Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary
01 Jan 1997-pp 71-84
TL;DR: The introduction of an inspectorate followed the passing of the County and Borough Police Act in 1856 as discussed by the authors, which acknowledged that central government had a responsibility to ensure that a regular law enforcement agency was established in every county and borough throughout the Kingdom and that all police forces were operating in an efficient manner.
Abstract: The introduction of an inspectorate followed the passing of the County and Borough Police Act in 1856. This Act was important because through it Parliament acknowledged that central government had a responsibility to ensure that a regular law enforcement agency was established in every county and borough throughout the Kingdom and that it had a responsibility to ensure that all police forces were operating in an efficient manner. The Inspectors of Constabulary were introduced to ensure that local authorities complied with the statutory requirement to establish police forces and that those forces maintained a minimum standard of efficiency. They were also authorised to see that the newly introduced government grant (originally 25 per cent but increased to 50 per cent in 1874 and 51 per cent in 1986) was both deserved and properly applied.
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TL;DR: Findings of organizational culture and workload as the key issues in officer stress are confirmed and management action is required given that the degree of symptomatology appears to be worsening.
Abstract: Background High levels of stress-related illness are causing concern across industry. Against a background of impending legislative moves to try to improve this situation, there is a need to identify key work-related stressors. Police work tends to be regarded as inherently stressful because of the personal risk of exposure to confrontation and violence and the day-to-day involvement in a variety of traumatic incidents. As a result, high levels of stress-related symptoms might be expected in this population. Objective To examine the sources of stress-related symptoms within police officers and measure the prevalence of significant associated mental ill-health. Method A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of a population of 1206 police officers was performed to assess levels of strain associated with a series of potential home and work related stressors. Participants were then split into low and high scoring groups on the basis of a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) threshold score in order to identify those stressors most associated with mental ill-health effects. Results Occupational stressors ranking most highly within the population were not specific to policing, but to organizational issues such as the demands of work impinging upon home life, lack of consultation and communication, lack of control over workload, inadequate support and excess workload in general. The high scoring group constituted 41% of the population and differed significantly from those with low scores in perception of all stressors, ranking both personal and occupational stressors more highly, and from personality constraints appeared significantly more ‘stress-prone’. A significant association between gender and mental ill-health was found, with females more likely to score more highly on the GHQ than males.
396 citations
TL;DR: In contrast to basing decisions on theory, assumptions, tradition, or convention, an evidence-based approach continuously tests hypotheses with empirical research findings as discussed by the authors, which helps assure that police neither increase crime nor waste money.
Abstract: Evidence-based policing is a method of making decisions about “what works” in policing: which practices and strategies accomplish police missions most cost-effectively. In contrast to basing decisions on theory, assumptions, tradition, or convention, an evidence-based approach continuously tests hypotheses with empirical research findings. While research on all aspects of policing grew substantially in the late twentieth century, the application of research to police practice intensified in the early twentyfirst century, especially for three tasks that make up the “triple-T” strategy of policing: targeting, testing, and tracking. Evidence-based targeting requires systematic ranking and comparison of levels of harm associated with various places, times, people, and situations that policing can lawfully address. Evidence-based testing helps assure that police neither increase crime nor waste money. Tracking whether police are doing what police leaders decide should be done may grow most rapidly in coming years by the use of GPS records of where police go and body-worn video records of what happens in encounters with citizens.
387 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the introduction of management accounting change in the form of local financial management in a police force, West Mercia Constabulary, using an ethnographic study is described.
277 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors outline the techniques used to identify the spatial and temporal components of crime hotspots, and utilize these methods to identify three broad categories of temporal hotspot and three broad classes of spatial hotspot.
Abstract: The growth of intelligence‐led policing has placed even greater emphasis on the clear identification of crime hotspots as well as the choice of the crime reduction or detection strategy identified to combat a problem. Crime hotspots are becoming central to policing strategy in many locations, as they enable an operational commander to focus resources into the areas of highest need. This paper outlines the techniques used to identify the spatial and temporal components of crime hotspots, and utilizes these methods to identify three broad categories of temporal hotspot and three broad categories of spatial hotspot. These categories are described in the form of a Hotspot Matrix. Real examples show how the spatial and temporal characteristics combine within the hotspot matrix, and the paper concludes by showing how operational commanders and crime prevention practitioners might employ the hotspot matrix to determine an appropriate prevention or detection strategy.
248 citations
References
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01 Jan 1984
TL;DR: The authors traces the process by which men made themselves into policemen, translating ideas about work and servitude, about local government and local community, servitude and the ideologies of law and central government into sets of personal beliefs.
Abstract: The year 1856 saw the first compulsory Police Act in England (and Wales). Over the next thirty years a class society came to be policed by a largely working-class police. This book, first published in 1984, traces the process by which men made themselves into policemen, translating ideas about work and servitude, about local government and local community, servitude and the ideologies of law and central government, into sets of personal beliefs.
By tracing the evolution of a policed society through the agency of local police forces, the book illustrates the ways in which a society, at many levels and from many perspectives, understood itself to operate, and the ways in which ownership, servitude, obligation, and the reciprocality of social relations manifested themselves in different communities. This title will be of interest to students of criminology and history.
70 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1984
TL;DR: The work of a member of the smaller police forces is described from the late-19th century to the formation of the West Mercia Constabulary, which incorporated and absorbed these earlier forces as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The work of a member of the smaller police forces is described from the late-19th century to the formation of the West Mercia Constabulary, which incorporated and absorbed these earlier forces
3 citations