Who can lead the PSNI in an era of cutbacks?
THIS week the Policing Board will begin the process of short listing for Sir Hugh Orde's successor and must also begin the process of recruiting a new Assistant Chief Constable.
There could even be two of those vacancies if rumours of an impending retirement are true.
Orde's achievements as Chief Constable are undeniable. He has united the whole community behind the force for the first time in living memory and he will be the first chief constable to leave with the praise of politicians ringing in his ears.
Still, his successor faces considerable problems and will have reduced resources in dealing with them. During the Troubles' years whatever was needed was spent on security. Barry Gilligan, the Northern Ireland Policing Board's new chair, has warned of station closures and Treasury pressure to reduce police numbers in order to stay within, or even cut, the PSNI's budget of 1.2 million.
The phasing out of the full-time reserve will remove 500 officers with unrivalled experience of anti-terrorist and public order policing at ground level. There are skills shortages in detective ranks after Patten redundancy packages tempted experienced investigators into early retirement and, in many cases, lucrative careers elsewhere.
Up to 80 per cent of prosecution files for indictable offences are currently returned to the police because they have been improperly completed. In some cases the mistakes are quite basic, for instance the omission of witness statements. The Crown Prosecution Service refused to comment on these figures but confirmed that it "had to return a substantial number of files received from police in relation to the more serious cases". As a result it has "set up a joint working group with PSNI with a view to securing improvements in the quality of police investigation files".
Clear-up rates are poor and high profile cases, such as Omagh and the Northern Bank, have resulted in no successful prosecution. The number of senior officers who have experience of anti-terrorist policing is currently limited to three – Judith Gillespie, Drew Harrison and Duncan McCausland.
These issues need to be addressed by Orde's successor and the new ACC, which is in many ways just as important an appointment.
There should be an effort to recruit former Northern Ireland officers who really know the ground for one or both of these posts. Jim Gamble, Chief Executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, is one of six contenders for the Chief Constable's job. As a former head of the RUC's anti-terrorist intelligence unit he may face opposition from Sinn Fein but he has a portfolio of experience that is badly needed here.
Another impressive candidate is Bernard Hogan-Howe, Chief Constable of Merseyside. He has made Liverpool one of the safest cities in the UK, reducing crime by 29 per cent and using new technology to move officers from desk jobs onto crime fighting. Speed of response has improved dramatically and now 95 per cent of all calls are answered on time.
For Assistant Chief Constable, the Policing Board should go all out to tempt one Gavin McKinnon back home from England, where he is currently a director of the National Police Improvement Agency. I first met McKinnon when I interviewed him amongst a bunch of recruits to the RUC and I have followed his career since.
He ticks every conceivable box, both politically and in terms of experience. A lawyer by training, he is a North Belfast Catholic who joined first the UDR and then the RUC. He is currently a chief superintendent and has academic qualifications from Harvard, Cambridge, Stockholm, Bramshill and the US Senior Management Institute in Boston.
McKinnon cut his teeth in Fermanagh and north Armagh, receiving several commendations for bravery and good police work during the Troubles. His experience working on the change management team which implemented Patten won him a transfer to the Home Office's Police Reform Unit where he was later talent-spotted to set up the NPIA with a budget of 1 billion. Besides his day job he is adjunct Professor of Law at the City University of New York and has advised the Israeli police on community relations.
He has also written many of the text books which are used on police courses across the country, including Blackstone's Police manual. And when it comes to promoting ethnic harmony in this age of diversity, he could just about write the book on that one too, judging by his happy marriage to Sonal Patel, who is of Indian ethnic origin.
This is the sort of person who, if he didn't already exist, we would have to invent to fill senior posts in today's PSNI. Remember where you read it first.
These are the applicants for the post of PSNI Chief Constable:
- Cressida Dick (Met, in charge of de Menezes shooting)
- Bernard Hogan-Howe (Merseyside)
- Matt Baggott (Chief Constable of Leicestershire)
- Jon Stoddart from Durham
- Jim Gamble CEOP (the national child Pornography team and a former RUC Special Branch Officer)
- Paul West (West Mercia).
- Brian Moore from Wiltshire also applied but withdrew
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Monday 13 February 2012
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