematic Report on Neighbourhood Policing and Developing Citizen Focus Policing, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (01527 882000)
Links: Report | Home Office press release | ACPO press release
Date: 2008-Nov
An article examined how greater political recognition of cultural and gendered identities had affected the interior culture in an English police force.
Source: Bethan Loftus, 'Dominant culture interrupted: recognition, resentment and the politics of change in an English police force', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 48 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Nov
An audit report said that the Independent Police Complaints Commission had improved its performance against targets, in spite of a significant increase in its workload: but it needed to do more to get feedback from complainants on how their complaints had been handled, and to improve its quality-control procedures. A linked research report examined levels of satisfaction with the Commission.
Source: The Independent Police Complaints Commission, HC 1035 (Session 2007-08), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Tiggey May, Hamish Warburton and Ian Hearnden, Appellants', Complainants' and Police Officers' Satisfaction with the Independent Police Complaints Commission, National Audit Office (020 7798 7400)
Links: Report | NAO press release | Research report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Nov
A report by a committee of MPs said that public expectations of the police were not being met. The public wanted the police to be more active in dealing with minor crime and anti-social behaviour. The police should be more visible and more responsive to the public, and should give greater consideration to the needs of the victim in investigating crimes. The MPs expressed concern at the amount of police time spent dealing with alcohol-related crime; and said that they were disappointed at the lack of progress made in reducing police bureaucracy.
Source: Policing in the 21st Century, Seventh Report (Session 2007-08), HC 364, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | ACPO press release | Police Federation press release | CSJ press release | Methodist Church press release | Conservative Party press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Nov
A report by a committee of MPs said that the fall in crime and violence overall had enabled the Home Office to concentrate on tackling more serious violence and gang-related activity. But its efforts had been undermined by poor distribution of funding, and by its 'mixed' performance in spreading good practice.
Source: Reducing the Risk of Violent Crime, Forty-fifth Report (Session 2007-08), HC 546, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Oct
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on police inquiries into past events associated with sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. It said that it recognized the need to find a way of addressing the legacy of the past that did not compromise the ability of the police and other criminal justice agencies to deal with the present.
Source: Policing and Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland: The Cost of Policing the Past – Government Response to the Committee's Third Report, Second Special Report (Session 2007-08), HC 1084, House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report by a committee of MSPs said that the delivery of community policing in Scotland was inconsistent, and the majority of police forces did not have clear community policing strategies.
Source: Report on Inquiry into Community Policing, 18th Report 2008, SP Paper 155, Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release
Date: 2008-Oct
Chief police officers said that they had developed a strategy for dealing with honour-based violence across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It recommended an extension of witness-protection schemes.
Source: Press release 22 October 2008, Association of Chief Police Officers (020 7084 8950)
Links: ACPO press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Oct
An article examined three examples of 'civilian policing', including two 'street watch' schemes and a private security firm. It explored the legitimization of civilian policing schemes by the police, along with the extent of public support and the impact upon crime reduction. Two of the case studies demonstrated the difficulties for the police in legitimizing schemes that engaged in the use of or threat of violence and what could be termed 'vigilantism'.
Source: Douglas Sharp, Susie Atherton and Kate Williams, 'Civilian policing, legitimacy and vigilantism: findings from three case studies in England and Wales', Policing and Society, Volume 18 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Sep
The opposition Liberal Democrats published a plan for police and criminal justice reforms. The main proposals included: reviewing the police contract (including lifetime employment for 30 years, the single point of entry, and pay levels); annual fitness tests for frontline officers; decentralizing the force by scrapping 'counterproductive' central targets, introducing the local setting of priorities and budgets and the direct election of the majority of police authority members.
Source: Cutting Crime: Catching criminals with better policing, Liberal Democrats (020 7222 7999)
Links: Report | LD press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Sep
An article examined critically the programme of closing traditional 'blue lamp' police stations on grounds of economy and effectiveness.
Source: Eugene McLaughlin, '"Last one out, turn off the 'blue lamp'": the geographical 'placing' of police performance management', Policing, Volume 2 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Sep
A paper said that health and social services needed to do more to help the police to deal with people who had mental health problems. It called on the National Health Service to manage healthcare for people in police custody, and to take a more active role in diverting people with mental health problems to the services they needed.
Source: Paul Bather, Rob Fitzpatrick and Max Rutherford, The Police and Mental Health, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8300)
Links: Report | SCMH press release
Date: 2008-Sep
A study of the use of police powers under the 1983 Mental Health Act found that twice as many people were being held in cells as in hospitals. Of those people found suffering from distress in a public place in 2005-06, officers brought two-thirds into 'inappropriate' police cells, rather than being taken to hospitals.
Source: Maria Docking, Kerry Grace and Tom Bucke, Police Custody as a Place of Safety, Independent Police Complaints Commission (020 7404 0430)
Links: Report | IPCC press release | Mind press release | Nacro press release | ACPO press release | Community Care report | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Sep
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the surveillance of citizens in public places. It said that technology provided a major opportunity to strengthen public service delivery, and should be used to meet changing expectations of the individual and the community – while ensuring that the approach adopted was 'proportionate, open and transparent'.
Source: A Surveillance Society? The Government Reply to the Fifth Report from the Home Affairs Committee, Cm 7449, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2008-Jul
The government published a Green Paper on the police service in England and Wales. It proposed a set of nationally agreed rights, in the form of a 'policing pledge', that would clarify what everyone could expect from the police. All but one of the police service performance targets would be scrapped. The public would be enabled to be more involved with police through directly elected crime and policing representatives. There would be an enhanced role for the police inspectorate.
Source: From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing our communities together, Cm 7448, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Green Paper | Pledge | Home Office press release | ACPO press release | Police Federation press release | LGA press release | IPPR response | LGIU press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2008-Jul
Researchers found that activity by police community support officers corresponded well with Home Office guidance, notwithstanding local variation in the amount of time spent on individual activities. PCSOs spent the majority of their time being highly visible within the community, dealing with minor offences, and supporting front-line policing.
Source: Mark Mason and Catherine Dale, Analysis of Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Activity Based Costing (ABC) Data: Results from an initial review, Research Report 8, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Report | ACPO press release
Date: 2008-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that the very high annual cost of police inquiries into past events associated with sectarian violence in Northern Ireland was 'financially unsustainable'.
Source: Policing and Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland: The cost of policing the past, Third Report (Session 2007-08), HC 333, House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NIPB press release
Date: 2008-Jul
A report recommended ways in which the government, churches, and the police service could work together more effectively to reduce gang-related crime linked to drugs, guns, and knives. It called for long-term strategic partnerships between churches, community groups, the police, criminal justice partners, and local authorities.
Source: Joe Aldred, Sophie Hebden and Keith Hebden, Who Is My Neighbour? A church response to social disorder linked to gangs, drugs, guns and knives, Churches Together in England (020 7529 8131)
Links: Report | Evangelical Alliance press release | Ekklesia report
Date: 2008-Jul
The report was published of a government-commissioned review of the way in which criminality information was shared between agencies. It recommended a package of measures to improve public protection, including the creation of a 'Commission for Public Protection Information'.
Source: Ian Magee, The Review of Criminality Information, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | Home Office press release
Date: 2008-Jul
A think-tank report said that official statistics did not offer a complete picture of gun and knife crime because much of it – especially violence between criminals, and offences by children under 16 – went unreported. More than one-half of young offenders felt that the police were unable to protect them from violent crime in their area. The laws governing offensive weapons were in a 'mess', with no legal framework dealing with knives and offensive weapons as a whole.
Source: Bob Golding and Jonathan McClory, Going Ballistic: Dealing with guns, gangs and knives, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jul
The police service inspectorate examined frontline supervision and leadership in the police service of England and Wales. It made 27 recommendations for change and improvement.
Source: Leading from the Frontline: Thematic inspection of frontline supervision and leadership, at the rank of sergeant in the police service of England and Wales, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (01527 882000)
Links: Report | Police Federation press release
Date: 2008-Jul
A think-tank report said that the government should avoid using centralized policies to tackle gang violence and knife crime. Whitehall-driven targets did not take into account the diverse nature of many gangs. Local councils should be given control over local neighbourhood policing, and the freedom to develop their own strategies to tackle gang violence.
Source: Anthony Brand and Richard Ollerearnshaw, Gangs at the Grassroots: Community solutions to street violence, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Report | NLGN press release
Date: 2008-Jul
A report said that most of the problems associated with the illegal use of firearms required social and economic – rather than criminal justice – solutions. There was 'no compelling evidence' that the existing, largely enforcement-led, strategy adopted by the government was likely to prove a durable or effective way of dealing with firearm-related offending.
Source: Peter Squires with Roger Grimshaw and Enver Solomon, 'Gun Crime': A review of evidence and policy, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies/King's College London (020 7848 1688)
Links: Report | CCJS press release | ACPO press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jun
An article reported interviews with 80 young men in England and Wales convicted of firearms offences. It highlighted the poverty and inequality characteristics of communities where gun crime was a significant problem. It was worth considering what was already known about family- and school-based programmes that focused on reducing violent and aggressive behaviour as part of the response to the growing problem of gun crime.
Source: Carol Hayden, Gavin Hales, Chris Lewis and Dan Silverstone, 'Young men convicted of firearms offences in England and Wales: an exploration of family and educational background as opportunities for prevention', Policy Studies, Volume 29 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jun
A report set out six ways to cut crime and create safer neighbourhoods: intervening early with troubled young people and families; helping young people back on track by offering them training and educational opportunities; making sure that young people and families knew how to stay safe on the streets without resorting to violence; ensuring that offenders were ready to live and work in their communities; supporting young people back into school, training, and work; and ensuring that young people were at the centre of plans to make communities safer by harnessing their ideas and energy.
Source: The Way Forward, Crime Concern (01925 577122)
Links: Report | Crime Concern press release
Date: 2008-Jun
An article examined the impact of performance measurement and performance management in the public services, with particular reference to the police service. The imposition of targets had helped create a 'tyranny of conformity'. It called for the development of a more sophisticated approach to service delivery: this would help sustain a citizen focus based on effective local feedback mechanisms, which might encourage a renaissance of leadership qualities while also encouraging public services to became far less risk-averse.
Source: Barry Loveday, 'Performance management and the decline of leadership within public services in the United Kingdom', Policing, Volume 2 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jun
A think-tank report said that the police service in England and Wales suffered from an 'accountability deficit'. At the national level fragmented governance meant that no actor in the system had the power to effectively incentivize performance improvement or drive through change and reform. It identified six options for reform.
Source: Rick Muir and Guy Lodge, A New Beat: Options for more accountable policing, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Report | IPPR press release
Date: 2008-Jun
A report said that a radical reform of the way the police were held to account was needed if they were to maintain the confidence of the people they served. Local people should have a greater say over how their force was run, helping set police priorities for their areas.
Source: Answering to You: Policing in the 21st century, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report | LGA press release
Date: 2008-Jun
A study found that disadvantaged communities were keen to reduce street crime in their neighbourhoods, but they could feel unrecognized and marginalized by statutory bodies.
Source: Jenny Lynn, Community Leadership Approaches to Tackling Street Crime, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | JRF press release
Date: 2008-May
The government announced (in the draft Queen's Speech) plans to introduce a Policing and Crime Reduction Bill, designed to strengthen public influence over decision-making by police authorities, through the election of directly elected representatives; and to reduce bureaucracy in the police service. The Bill would be preceded by a Green Paper.
Source: Preparing Britain for the Future: The government's draft legislative programme, Cm 7372, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Draft Queens Speech | Amendments | Home Office press release | LGA press release | NLGN press release
Date: 2008-May
A report by an official advisory body said that the government's plans for identity cards might put people on low incomes at greater risk of fraud, and that ministers were failing to co-ordinate implementation of the 10-year programme.
Source: Independent Scheme Assurance Panel, Annual Report 2007, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Home Office response | Guardian report
Date: 2008-May
A new book examined policing, crime control, and community safety policies in the context of urban restructuring in old-industrial cities, drawing on a study of the making and remaking of urban spaces in the city of Glasgow (Scotland).
Source: Gesa Helms, Towards Safe City Centres? Remaking the spaces of an old-industrial city, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-May
A think-tank report said that the tradition of policing by consent was in danger from political interference that was alienating the police from the public. The police had been made to put government targets before serving the public: these targets, set by the Home Office, resulted in bonuses of £5-15,000 to top officers whose forces met them, with the result that officers lower down the scale came under pressure to concentrate on whatever was targeted, to the neglect of other tasks.
Source: Harriet Sergeant, The Public and the Police, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Summary | Civitas press release | Liberal Democrats press release | ACPO press release | Telegraph report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2008-May
The government announced (in the draft Queen's Speech) plans to introduce a Communications Data Bill, designed to modify the procedures for the acquisition and retention of communications data for the purposes of fighting crime and terrorism; and to transpose a European Union Directive on the retention of communications data into United Kingdom law.
Source: Preparing Britain for the Future: The government's draft legislative programme, Cm 7372, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Draft Queens Speech | Amendments | Home Office press release
Date: 2008-May
A report said that multi-agency work involving both statutory and voluntary organizations was key to responding effectively to knife, gun, and gang crime. Solutions required an appropriate mix of enforcement and prevention.
Source: Gang, Gun and Knife Crime: Seeking solutions, National Youth Agency (0116 285 3700) and others
Links: Report | NCVYS press release
Date: 2008-Apr
The government published its response to an official review of policing. It described the review report as 'balanced and realistic'.
Source: Letter 9 April 2008, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Date: 2008-Apr
The opposition Conservative Party said that every police force in England and Wales should publish a monthly map outlining the places where crimes had occurred.
Source: Giving the Public a Crime Map: Using technology to fight crime, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Report | Conservative Party press release | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Apr
A new book examined ways of promoting community self-help, and the relevance and value of community activity in tackling neighbourhood problems. Problems such as graffiti, alcoholism, and street crime needed to be tackled from within communities by residents, alongside outside agencies such as the police and social services.
Source: Liz Richardson, DIY Community Action: Neighbourhood problems and community self-help, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary | LSE press release
Date: 2008-Mar
The police service inspectorate published its annual report for the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2007.
Source: Annual Report 2005-2007, HC 163, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Mar
The government published an action plan for tackling crimes of violence. The plan included creating a presumption to prosecute those who were found carrying a knife, and tougher sentences for knife crime.
Source: Saving Lives, Reducing Harm, Protecting the Public: An action plan for tackling violence 2008-11, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Action plan | Hansard | Home Office press release | NCH press release | NUT press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Feb
Researchers found that, when piloted at a local level, neighbourhood policing had a 'significant positive impact' on a wide range of outcome measures, including criminal victimization, perceptions of anti-social behaviour, and public confidence in the police.
Source: Paul Quinton and Julia Morris, Neighbourhood Policing: The impact of piloting and early national implementation, Online Report 01/08, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Feb
An audit report said that overall levels of violent crime had fallen by 9.0 per cent since 2002-03, and the number of serious violent offences recorded by the police had fallen by 5.9 per cent over the same period. The Home Office's actions to encourage local areas to address domestic violence and alcohol-related crime were likely to have made some contribution to this fall. However, the Home Office still needed to take further action to improve the delivery of funding to frontline practitioners, and also to articulate their long-term strategic approach to tackling violence. Although levels of serious violence had fallen over recent years, they had done so at a slower rate than overall crime levels.
Source: Reducing the Risk of Violent Crime, HC 241 (Session 2007-08), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NAO press release | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Feb
The final report of an independent review proposed a new model of policing in England and Wales, in which the police service directed their resources specifically to areas that would have the biggest impact on reducing harm to communities. Better management of resources, a reduction of unnecessary bureaucracy, and greater use of technology could help free up valuable police time and transform the police. The lengthy form required in cases of 'stop and search' would be scrapped. Between 5 and 7 million hours per year – the equivalent of 2,500-3,500 police officers – could be refocused on front line duties if the changes recommended were made. Existing police numbers were 'unsustainable'.
Source: Ronnie Flanagan, The Review of Policing: Final Report, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Annex | Home Office press release (1) | Home Office press release (2) | ACPO press release | EHRC press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2008-Feb
An article examined the street wardens programme (established in 2001 to help improve the 'liveability' of deprived neighbourhoods by deterring anti-social behaviour and crime, and fostering social inclusion). 'Deprivation' was not explicitly defined in the policy, resulting in schemes located in areas with wildly divergent environmental and demographic characteristics. Programme implementation was diverse. Against a performance management context, outcomes were paradoxically never clearly defined and many were difficult to measure. This posed significant challenges as to how local areas were to implement national policies and demonstrate success.
Source: Chih Hoong Sin, 'The street wardens programme as a neighbourhood renewal intervention: the challenge of translating national policy into creative local responses in a performance management context', Benefits, Volume 16 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Feb
A think-tank report said that police officers should lose guaranteed pay rises based on length of service and should instead receive salaries based on performance and skills. Although crime had fallen dramatically since 1997, police performance in this period had not significantly improved.
Source: Tom Gash, The New Bill: Modernising the police workforce, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Report | IPPR press release | Personnel Today report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Feb
A think-tank report examined the challenges faced by the police service in containing costs and balancing protective services, counter-terrorism, and neighbourhood policing. Police spending had increased by a fifth between 1998 and 2005: but the impact on crime had been 'unimpressive'. The report suggested ways in which the police service could be more effective and efficient even with declining central government funding.
Source: Barry Loveday and Jonathan McClory, Footing the Bill: Reforming the police service, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release
Date: 2008-Jan
A report by a committee of MSPs said that police resources were inadequate to meet commitments. It called for a fundamental and independent review of the police role and responsibilities, and highlighted a number of areas where improvements could be made in the operation and governance of the police, as well as areas of further scrutiny.
Source: Report on Inquiry into the Effective Use of Police Resources, 4th Report 2008, SP Paper 50, Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release | SLP press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jan