I have been holed up for two days chairing a senior appointment process. We have four new replacement members of the KPA officer team: Graham Hooper, Patricia Roffey, Mirella Falcone and Sophy Jennings. We welcome all of them. They come highly recommended and I am sure that they will do a good job for us.
We have been busy conducting our Police Authority Summer Roadshows which are part of our extensive consultation programme and have spent the last five weeks out-and-about in our town centres talking and listening to hundreds of Kent and Medway residents. The roadshows draw to a close in mid-September when we will share what people have told us about policing in the county and their policing priorities for where they live. I do have to report though that so far, with very few exceptions, residents feel that Kent Police and the Kent Police Authority do a good job for them, and there was 100% support for us over how the recent disorder on our streets was dealt with - firm, no-nonsense policing!
Finally, I have spent much time of late in discussion with one of my Independent colleagues on the Police Authority, Steve Hiscock. The members of the Authority hail from a 'wide church', with very different skills and experiences. Steve is a shining example of that. He was a very experienced and well-regarded senior diplomat, working at the highest levels in many corners of the globe, and his wise counsel is invaluable to us.
In his career he has experienced many different policing styles and much political interference in what should be impartial policing. He fears that we are going the same way and has deep concerns about the possible introduction of US-style elected Police Commissioners, who will inevitably bring an extra political dimension to British policing. I have attached below our latest press release and statement on this - see what you think.
Well, enough from me. August has been a really quiet month, but I know that things will hot up very soon, so I am going to enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend.
PRESS RELEASE
GOVERNMENT'S POLICING PLANS 'NAÏVE' AND 'DISASTROUS' WARNS FORMER DIPLOMAT
"There is no place for political interference in policing as recent public spats between ministers and senior police officers have proved," said Ann Barnes, Kent Police Authority Chair.
She speaks as a former diplomat warned that British policing is on a 'disastrous slide'.
A vocal challenger of the rationale for, and implications of, the Government's proposed Police and Crime Commissioners, Mrs Barnes supported fellow Kent Police Authority member, Stephen Hiscock's statement after he felt compelled to speak out.
"It's no secret that the Kent Police Authority members oppose directly elected commissioners," said Mrs Barnes. "We see them as unnecessary. They will have no different or additional powers than the current police authorities, and are a wilful waste of public money.
"They will inevitably lead towards a confrontational American model of governance overseeing the well-respected British model of policing. It is no wonder that the average tenure of a police chief in the US is just two years - fail to agree with your commissioner and you are out of a job; hardly impartial and operationally independent."
Mrs Barnes said: "Stephen's genuine worries will cause great disquiet in the policing world - and so they should. As a career diplomat stationed across the world, he has first-hand knowledge of political intervention in policing, observing disastrous and sometimes tragic results.
"The dangers of political interference are massive. It's time for a serious discussion, free from political dogma and party politics, and where everyone's voice is heard. The Home Office should release the feedback from their consultation exercise last autumn. Despite repeated requests they are refusing to do so and have been reported to the Information Commissioner. It strikes me that the consultation did not give the results the politicians wanted. If it had, they would have been published."
Stephen Hiscock KPA member writes:
As an independent member of the much-maligned police authority fraternity and as a long-term civil servant, my inclination and training have kept me out of the political fray.
However, when it comes to my family's safety and security, I am totally against any political interference in policing. I can remain silent no more.
Politicians have no place in policing other than as members of an overarching and multi-faceted police authority. The central government politician's role is to ensure that laws are clear and precise. Police forces have a clear mandate to apply them free from interference and police authorities ensure that forces have the resources to do so and hold them to account on behalf of local people.
Once prime ministers, metropolitan mayors or home secretaries believe they are better placed than highly trained police officers to do the job and use their media access to make cheap political points we are on a downward slide to disaster.
That the Government chooses to use the 'Boris' model as the basis for Police and Crime Commissioners is the most ironic and naive political stance that I have experienced in my long diplomatic career in Africa, Asia and South America. That the Met is seeking its third commissioner in just three years under this 'Boris' model does not seem to me to set a good example.
In my travels I have witnessed the disastrous results of political interference in policing in too many places. Proud forces, some originally moulded in the British tradition, brought to their knees and demoralised. We neither need nor want that here.
Finally, a police chief must be selected in an open, competitive and impartial process. The politicians' decision to deride Sir Hugh Orde in such a public way, pushing their own nominations for the role of Commissioner, indicates clearly the road we are on. As the Olympics loom, the Met needs a strong police officer in charge, not a broom-wielding politician looking for the main chance.
The country must wake up and understand. We should urgently hold a serious public debate about what these Police and Crime Commissioner proposals mean for the future of policing.