Response to Patten

November 1999

The Federation's Final Response to the Patten Report

SECTION 4: POLICING WITH THE COMMUNITY

4.1 The direct quote from the Federation submission⁷ is not an attempt by the Commission to take a quote out of context and use it to support their own recommendations. It is the stated view of the Federation and in our submission to the Commission we engaged Dr Trevor Bennett of Cambridge University to produce a report on the subject of Community Policing in Northern Ireland. This then formed the basis of the Federation's submission and was given in its entirety to the Commission.

4.2 The Federation does not embrace the concept of community policing simply because it is in vogue to do so. Throughout the history of policing, effective policing has always been the preserve of those working closely with the community.

4.3 The success of the Markets Unit in winning the UK Award for Community Police Officer of the Year⁸ is only the tip of the iceberg of effort which goes into community policing in Northern Ireland. Despite the brutal murders of community police officers who are the most vulnerable to attack, our members have consistently tried to deliver community policing. The terrorists see our ability to work within the community as a major threat to their power base and it is therefore not surprising that they have specifically targeted community police officers for murder.

4.4 We wish to see community policing progressed in all parts of Northern Ireland and we concur with the Report that nothing should be done to delay its development. However, there are certain aspects which must be subject to an improved security situation and others where we believe the Commission has missed the mark.

4.5 The Report refers to a Sergeant or Inspector being appointed as 'Beat Manager'⁹. The person responsible for managing a beat is the Constable as first line officer. The Constable should be empowered and enabled to carry out this role. We do not disagree with supervision by Inspectors and Sergeants and a geographical responsibility for them. However, we must enhance the role of Community Constables and allow them to develop the trust of the community by delivering the service. If the public thinks it can achieve more by going to the 'Beat Manager' at a higher rank, it will undermine the effectiveness and dignity of the Constable.

4.6 Recommendation 46 creates a tenure of post, a concept to which Federations throughout the UK are firmly opposed. Our opposition has been proven correct as most forces who slavishly followed similar HMI proposals of many years ago are now turning away from them. The valuable local knowledge accumulated by officers should not simply be discarded because they have served five years. Equally we believe there should be no minimum period of tenure as this would restrict promotion prospects or lateral development by individuals.

4.7 The display of names and the locality badge we see as restrictive and unnecessary. It could give rise to a divisive perception that people would be treated differently by a police officer from their own locality. Policing must be delivered consistently throughout Northern Ireland and the public should feel confident of being treated in the same manner by every officer, irrespective of their locality. The display of police numerals is sufficient for a member of the public to identify an officer.

4.8 It is our view that in the first two years recruits should be given as wide an exposure to policing as possible. To restrict recruits solely to team policing would not support their theoretical training to the same degree. (Recommendation 47).

4.9 Training is an essential element of community policing and problem solving techniques. It is therefore essential that the programme, not only the training be properly funded. This can only be achieved with direct funding by Government until the programme is properly established. It is impossible to fund training and implementation of the proposed changes from the existing budget.

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7 Para 7.14 of the Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland

8 Para 7.6 of the Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland

⁹ Para 7.10 of the Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland

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