Led By Donkeys?

According to a report published on the 31st of October 2005 Britain's police forces are being hampered by poor leadership and under-qualified recruits.

'Government targets, resulting in more paperwork and fewer patrols, have made matters worse, while also deflecting local forces from the main areas on which the public wants police to focus: fighting crime on the beat.'

'The public wants priority given to tackling burglary, mugging, hard drugs, violence, sexual crime and racial attacks,'' the report says. But it cites recent surveys showing that almost half of people are dissatisfied with ''the way crime is dealt with'', though a Home Office study last week said 78 per cent of those polled were happy with the police. According to Politeia, many people were simply put off from reporting crimes by the ''sheer difficulty of cutting through the bureaucracy and getting the police quickly to the scene'.

Now this is somewhat confusing as only a few days ago the government published a report telling us that the police are doing well and improving.

One thing that should concern rank and file is the reference in this new report 'leadership has been hobbled by an antiquated ''one-entry'' hiring system and no effort to attract managerial talent from outside.'

Only a few days ago I posted an article on Supercops which detailed a plan to recruit 'managers' with no previous policing experience in at up to superintendent level.

Methinks that the government has radical changes planned for the police service in the UK and is currently testing the water of public opinion.