This is a once in a generation opportunity for us to transform policing

NPCC Chair, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens explains today's announcement about policing reform:

Today marks the start of our annual NPCC APCC Summit where we bring together senior leaders, politicians, experts, and decision-makers to discuss and shape solutions to some of the most complex issues in law enforcement.

As we have seen, a lot can happen in a year.

Operation Navette was the policing response to the violent disorder that took place this summer, a policing response we’re proud of.

In the face of ferocious attacks, officers, staff and volunteers displayed the upmost bravery and professionalism.

Rest days were cancelled, holidays missed, with mutual aid provided across the nation at little to no notice.?The strength of policing was noticed and appreciated.

Collaborative working, rapid investigations and swift justice led to the relatively quick restoration of order and acted as a deterrent to others.

Another aspect of the response that has not received the attention it deserves - was the interruption of the messaging. Tackling the misinformation that was propagating harm. This had an international dimension that brought fear and destruction to our streets demonstrating the real-world consequences of online hatred.

Helped by communities who took a stand against the violence, we succeeded in our mission, but those intensive two weeks highlighted some weaknesses in our capabilities.

It was difficult in an age of mass communication to identify real risk of violence - amongst a large volume of threatening material that had the potential for widespread impact across the country.?This made it harder to get resources in the right place at the right time, and to access the information needed to inform decisions, at pace.

Put simply, the absence of strong national capabilities put more strain on the local response.? It also exposed a lack of clarity between local and national accountability, and the parameters of operational independence in response to national threats.

The violent disorder of the summer was also an example of how global threats can affect local security.? The lessons learned could equally apply to a range of other policing challenges, from cyber-crime to human trafficking, fraud to criminal action designed to disrupt and disable businesses.

Fortunately, never before have chief constables, police leaders and Government been so united in the view that to protect our communities locally, from global threats, policing needs to change.

The next two days are an opportunity to start the conversation on how we do that, to ensure we do.

Before we delve into what that conversation might cover, I’m keen to make sure we centre any discussion around our communities. The very reason we’re all here today.

If you were here last year, you’ll already know that I grew up in Hartlepool, a place of pride in the heart of the North-East.

In the late seventies and eighties, the Hartlepool community welcomed a group of refugees who had come for a new, safe start following on from the end of the Vietnam war.

My Mam was involved in a group effort to welcome those refugees by sharing traditions and customs, offering support and providing the basics you need when settling in.? I tagged along to play games and eat new foods.

Somewhere, there’s a guy, a decade or so younger than me, born into a family that resettled their lives from Vietnam to Hartlepool. ?They named him Gavin.

Now, I’m proud of what my Mam did for his family for that to happen, but perhaps I should apologise. ?At least he wasn’t called the name that my great grandfather wanted to give me!

Now, I know that not all communities have connections that strong; three decades of policing have taught me that. ?It did however show me from a very early age the impact that community, respect and a basic level of kindness can have on others.

To me, policing has a key role to play in binding society together; making connections, calming tensions, demonstrating reason before communities reach boiling point.

When relations between communities and policing are themselves getting close to boiling point, that bond disintegrates and what we say is not trusted and does not reassure.

In recent events, I believe that public distrust in our service is one of the many reasons misinformation was able to spread so freely, allowing those intent on causing disorder to exploit simmering tensions and further divide us.

Policing is wholly built upon the trust and confidence of our communities, and we all know that we have lost ground.? As a result, crimes go unsolved, and communities are less safe.

Trust between women and police has been badly eroded in recent years and the confidence gap between policing and Black communities undermines our efforts to protect them and keep them safe.

What we do have are thousands of officers, staff and volunteers who are committed, motivated and intent on restoring faith in the uniform I still wear with pride.

We need to support them better.? With the equipment, technology and ways of working needed to succeed... especially when they are witnessing global challenges play out on their local streets.

For the last 12 months, all chief constables have been discussing what needs to change, to transform our service, better support our teams and bridge that gap - rebuilding the confidence that we have lost.

In this room, we have the people needed to lead a new era of policing.? If we work well together over the coming months, our successors will thank us for it in the future, as will the public.

REFORM

Police reform has always been spoken and written about and don’t get me wrong. Policing is changing all the time, with new initiatives frequently being developed to better protect public safety.?To keep pace with society as it changes.

However, this evolutionary approach has only taken us so far.

The world around us has changed beyond recognition, and yet, we remain rooted in a system designed in the early 1960s.?Before mobile phones, the internet, even the M25, which came along two decades later.

New technologies are accelerating criminal activities across borders, changing the requirements of policing, and our local policing model entirely...

For many years, the British policing model has been seen as one of excellence, respected the world over. And that remains true of the fundamental principles.

However, I look at the work being done by policing in other countries around the world and can see that some are advancing far more rapidly than we are. And we need to catch up.

One thing that many of these countries have introduced is a national body, to free local forces from needing to solve the problems that affect us all.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Following a year of discussions in Chief Constables’ Council we have now outlined the need for a National Policing Directorate, with legal status, that can lead the policing response to national threats, act as a focal point for working with governments, businesses and civil society groups on long term prevention, negotiating better commercial deals for us all to provide technology and equipment that enables our local teams to succeed in the modern world.

We have described how an organisation of this nature could provide strategic, operational and enabling capabilities on behalf of all police forces, doing so once, and well, preventing duplication, and if sustained over the long term, enabling reinvestment into local policing, where it is most needed.

I am also clear that it needs to be empowered to do so, with authority over disparate funding streams and the ability to make decisions at system level, to help us protect our communities.

DATA

Data will play a key part in informing those decisions...

Sir Andy Marsh has been a long-term advocate for the need for a data driven police service and I’d like to thank him for his leadership in this area. ?After our people, data is our most valuable asset.? We can see around us, that when used ethically - data is leading to a better understanding of what works, and just as importantly - what doesn’t.

Which is why, as part of a National Policing Directorate, we must draw together national policing data under common standards, allowing us to identify criminal activity quickly, intercept it proactively and highlight patterns of growing concern.

It will also enable us to build the tools needed to combat advancing criminal tactics – not in a force-by-force manner which is hugely expensive, but nationally, once – and for all.

LOCAL POLICING

Alongside this national approach, our policing model will always remain rooted at the local level.

The brilliant women and men that make up our local forces will always be pivotal in ensuring we can tackle local crime and respond swiftly to emergencies, protecting those most vulnerable and building the trust and confidence of our communities.

There is no technology, or national service, that can truly replicate the level of human empathy needed to do that - and do it well.

It is my belief however that in working smarter nationally, our colleagues will be far better equipped to do that.

POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

Police accountability will be central to any change we make.

Policing needs clarity from Government on how our performance will be judged, and support from Government on shared objectives with others who also have responsibilities to keep the public safe.

We need to redefine who is accountable at which level for which issues, as at present there are too many decision makers, which leads to inertia, indecision, or as I’ve heard it described, un-decision.? Where we decide, but then simply don’t act.

We must step carefully through these issues and ensure any reform is influenced by and designed alongside our communities - particularly those with the least trust in us and our service.

If we do this change thoughtfully, if we do this change well, it will help us to build back trust in policing.

As I close, I’d like to return to the importance of strong communities.

There is a Vietnamese proverb which translates to ‘fire tests gold’, it talks to how tough times test endurance.

The past few years have been incredibly tough for policing, and our communities.

As a service, we have at times stood up to that test, on other occasions, we have fallen short of the mark.

The next two days offer us a very rare opportunity to share ideas, debate and open discussion. Discussion that has real potential to drive meaningful, much needed change.

I make no exaggeration when I say this is a once in a generation opportunity for us transform policing.

The last one was 60 years ago.? Let us not delay any longer.