Growing Pluralisation and Fragmentation of Policing Essay

This essay aims to explore Button’s (1996) claim that ‘the growing pluralisation and fragmentation of policing†¦has challenged the public police’s claim that to be the primary policing force’. In order to do so, it will provide a general definition of both the public and private policing bodies within the United Kingdom, followed by a brief look at the history of the public Police, their progression and integration with private agencies. The essay will go on to discuss pluralisation and fragmentation, and how these are reflected within the context of the topic. Finally it will identify how various financial constraints have resulted in cutbacks and forced ‘hybrid’ policing in many areas. It will conclude with a reiteration of the main points, supporting Buttons claim that the public Police are not the primary policing force. Within this essay it is not possible to draw a definitive distinction between public Police and private policing bodies or indeed the perimeters in which each work, it is however important to understand the difference between the Police and ‘policing’ – a social function that Reiner (ibid:722 in Button 1996) describes as: ‘An aspect of social control processes which occurs universally in all social situations in which there is at least the potential for conflict, deviance, or disorder.’ Today the word ‘Police’ is used in many civilised countries to describe an organisation whom uphold the law and order in society (Met Police, 2012). Button (1996) describes the Police as: ‘The body of men and women employed by the state who patrol the streets, deal with crime, and ensure order and who undertake a range of other social type functions’. It could it be reasonably argued that the primary difference between public and private police is legislative powers i.e. public police have powers of arrest for arrestable offences not committed within their view where there are reasonable grounds for suspicion (private police can`t make these kinds of arrests) (Citizens Advice Bureau 2012). Circa 1856 members of public, ordinarily the victims, largely conducted policing activities. Any person suspected of committing a crime would be taken to the ‘Parish Constable’, an unpaid position to uphold order (Victorian crime and punishment, 2006). The Police as we know them today were formed in 1829 following the collapse of the ‘Parish Constable’ system (Met Police, 2012). Home Secretary of the time, Sir Robert Peel, was responsible for passing the first Metropolitan Police act forming the Metropolitan Police force, although this only really came to fruition in 1839 when the new City of London Police took control of all independent police activities (Met Police, 2012). G4S (2012) explain that private Police enterprises started out as a very basic, 4-man bicycle team, providing a guard-protection force. ‘The earliest roots in the UK appeared in 1935 when a former cabinet minister launched ‘Night Watch Services’. Historically, pre World War II, private security was frowned upon, seen as thuggery, sneaks and spies with private interests, however, since the War private security has been accepted as a supplement to the much-overburdened public Police. More recently governments have actively encouraged the commercial private sector support to Police, accepting that the extensive and complex nature of crime requires more than the Police have to offer (Bayley and Shearing, 1996). To fully address Button’s statement, it is necessary to understand the definition of pluralisation and fragmentation, and importantly how this is represented within the context of the statement. It is generally accepted that, in many countries, ‘policing’ is now both authorised and delivered by diverse networks of commercial bodies, voluntary and community groups, individual citizens, national and local governmental regulatory agencies, as well as the public police (Jones and Newburn, 2006). Jones and Newburn (2006:6) continue, suggesting that there has always been an array of policing bodies however the last decade has seen a rapid increase in ‘visible’ policing providers. While Bayley and Shearing (1996) note that: ‘In the past 30 years the state’s monopoly on policing has been broken by the creation of a host of private and community-based agencies that prevent crime, deter criminality, catch law-breakers, investigate offences, and stop conflict. The police and policing have become increasingly distinct.’ It is this fragmentation or use of numerous agencies to uphold law and order within the community that Button refers to as pluralisation. Whilst we can say that policing bodies have been coexistent for some time; in recent years heavy financial constraints placed upon the public Police have forced a much larger, lateral, recruitment of private agencies to assist in back room and specialist Police departments. Newburn and Jones (2002) suggest that this may be due to: ‘Increasing constraints on police expenditure and that, as a consequence, other forms of provision have expanded to fill the gap.’ This largely came to the public eye in 1983 when the Home Office issued a circular (114/83, Manpower, Effectiveness and Efficiency) outlining the need for the Police force to demonstrate value for money in line with other public services (Smith and Henry, 2007:27 in Johnston, 1992). During the 1980’s Conservative administrations offered national police forces, financial incentives to, where possible, employ civilians in positions that did not require police power, training or experience (Jones and Newburn, 2002). This, however, is not a new concept, as explained by Jones, Newburn and Smith ((1994) in Jones and Newburn, 2002), ‘the employment of civilians in the police service has a long history, dating back to the early stages of this century’. Changes forced by financial shortages are highlighted by Houghton (2012), suggesting that due to budget constraints policing bodies have been forced to look at radical options such as privatisation as opposed to more common measures previously used like a minimum rate of change. Chief Superintendent Phil Kay was quoted in the Guardian (2012), as overseeing the joint West Midlands/Surrey â€Å"transformation† programme, designed to deal with the challenging financial conditions the force currently faced. As part of the programme West Midlands and Surrey constabularies intend to out source a variety of policing activities such as investigating crimes, developing cases, managing intelligence, as well as more traditional back-office functions, such as managing forensics, finance and human resources. In 2010/11 the Police Officer training course profile consisted of a 95 day course followed by three further 5 day interventions over the full 2 year probationary period. The total cost of training a police officer under this model was estimated at  £16,694 (the Met, 2011). These figures are in addition to a starting wage in the region of  £28,000 –  £32,000 per annum, housing allowance, contributions to private health care, free eye tests/spectacles and a London based Police Officer could expect to receive an additional  £6,500 per annum (The Met, 2012). In 2009-2010,  £1 from every  £7 of tax paid in England and Wales was used to pay a Police pension (The Telegraph, 2012). It is difficult to determine an accurate figure as to the raw cost of just one Officer per annum. However, when you begin to assess a similar monetary breakdown for a private contractor conducting a policing activity, such as a public space CCTV operator, the costs are poles apart. Individuals can complete a 30 hour course that will impart sufficient specialised knowledge for the user to be deemed competent and ‘possess the legal and technical expertise to operate CCTV systems according to the latest industry standards and the BS standard’, for a cost of approximately  £150 (AAB Training, 2012). Following the introduction of the Private Security Industry Act in 2001, to legally operate CCTV within a public space, operators must hold a current SIA licence, available at a cost of  £220 (SIA, Home Office, 2012). In a recent paper the Home Secretary, Right Honorable Theresa May MP (2010), claimed that: ‘Spending on the police has increased by 24% in real terms since 2000/01 and stands at  £13 billion a year today. Over the past decade the focus on public spending has been on money rather than value for money†¦ Government and police forces have wasted money.’ In the UK, Police are continually trying to ensure that there is a â€Å"visible presence†, a member of the uniformed police, on the streets. However in 1985 Bayley documented that in the United States of America, due to ‘staffing and deployment rules, 10 additional officers must be hired in order to get one extra uniformed police officer on the streets around the clock throughout the year’ (Bayley 1985, as cited in Bayley and Shearing, 1996). They continue to state that the incremental cost of a unit of â€Å"visible presence† on American streets is, therefore, about $500,000 – 10 times a patrol officer’s average annual salary plus benefits (Bayley and Shearing, 1996). More recently in the UK financial constraints on the public Police have resulted in numerous cases of ‘outsourcing’ of back room and support staffing from the private sector. G4S have won several contracts to support the Police including a support services contract with the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Constabularies. Managing Director of G4S Policing Support Services, John Shaw states: ‘Clearly in these times of austerity forces are investigating alternative ways of delivering the support services that underpin effective and efficient police operations and we are confident that by working with G4S the three forces will be able to make considerable savings which they will be able to redirect to frontline policing (G4S, 2012)’. ‘Many UK forces face budget cuts and had considered outsourcing work to save cash and bridge a 126 million pound funding gap.’ (Reuters 2012). As we can see, budgetary constraints have forced the public Police to investigate various options in order to maintain society’s persistent desire to see the Police force ‘policing’, as in on the streets. This need to reassess and outsource has naturally left a ‘grey area’ in the classification between the state, tax funded, public Police force and commercial, private policing bodies. Loader’s (2000) theory, that this shift in approach, ‘Police to policing’, is a transformation. He describes policing bodies that range from Government Police, through to ‘hybrid’ agencies, government provided services including CCTV monitoring etc. etc. (Loader, 2000, as cited in Mazerolle and Ransley, 2005). In 2003, following a Government Green paper, Policing: Building safer communities together (Tim Newburn, 2012), the first key, high profile, ‘hybrid’ style organisation designed as an integral support unit to the Police was formed. Whilst the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was created and is funded by the central Government it remains operationally independent of the Police. Again a ‘grey area’ emerges as recruitment is often from within the various established Police departments, NCIS, NCS MI5. The emergence of such hybrid policing is one of the largest and least studied changes affecting law enforcement. Largely as a result of privatisation and contracting-out, Britain now has the following semi-private, semi-public bodies: the Atomic Energy Agency Police; the Transport Police; the Customs and Excise Investigation Division; the National Rivers Authority, the Post Office Investigation Department; and so on and on (The Economist, 1997). Whilst many see the ever increasing ‘privatisation’ of the public Police force and their roles, it is important to remember that this is not a new concept. Private security agencies have been assisting in law and order in the UK for centuries; many have come to rely on them, seeing them as an integral part of homeland security. The Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, recently stated that the future of policing should be based upon the principles set out by Sir John Peel, suggesting that ‘Public–private partnerships can be really important for the police, especially on things like new technology, and the police will need new contracts (The Telegraph, 2012)’. On one hand the continued employment of private sector personnel to conduct backroom and technical policing activities fulfills the need of Police Officers to be seen to be ‘policing’ however in doing so it fuels the fire for the pluralisation and ‘hybrid’ policing bodies that are becoming increasingly common throughout the UK. As Button suggests ‘Policing has become pluralized. Police are no longer the primary crime-deterrent presence in society; they have been supplanted by more numerous private providers of security (Bayley and Shearing 1996: 588).’ In conclusion, there are many things that have shaped and changed the way in which the Police force operate and the manner in which they uphold the law. However, the role of the Police Officer has changed dramatically over the years, the UK population has increased exponentially, they have faced severe manning and budgetary cutbacks, coupled with the rapid pace of evolving criminality, all of which have forced the Police to assess what are the core functions that cannot be filled by anyone other than a uniformed, lawful, Police Officer with powers of arrest. As a result out sourcing to experts and or backroom personnel is rapidly becoming the norm. 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