Still a way to go to make police accountable to local people, says London Councils

Recommendations to make policing more focussed on public priorities published in an interim review of the police service this week have been met by further calls for improvement by executive member for crime and public protection Councillor Ian Clement.

"Sir Ronnie Flanagan's review is a unique opportunity to reduce the accountability gap between the police and the public," said Cllr Clement "and the best way for this to happen is for police forces to work much closer with their borough councils."
 

Cllr Clement welcomed Sir Ronnie's recommendations to cut back on red tape and focus more on driving local policing priorities, but he added:

"There is still a long way to go to bring policing back into communities".

The review has taken steps towards recommending police forces are made more locally accountable by praising neighbourhood police teams and calling on government to mainstream these teams, which is welcomed by London Councils.

Responding to this part of the review Cllr Clement said:

"The Government now needs to make a public commitment to fund this type of neighbourhood policing in the future.

"The role of local councillors in community representation work now needs to be stepped up to make the most of our ability to represent local people's needs."

London Councils also supports the report's emphasis on making the most of the tax payers' money by reducing officer's paperwork, deploying and managing officers more flexibly and getting police forces and other public services to share 'back office' support.

Looking forward to the completion of the report in the New Year, Cllr Clement said:

"I eagerly anticipate Sir Ronnie's recommendations on how the police and councils can work closer together to make the police more responsive to local people's needs."

Notes to editors

1. London Councils believes the best way to ensure police officers focus on local priorities is for councillors to have a direct role in appointing borough police commanders; the police to work closer with local partnerships; and borough commanders and senior council officers to work much closer together to deliver the public's priorities.
   
   
2. Fifty two per cent of Londoners said that crime was one of their top three personal concerns in the 2006/07 Survey of Londoners carried out on behalf of London Councils.

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