In one of my recent blogs I referred to "Valuing Policing. Policing in the Age of Austerity ". This is a report by Her Majesties Inspector of Constabularies (HMIC) into the future of policing in the climate of budget cuts. I have read it now. Here are my very brief comments.
Its a good, intelligent and readable report, but to understand it properly you have to grasp the motivation of the person behind the report, Sir Denis O'Connor. He, as I mentioned before, is the champion of Neighbourhood Policing (NP). He therefore wants to ensure that this radical change in policing style is not ditched by the government and forces in the budget cuts. This report can therefore be seen as a pre-emptive strike.
He cleverly includes NP with Response Policing (RP) in his statistics - two different policing styles in my opinion - as complimentary core frontline policing activities. Not as competing styles for funds. The chart I show above is an example of that. The fact is the reason why there are more police available for patrol on Monday morning than Friday night is because NP officers rarely, if ever work nights. A situation that NP needs to address if it is to survive and flourish.
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