Addressing the annual Police Superintendents’ Association conference, Home Secretary Theresa May said radical changes, including the introduction of police and crime commissioners and the new College of Policing, will empower the public and reward talented officers.
Vision of the future
Addressing officers at the conference in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, the Home Secretary said: ‘Our reforms are not complete, but with your help and your leadership we are moving closer to realising a vision of the future with greater trust and accountability, where both the police and the public are winners.’
The college, to be established before the end of the year, will recognise the talent and experience already in policing and ensure forces have the right tools to protect the public.
The Home Secretary said the college will ‘provide greater transparency to the public about what they can expect from their force and the standards that it should meet’.
Cutting crime
Speaking at the conference, the Home Secretary praised the ‘leadership and self sacrifice’ shown by officers during the Olympic and Paralympic Games and welcomed a call from Derek Barnett, the outgoing President of the Association, for closer links between officers and the government.
She reiterated her call for the police to focus on cutting crime but said it was down to individual officers to decide how best to do it.
Home Secretary Theresa May said: ‘Cutting crime doesn’t just mean the number of arrests which are made, the number of incidents responded to or the number of successful prosecutions.
‘In fact, I am quite clear that it can mean a range of activity, including early intervention, tackling anti-social behaviour or providing effective public order policing.
‘All of these examples are just as legitimate as chasing robbers.’