On the dyeing of lakes and the selling of Easter Eggs...................


The media may be turning on the emergency services.  Slowly the police are becoming the target of criticism for their role in the current crisis.  Today the media is full of comments about the over zealous use of powers by police forces.  The dyeing of lakes, the use of drones and telling shopkeepers not to stock Easter eggs all feature the press today.  Most papers feature the comments by retired Supreme Court Justice Lord Sumption.

Lord Sumption's views are his own and debate such is this is a sign of a healthy democracy and I don't think that people should be criticised for expressing responsible opinions (there is another debate about what is 'responsible' of course). My starting point is to support those who are making really difficult decisions on a daily basis. For policing Sumption makes a key point. Police officers enforce the law, they do not enforce government guidance. The emergency regulations are complicated and very forceful. The police service has had no time to consider them or to put together policy and training.  Why should we be surprised then that the multi police forces of the UK are having a few problems in achieving consistency?  The police service in this country is an amalgam of 45 geographic forces and a handful of specialist forces and national units.  The service has moved quickly on this and are clearly to determined to get it right.

The examples quoted are few and far between.  The use of powers must be kept under scrutiny but I have seen nothing to suggest that we are about to descend into a police state.  I would like to see the appointment of a ‘commissioner’ – a retired senior judge to monitor the use of the powers.  Perhaps this can be done before the six month renewal of the legislation. 
If there is one thing the police service does have to do is self monitor its sense of purpose and identity and how this is articulated by its culture.  This can change over time and is highly influenced by training.  One of the things that marks out British policing from some overseas agencies is its ‘sense’ of independence from government.  The office of constable, the affirmation to the Crown rather than the state (or even the more amorphous ideal of the ‘people’) all create a constitutional identity that offers some protection against tyranny.  The police may be agents of the state but they must not become agents of the executive.  Enforcing the laws created by Parliament but not enforcing the will, whims and decrees of ministers is a vital distinction.  Academics may doubt the very existence of such subtleties, but I would suggest that police leaders cherish them and communicate them to every new officer.

In the meantime I will be more worried about media stories designed to fill the news gap than I am about the common sense of police officers.    

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