March 2016: A force to be reckoned with

by Mark Rowe

In 2010 the Government announced a drastic cut to the funding for the 43 police forces in England and Wales which has resulted in the reduction of officers from 144,000 to around 127,000 in 2015 with further reductions expected.

Police forces, faced with gaps in the services they offer, have turned to the private security sector to bolster the available resources left and to undertake back office duties in a more cost-effective way. This has not gone unchallenged as MPs have questioned the merits of the police using certain security companies who have fallen short. Keith Vaz the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee was not alone in questioning the wisdom of the decisions being taken to employ the private sector and was quoted in the Sunday Times: ‘Given the huge pressure on police budgets, it is puzzling that such a large amount of public money is being given to public sector organisations.’ Jack Dromey the Shadow Police Minister, was quoted saying: ‘The public will be rightly concerned at the creeping privatisation of core police functions and that the policing of their communities is being increasingly handed over to private companies.’

Valid points
They have valid points and it is unsurprising to hear that serving police officers are concerned by the decisions being taken by their chief constables to employ contracted security personnel in roles they feel should be undertaken by qualified police officers. Against a background of outsourced interviewing of witnesses, crime investigation, front office duties and other core police functions like the protection of crime scenes, one has to understand how serving officers can view the creeping privatisation when their own numbers are being reduced annually to meet the enforced government cuts in police budgets.

Facts
It was interesting to learn that G4S and Serco two of the main players in outsourcing security services had supplied personnel to at least 28 UK police forces during 2010 and 2014 and that these companies alone had been paid around £170m. The services included witness care officers, crown court liaison officers, back office staff and some security specialist roles. While some forces had spent over £12m the Police Service of Northern Ireland revealed it had only spent £410k and why am I surprised that Scotland spent nothing.

In November 2015 the media covered the story about Frinton-on-Sea residents agreeing to pay more than £100 a year to be covered by a scheme that provides a hotline to on-duty private security officers patrolling the coastal town. Services were requested by residents to fill the void created by police manning reductions caused by cuts in police budgets. The security company in question conducts mobile patrols in Frinton-on-Sea, every night between 7pm and 7am.
It has since emerged that other towns are considering a similar private guarding service. Concerns have been raised however that private security patrols will usher in a two tier system of policing.

In many of the states in the USA there is a facility for residents to pay for their own patrolling police officer and neighbourhoods work together to fund dedicated 24-7 patrols. Where my son lives in Houston, Texas, this system works well and the neighbourhood funded officers respond very quickly to calls from residents.

No powers
Contracted security officers patrolling the UK streets have no powers – no more than the average citizen’s arrest – but for some residents they are about being a visual deterrent especially in the absence of patrolling uniformed police. A uniformed presence is felt to deter people from doing what they might do, especially public disorder. Private patrols have been in evidence for some time especially on private housing and commercial estates as well as retail parks where they have been in the front line dealing with those offences normally dealt with by the police, whose assistance they will seek if deemed necessary.

Essex
Essex Police announced £60m in cuts over the next five years and force bosses have openly said they cannot guarantee their resources will be sent to low level crime incidents. The dire state of play is clearly shown when it was revealed that Frinton town council already pays for six dedicated PCSOs but they have no transport and they often have to rely on buses or bicycles to get around. Frinton town councillor Terry Allen has said the town is split over the patrols. He added “There is a niche for private security as long as they do a good job but the concern is that this is something for the police.” Mark Smith, of the Essex Police Federation, was quoted as saying the move could sound the death knell for local policing. He also said: “We as police officers should be doing this, but let’s be honest it’s going to go more and more towards that. You can’t take the amount of officers out of police we have seen and expect it to stay the same you don’t get more for less you always get less. It could mean the death of local policing.”

Reports suggest that Essex Police has seen its officer numbers drop from 3,600 in 2010, to 2,900 in 2015. Other forces are faced with similar decisions. So there you have; it a force to be reckoned with and the writing is already on the wall.

Newsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay on top of security news and events.

© 2024 Professional Security Magazine. All rights reserved.

Website by MSEC Marketing