Delivering Police Services Effectively

Garth den Heyer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781315352114
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Informatique
• Subtopic: Cybersécurité

This book addresses the various strategies that are available to police management, such as consolidation, regionalization, and amalgamation of police agencies; new public management (NPM); enhanced performance management; civilianization; and organizational restructuring. It fills the gap in the research as to how police agencies have reacted to the environmental and fiscal changes since the 1980s. The book examines the strategies employed and the effect on police and their delivery of service.

Case Studies

III

Establishment of Police Scotland A Reform to Increase Effectiveness

11

Introduction

Police organizations and policing in western societies are undergoing profound change (Jones & Newburn, 2002). These changes are reactions to a range of developments, such as the privatization of security, the occurrence of transnational crime and terrorism, and the advances made in technology. Since the early 2000s, and as a result of the economic recession in 2007, one of the principal catalysts for the change has been the drive for police forces to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their service delivery (Butterfield, Edwards, & Woodall, 2004; Cope, Leishman, & Starie, 1997; den Heyer, 2013a, 2014). To improve police service delivery and to preserve the confidence of the public, governments and police managers have examined alternative methods to maintain and enhance service delivery levels within their existing operational and administrative staffing levels.

Some of the strategies that governments and police agencies have explored to improve the delivery of their services have been consolidation, regionalization, and amalgamation; organizational centralization/decentralization; new public management; enhanced performance management systems; civilianization; and restructuring.

One of the preferred approaches to police reform is mergers and consolidation. Police force mergers and consolidation are not a new occurrence. An examination of policing from the late nineteenth century through to the twenty-first century shows that there has been a steady decrease in the number of constabularies in the United Kingdom (Jones & Newburn, 2002). In 1870, there were 220 constabularies in England and Wales, which decreased in number to 131 by 1946, and then decreased again to 43 by 1972 (Jones & Newburn, 2002).

Police force mergers were replicated north of the border in Scotland. In the 1850s, there were over 90 local police forces in Scotland (Fyfe & Scott, 2013). This number halved by the 1950s and by the 1970s had halved again to 22 (Fyfe & Scott, 2013). In 1975, new regional and island councils were established, which bought the number of police forces in Scotland to eight.

Policing in Scotland has traditionally been different from policing in England and Wales, and since the early 2000s, Scotland has taken a different approach to police reform. Police forces in England and Wales have used collaboration and partnerships to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their service delivery and have largely discounted the merging of forces. In comparison, Scotland has embraced the concept of reform through the use of mergers and, in April 2013, merged eight forces to establish a single national force: Police Scotland.

This chapter is a case study that examines the planning and the development of the merger of the Scottish Police and presents an evaluation as to whether the merger achieved the original aims and objectives of the Scottish government. Against this background, this chapter critically examines the basis for the decision leading to the establishment of Police Scotland. Drawing on government documents and reports, and interviews with key actors (including serving and retired senior police officers and national and local political representatives), this case study endeavors to provide insights into the decisions leading to the reform one year after the merger took place.

The case study does not evaluate Police Scotland's performance in its first 12 months but focuses on the reasons for the adoption of the single force option and whether the reform provided the foundation that would improve policing in Scotland.

The background of policing in Scotland and the governance framework of Scotland's police prior to April 2013 form the basis of the case study. The major issues leading to the reform, the documents on which the reform was based, and the case for change are also discussed. Finally, the conclusions drawn from the interviews held with a number of the key actors in the reform process will be presented and discussed.

Background to the Reform

From the beginning, policing in Scotland was more of a preventative process rather than a reactive law enforcement process. Policing was not only about responding to the occurrence of crime but emphasized elements of accountability for the welfare of the community. The focus on a community-based approach acknowledged the importance of local police involvement by the establishment of police boards and a local property rates-based financial structure, which gave the local community a vested interest in making local policing work (Donnelly & Scott, 2008).

The emphasis of community within policing was also demonstrated by the legal description of the duty of constables, which was, in essence, to guard, patrol, and watch to prevent the commission of offences, preserve order, and protect life and property (Police (Scotland) Act 1967, s. 67). The emphasis placed on the community provided for the ready acceptance of Community-Oriented Policing by the police forces in Scotland. Donnelly and Scott (2008) maintained that by the 1990s, Community Policing had been established in all eight of the Scottish Police forces and was the catalyst for the majority of successive administrative and operational policing strategies.

History of Policing in Scotland

The first major police force in Scotland was established in Glasgow in 1800 by the Glasgow Police Act of 1800, which was 30 years before the establishment of Sir Robert Peel's London Metropolitan Police (Donnelly & Scott, 2008). The passing of the Glasgow Police Act was followed by the passing of the General Police Act of 1833, which instituted police forces in other Scottish cities and burghs, while the Police (Scotland) Act of 1839 facilitated the establishment of police forces in rural counties.

By the 1850s, there were more than 90 local police forces. Through the merging and amalgamation of local bodies, the number of forces decreased to 45 by the end of the 1950s (Fyfe, 2013). The number of forces decreased again by the 1970s to 22, with each of the major cities having established its own police force. In 1975, the restructuring of local governments established new regional and island councils and realigned police force boundaries to create eight new territorial police forces: Central Scotland Police, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, Fife Constabulary, Grampian Police, Lothian and Borders Police, Northern Constabulary, Strathclyde Police, and Tayside Police (Fyfe, 2013). This structure remained in place until the establishment of Police Scotland on April 1, 2013.

The establishment of the territorial-based system resulted in eight very different police forces, not only in relation to size but also in relation to the size of the jurisdictional area, the population size per officer, and the number of crimes per 10,000 people. The eight police forces were governed by six separate joint police boards. This structure proved to be problematic, as the boundaries of the eight forces did not align with the boundaries of the six joint boards.

The differences between the eight forces have been highlighted in Table 11.1. As the table depicts, there were a number of d...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Advances in Police Theory and Practice Series
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Series Preface
• Foreword
• About the Author
• Acknowledgments
• Section I The Theory of Police Reform to Achieve Efficient and Effective Service Delivery
• Section II Strategies Employed to Improve Service Delivery in Australia, Canada, England and Wales, New Zealand, and the United States
• Section III Case Studies
• References
• Index