The election of a Labour government at Westminster is an opportunity to transform the UK’s approach to policing, according to justice experts.
A manifesto for creating “safer communities” has been sent to senior party figures and Labour-affiliated think tanks, which outlines a “preventative public health approach”.
It has been produced by Oxon Advisory, led by former senior police officer Stan Gilmour who was director of the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit and received the King’s Police Medal for distinguished service earlier this year.
Other members of Oxon Advisory include Niven Rennie, former president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents and head of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, and John Coxhead who is professor of policing practice at Loughborough University.
Their recommendations come just over 30 years since Tony Blair first coined the phrase “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” which became the New Labour mantra that led to initiatives such as ASBOs (anti-social behaviour orders).
The manifesto argues that “the way to repair the broken system that Labour is inheriting is to move beyond expensive, fruitless and failed reactive tactics towards a preventive public health approach that regenerates community wellbeing”.
Highlighting issues with social inequality, spiralling costs and a move away from community-based policing in recent years, the experts outline four key proposals: cross-sector unity between the police and other public agencies, long-term investment in “early help strategies” that address poverty, a community-focused model “driven by local needs”, and more democratic police governance.
They argue: “True community safety and wellbeing needs a fundamental shift – moving beyond reactive problem-solving towards building systems that prevent harm from occurring in the first place.
“Much public spending has been wasted on trying to corral what we don’t want, rather than in investing in what we do want.
“Our prisons are full, but our police stations empty, due to the ill-conceived ideological policies of the Tories.
“At Oxon Advisory our experts believe Labour should now empower a solution-orientated approach, driven by local communities, to inform community safety priorities to make a difference, street by street, to transform our policing services, restore community confidence and bring safety back to our streets.”
“Labour should now empower a solution-orientated approach, driven by local communities, to inform community safety priorities to make a difference, street by street, to transform our policing services, restore community confidence and bring safety back to our streets”
Oxon Advisory
John Coxhead, writing in Police Professional earlier this year, added: “The way forward is transformational rather than populist, sustainable rather than gimmicky, collaborative rather than punitive.
“Such insights come not from ivory towers, but from people who have worked in the criminal justice system, for decades.
“They have watched with dismay at the erosion of quality and investment in policing, leaving us nowadays with a struggling fire brigade policing.”
He argues that public health and treatment are different, adding: “By the time you are having to treat things, whether that’s through hot spotting or increased sentencing, you are already behind the curve, spending huge amounts of public money trying to keep a lid on a bottle when the genie is already out and about, and out of control.”
Keir Starmer’s UK Labour manifesto highlights six “first steps for change”, which includes a crackdown on anti-social behaviour.
Writing in 1919 Magazine, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “We will seek to restore community policing, listening to the concerns raised by the Scottish Police Federation and others.
“We will seek to make officers more visible and responsive to communities, equip police with the latest technology so they can keep pace with modern threats, and introduce a police retention strategy, as well as improve co-ordination and interaction between emergency services to ensure the best use is being made of officers’ time.”
But the UK Conservative manifesto argues that the Tory government has “recruited record numbers of police officers to cut crime by more than 50 per cent”.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, also writing in 1919, said: “One of our top five manifesto pledges is to make Scotland safer by recruiting 1,000 more police officers.
“We will ensure that the justice system works for victims – and not criminals – by introducing a real Victims Law, rather than the SNP’s pale imitation.”