Dedication and a sense of duty by hard-working officers is masking a failure by senior leaders to adequately assess current and future demand, according to the annual State of Policing report published by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector Of Constabulary. Responding to the report by Sir Tom Winsor, Association President Gavin Thomas said: “I am pleased to see this report acknowledge that the effectiveness and efficiency of the police service is improving, particularly given the backdrop of austerity and rising, more complex crime. “Sir Tom rightly gives credit for this to those who work in the service. But he also highlights the reliance on frontline officers and staff to just ‘get the job done’. “This commendable work ethic is underpinning policing through one of the most difficult...
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Vice President’s Charity Challenge 2018 – Walk The Wall!
Association Vice President Paul Griffiths will be walking the length of Hadrian’s Wall non-stop to raise money for Police Treatment Centres (PTC) in his 2018 charity challenge. He plans to hike the entire 84 miles of the historic wall in less than 36 hours. Paul’s previous challenges for police charities included last year’s HQ rides, where he rode to every police HQ in England and Wales, covering 2,100 miles and raising £4200. He has also completed the UK Three Peaks Challenge in 24 hours and walked the entire 870 miles of the Welsh coastline. Paul said: “Following last year’s HQ rides was always going to be a feat in itself, but I am really looking forward to this one. “I have had superb support in all of my challenges,...
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Home Secretary’s speech to Police Federation conference
Association President Gavin Thomas has welcomed the Home Secretary’s vision of a new relationship with the police service. Sajid Javid MP told the Police Federation of England and Wales annual conference in Birmingham that in every role he has had in government, he has seen and understood the importance of the police. He promised to prioritise police funding in the next Spending Review, and said the service should have the resources it needs. He also announced the Home Office would be setting up a formal review of frontline policing to hear from officers about what works, their experiences and what the future of policing needs. Chief Superintendent Thomas said: “The emphasis on both the Home Secretary and the Home...
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Association pledges support to gender equality
HeForShe is a UN campaign aimed at inspiring men and boys to bring bring about gender equality. The Police Superintendents’ Association has signed up to support this campaign. HeForShe is inviting people around the world to stand together for gender equality. More than a fight for female rights or feminism, gender equality affects everyone in some way, whether over parental leave, mental health issues, professional advancement and glass ceilings, personal health or confidence issues. The Association signed a commitment at the Senior Women in Policing Conference in November 2017 to take action to create, and encourage others to be involved in creating, a gender-equal world. The pledge included continuing to champion the value of difference and inclusivity in the police service,...
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Keeping BAME issues on the agenda
One of the Association’s priorities is to champion the benefits of valuing difference and inclusivity in the service, particularly amongst our membership, and to work to bring about positive change in these areas. A dedicated representative for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) issues sits on the Association’s National Executive Committee and this role is currently held by Det Supt Bhupinder (Bobbi) Rai, Head of CID at Thames Valley Police. Since taking on the role last year, Bhupinder has become involved in several initiatives to support the Association’s objectives in five areas: Supporting BAME members Supporting the wider Association membership on understanding and considering BAME issues Increasing representation of BAME staff across the service Encouraging the development of federated officers to...
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Developing leaders from under-represented groups
Article reproduced with kind permission of Policing Insight Leadership: Superintendents are key to developing leaders from under-represented groups by Tina Orr-Monroe, Associate Editor, Policing Insight Recruitment from under-represented communities is improving, but once in officers often struggle to progress through the ranks. A new, specially-devised coaching scheme has been launched by the Superintendents’ Association in partnership with the College of Policing to encourage and support officers in reaching their full potential. Improving diversity in the police service has understandably focused on recruitment, but what happens once a member of an under-represented group joins the service? Do they go on to fulfil their potential? And how far do they progress through the ranks? Official figures on the career progression for...
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A service for all communities
by Gavin Thomas President, Police Superintendents’ Association What were you doing in 1993? Many of you reading this will have been in your early policing career, gaining experience and starting to progress through the ranks. However, a good number will not even have joined the service; you may have been in a different job, or still in education. It’s worth bearing that in mind when we consider that it is now 25 years since the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Those longer in service understand the murder, and the subsequent Macpherson public inquiry, were landmarks in British policing. The inquiry shone much-needed light on our practices, culture and leadership, and heralded long-overdue change. But many officers joining today and in...
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2017 Pay Survey results
The results of the 2017 Police Superintendents’ Association and Superintendents’ Association of Northern Ireland joint pay survey are now available. The survey was open from September to November 2017 and received 962 responses – a response rate of 71%, and the highest number ever received for this survey. The findings informed the staff associations’ submission to the Police Remuneration Review Body pay process for 2018 and the 11 recommendations made. Headlines from the survey include: Large increases in dissatisfaction with pay and remuneration; A large increase in the proportion of respondents who do not feel fairly paid, with a majority saying they felt less fairly paid in relation to the responsibilities of their job than they did 12 months ago;...
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Association response to HMICFRS PEEL Police Effectiveness 2017
In response to the published report by HMICFRS on Police Effectiveness, Chief Superintendent Gavin Thomas, President of the Police Superintendents’ Association, welcomed the report and the acknowledgement of the hard work and commitment from everyone in the Service. With everyone striving to improve the service to the public and keep them safe, he described the collective effort as the “Best of the Blue Team”. However, reflecting on his speech at the Association’s conference in September last year, he spoke of a “Perfect Storm” in policing, with rising, new and complex demand, fewer resources, and inconsistency across force boundaries. He called for a debate with everyone in policing, Government and the public on what we want from our police service in...
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Foresight is 2020 – or even 2045…
by Gavin Thomas President, PSA For the past few years I have been strongly advocating for the service to have a capability to look to the future. Not just to the next year, or even to the end of the next political cycle which seems to determine our budget setting processes. I mean properly into the future – next generational distances, perhaps even further. Such a capability would provide not just policing but also opinion formers, politicians and the public, with some foresight as to the threats, risks and opportunities facing the service. I see this reaching out 20-30 years: beyond my time and probably that of many of you who are reading this! What we do know is...
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