Police report calls for red tape cuts

LONDON – Many police duties could be carried out just as well by civilians, according to a report yesterday which also called for officers to be freed for frontline duties by cutting the paperwork mountain.

Civilians could staff station front desks for example and do backroom office work, Chief Inspector of Constabulary Ronnie Flanagan said in his report. Paperwork carried out by police in “stop and account” and “stop and search” operations should be streamlined or replaced with technology.The recommendations would save up to seven million hours a year, the equivalent of 3 500 police officers, Flanagan predicted.He also said current police numbers were unsustainable during the next three years although he declined to specify how many jobs were likely to disappear, saying the reduction would only be slight.Instead, the emphasis would be on increased flexibility.The government adviser called for more chief constables to adopt an entrepreneurial approach to policing, attracting private sector sponsorship and exploiting business opportunities, and greater Home Office flexibility in funding.Police forces had become “process bound”, and bureaucracy should be cut while retaining police accountability, he said.”This is an opportunity to alter the course of how we deliver policing,” he added.”We can free up valuable police time and transform the working environment of individual officers.”Police forces must be freed up from unnecessary bureaucracy and better targeted at responding to the threat the public face and reducing the harm caused by crime.”The report recommended that police should no longer have to complete a lengthy “stop and account” form.Instead, they should give the person a receipt, such as a business card, and make a verbal recording of the encounter.Police will still have to document every “stop and search” – a more invasive procedure – but should be given hand-held data terminals allowing them to complete forms electronically.The amount of information routinely recorded for minor crimes should be cut, Flanagan recommended.Nampa-ReutersPaperwork carried out by police in “stop and account” and “stop and search” operations should be streamlined or replaced with technology.The recommendations would save up to seven million hours a year, the equivalent of 3 500 police officers, Flanagan predicted.He also said current police numbers were unsustainable during the next three years although he declined to specify how many jobs were likely to disappear, saying the reduction would only be slight.Instead, the emphasis would be on increased flexibility.The government adviser called for more chief constables to adopt an entrepreneurial approach to policing, attracting private sector sponsorship and exploiting business opportunities, and greater Home Office flexibility in funding.Police forces had become “process bound”, and bureaucracy should be cut while retaining police accountability, he said.”This is an opportunity to alter the course of how we deliver policing,” he added.”We can free up valuable police time and transform the working environment of individual officers.”Police forces must be freed up from unnecessary bureaucracy and better targeted at responding to the threat the public face and reducing the harm caused by crime.”The report recommended that police should no longer have to complete a lengthy “stop and account” form.Instead, they should give the person a receipt, such as a business card, and make a verbal recording of the encounter.Police will still have to document every “stop and search” – a more invasive procedure – but should be given hand-held data terminals allowing them to complete forms electronically.The amount of information routinely recorded for minor crimes should be cut, Flanagan recommended.Nampa-Reuters