Crime and Justice
Policy Exchange has led the debate on police reform, publishing three influential research reports since 2003. Going Local examined how putting forces under the control of locally elected representatives fosters efficiency. Acknowledging that the public want more control over policing, it argued that the police should be made directly accountable to mayors and council leaders. From being a small voice in the darkness, this view has acquired, if not orthodoxy, then at least a high degree of acceptance. In a recent policy report, the Conservative Party warmed to the idea of elected commissioners who would control police budgets and have the ability to hire and fire chief constables. Manifesto for the Met offered a hard-hitting assessment of the record of the Metropolitan police and its apparent inability to make a significant impact on crime in London. Size Isn’t Everything, argued that as small forces perform at least as well as big ones, and since amalgamation reduces accountability and draws resources from neighbourhood policing, the Government should abandon plans for police force mergers. Three months later, John Reid, then Home Secretary, scrapped the proposals.
Since our first publication in 2003, central control has tightened, further constricting the ability of the police to reduce local crime and antisocial behaviour. Local, accountable forces require the freedom to manage their officers effectively. Fitting the Bill investigated whether, and to what extent, increased local autonomy for the police could improve policing. The research team asked all local police commanders in England and Wales to identify factors which would improve the quality of policing. It was the most comprehensive survey of its kind for five years, and the responses it elicited were revealing. The report argued that the police have the most impact when organised at a local level, and that there are plenty of resources but insufficient will or flexibility within the police establishment to use this capacity properly.
In November 2007, Policy Exchange widened the scope of their research with a research note that recommended ways in which the Government could reduce prison overcrowding and encourage rehabilitation.
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