Plans for a massive shake-up in policing in England and Wales have been outlined by Theresa May, the home secretary. A new national crime-fighting agency, to replace the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), is among the proposals. People will also be able to vote in two years' time for locally-elected officials to oversee each police force. Shadow home secretary Alan Johnson said police did not back the plans which would "make their job harder".
The Home Office consultation paper, Policing in the 21st Century, was described by Ms May as the "most radical reform of policing for 50 years". She told the Commons on Monday that the police had "become too bureaucratic, too much accountable to Whitehall, rather than to the people they're serving".
Key changes include:
- the abolition of Soca in favour of a new National Crime Agency, which will include organised crime, border policing, and the child exploitation and online protection centre (Ceop)
- the scrapping of Police Authorities. Instead, elected police and crime commissioners will have the power to hire and fire chief constables from May 2012
- the proposed introduction of police reservists - a pool of volunteers to undertake police duties
- "community crime fighters" - ordinary people could take part in joint patrols with officers. There will also be a push for more to become special constables or join Neighbourhood Watch schemes
- phasing out of watchdog the National Policing Improvement Agent.
Soca was criticised last year when figures showed that for every £15 of public money it spent, just £1 was recovered from criminals. Its chairman, Sir Stephen Lander, said seizing assets was not the "be all and end all" and said the body had also stopped gangs using an additional £460m.
Mr Johnson responded angrily to the plans in the Commons, and branded Mrs May's claims about Labour's failures on policing "infantile drivel". "We've yet to hear a word from this government about how they plan to cut crime," he said. "All we've heard is how they'll cut officer numbers, prison places and police powers."
Co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Justice, Tom Brake, said elected police commissioners "will need to be subject to tough checks and balances. These proposals should not be seen as a green light for the election of 'Judge Dredd' characters more interested in populism than effective co-operative policing.
BBC home affairs correspondent June Kelly said the commissioners would be permitted to run on a party political ticket, but the day-to-day running of forces will remain in the hands of chief constables. Ministers believe money will be saved by the new approach, our correspondent added. But Mr Johnson said the cost of elected commissioners had been estimated at £50m, and labelled the proposal an "unnecessary, unwanted and expensive diversion".
Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said the police service was ready to make changes. "But reform must add real value to the critical service we deliver which keeps our communities safe," he added. He said Acpo would "need to examine in detail the government's proposals for maintaining operational independence against the practical reality of directly-elected police and crime commissioners". Last year, Sir Hugh said police chiefs may quit if commissioners were forced on them.
Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at Kings College London, said there had been "fresh concerns" over the police following the death of Ian Tomlinson after he was pushed by a police officer in London during G20 protests. "Lots of people would agree that there is a need for greater accountability of the police and greater transparency," he told the BBC.
