In a statement in the House of Commons, the Home Secretary Theresa May unveiled major policing reforms including plans to have elected police and crime commissioners by May 2012.
This would enhance accountability of local police forces the government claims however critics have reservations about maintaining police independence and resources for the new positions. However, Ms. May in a speech to ACPO last month made it clear that police independence would not vbe violated. Police and Crime Commissioners will be required to ensure that police forces work more efficiently by collaborating with each other across a much wider range of policing functions than at present, to strengthen public protection, but also ensure better value for money.
The new strategy unveiled that the NPIA would be phased out by 2012 and all its services would be integrated into the newer bodies. Further, the strategy also requires police forces to collaborate with each other to drive efficiency and savings in police authorities.
The document released by the Home Secretary, Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting Police and the People sets out how the police service in England and Wales will become more accountable to the public and responsive to local people, more focused at a national level and more effective at tackling crime, as well as providing better value for money.
"The fundamental reforms we are announcing today continue our work to deliver a police service that is visible and accountable to the very people it serves in communities up and down the country," said the Prime Minister David Cameron.
'By replacing invisible police authorities with directly elected police and crime commissioners, we can forge a direct link between the police and the public, ensuring that the public have a voice in setting police priorities and have the power to hold the police to account for keeping our streets safe and secure,' he added.
This radical new approach will ensure that everyone has a say in how their area is policed, via their local commissioner, and that everyone plays their part in cutting crime within the Big Society. This includes more opportunities to get involved in keeping neighbourhoods safe through attending beat meetings and being members of Neighbourhood Watch. It will also provide more opportunities for citizens to volunteer with the police service, and within the wider criminal justice system.
The strategy also sets out how the government will tackle the bureaucratic burden on police officers by returning more responsibility to the police for charging in minor offences, scrapping unnecessary paperwork like the ‘stop’ form, and abolishing central targets.
The government will also work with the police service and the Health and Safety Executive to strengthen guidance on applying a common sense approach to health and safety. This will include scrutinising procedures that act as a barrier to intervening and recognising those officers who put themselves in harms way.